Jonathan Rea started the new chapter in his World Superbike Championship career on Tuesday. After several years with Kawasaki, he moved to Pata Yamaha, and the first on-track work took place on the opening day of testing in Jerez.
The Briton commented his feelings in this first day with the Iwata-based manufacturer: ‘It was fantastic to get the first laps on the R1 because you always have anticipation and maybe a preconception of how the bike’s going to be. I’ve been super excited until this morning, and then I got really nervous all of a sudden. I was thinking: «Can I be fast with the bike?» or «what’s it going to feel like sitting on the bike during the bike fit?»’.
According to Rea, after some skepticism at the start, he soon got positive feelings: ‘I got comfortable but the position felt strange, and I couldn’t imagine riding the bike. As soon as I exited pitlane, there were a lot of positives straight away I could take’.
Regarding the working plan, the six-time world champion just regrets the rainy conditions: ‘We did three outings. The weather has been far from perfect. Even this morning, at a lot of corners, it was full of wet patches. Just before lunch, we got a lot of drizzle and then the track got soaked. We considered keeping the bike nice and dry for tomorrow and keeping with the test plan. Hopefully the track can dry out tonight, maybe it’ll be a late start tomorrow, but it’s also important to ride in the wet’.