Jonathan Rea will take over Toprak Razgatlioglu’s place at Pata Yamaha in the 2024 World Superbike Championship, succeeding a rider who had significant success with the manufacturer and showcased a very distinct riding style – particularly in approaching turns.
The British rider told La Gazzetta dello Sport that after the tests, he already has an idea of why the Turkish rider could ride the way he did: ‘The Yamaha seems like an easy bike to use in terms of electronics and setup, based on a very agile frame. That’s why now I can understand why he could ride like that. I’m curious to see if I’ll be able to put my touch, my style, on the bike’.
That said, Rea clarified that he doesn’t believe he needs to radically change his riding style to be competitive with the YZF-R1: ‘Honestly, the Yamaha is working in a very wide window. We can see that [Andrea] Locatelli is fast, the same goes for [Remy] Gardner, [Dominique] Aegerter, and Toprak. All these riders have different styles. I just have to adapt the bike to myself, understand the qualities of the Yamaha, so it can help me. I’m curious to see what our potential is’.