Six World Superbike titles, many years with Kawasaki and in his “comfort zone” and now, with Yamaha, his adventure in the championship hasn’t started well, with Jonathan Rea showing a lot of concern about his performance.
The Briton was 12th in FP1 (1:30.495s) and 16th in FP2 (1:30.097s) and didn’t have an easy day, he said: ‘It’s been a super difficult day […] we suffered some issues straight away this morning, probably continuing on from the test. We struggled to pinpoint exactly what it is; the bike is very difficult to ride. We’re trying to rule out the problems and we’re changing the setup of the bike quite a lot but not touching on it. Fundamentally, something is not right and it’s not exactly how I imagined day one of the season to start but we are where we are and I have full confidence in the team to find the root of the issue and try to be stronger tomorrow. We’re so far away to be thinking about a chance […]’, said the new Pata Prometeon Yamaha recruit, who didn’t hide his need to see something happen, adding:
– We’re working as a team through the items, trying to eradicate it. Right now, it’s unacceptable; something’s not right and we need to find the problem. I’ve been told I can’t say too much but it’s frustrating for me as well as I’d love to say the full story… it’s been a difficult day, one of the most difficult. I have full belief in the guys that we’ll find it but it’s not how I dreamed of starting the World Championship.
And concluded: ‘We’re really on the backfoot; I knew that when I was running out of time, I had to register a lap time. Maybe they were the sketchiest three laps I’ve ever done! Even with the issue, I’m not riding the R1 in the best way, but I need to get the bike close enough to me to exploit my strengths. We need to find the issue otherwise it’ll be the hardest race of my life’.