Once again no top 5 finish for Jonathan Rea: At the Superbike World Championship in Portimao, the Yamaha rider is set back by the great weakness of the R1
Yamaha also experienced a difficult weekend at the Superbike World Championship in Portimao. The weak top speed on the long home straight made things difficult for the Yamaha riders. Jonathan Rea and his brand colleagues were quite competitive on one lap. But in the races, the Yamaha riders could only overtake with a lot of risk
“It was a positive weekend in some respects,” Rea tries to see the good aspects. His feeling for the Yamaha R1 was better than at previous WSBK events. On the other hand, the seventh race weekend of the season showed where Yamaha is lagging behind. “Portimao showed where we still need to improve,” confirmed Rea.
The technical problem on Saturday (why Rea only finished 15th) was followed by a thankless tenth place in the sprint on Sunday afternoon. “I got a good start in the Superpole race, but the battle in the group proved difficult when everyone had grip. That affected our grid position for the second race. I had to start from P11,” explained Rea.
Jonathan Rea bites his teeth out on the Honda of Xavi Vierge
In race two, Rea found it difficult to work his way through the field because he was at a disadvantage on the straights. “I had a good start but got involved in a few battles, especially with Vierge. I had a lot of trouble overtaking him and that dictated my race a bit. He wasn’t that strong on a full lap but he was stronger on the straights so it was quite a battle before I got past,” said Rea.
Once Rea had left Vierge’s Honda behind him, he caught up with Michael van der Mark (BMW) and Danilo Petrucci (Barni-Ducati). “Although the gap was big, I managed to catch them. One of our strengths with the R1 is the pace on used tires,” recognized Rea. He passed Van der Mark on the last lap and finished sixth
What remains after the weekend in Portugal? “I have mixed feelings, because I’ve never felt so comfortable with the bike in terms of the chassis,” said Rea. “I was able to make much better use of the bike’s strengths. All in all, it was a confidence inspiring weekend because from the feeling and with the electronics I gained more confidence to ride the bike the way I should. “
Rea thanks crew chief Andrew Pitt and his team: “Well done to Andrew and the crew who worked out a set-up that gave me more direct feedback from the rear of the bike, which hopefully we can take with us to Magny-Cours. Thanks to all the fans who came along, they are the ones who really give me strength in difficult times!”
Andrea Locatelli outside the top 10 in all races
For team-mate Andrea Locatelli, the seventh WSBK weekend of the 2024 season had hardly any pleasing moments in store. The best-placed Yamaha rider in the championship did not finish in the top 10 in any of the three races and scored a meagre ten championship points for two eleventh places in the main races
“That was one of the worst weekends for us overall,” summarized Locatelli. “After qualifying it looked like we weren’t in a bad position, but on Saturday and Sunday I had to deal with a lot of vibrations at the rear of the bike during the races. It was really difficult to deal with and push hard.”
“We know that we have lost a lot of points for the championship,” said the Italian, who is still fifth in the championship but has lost touch with Alex Lowes (Kawasaki) in P4. Jonathan Rea leaves Portimao in tenth place, making him the third-best Yamaha rider in the championship
