Fifth For Rea In Estoril Race One

Jonathan Rea finished fifth in a thrilling WorldSBK race one at Estoril today after starting on the front row of the grid and fighting at the front of the pack for the entire race.

Rea conquered the wet track conditions during Superpole qualifying to run at the top of the time sheets for much of the session. He ended up third, earning a front-row start for race one of Round 11 of the 2024 FIM Superbike World Championship. 

Rea was in an epic fight with an ever-changing group of riders, close behind the podium battle of the race. In one of his strongest dry long race performances in 2024 the Northern Irishman finished just three seconds from the podium after 21 Laps, engaging in some hard-but-fair racing in the process that sets a positive tone for Sunday’s remaining two tests. 

The final day in Estoril begins with Warm Up at 09:00 (GMT +1), the 10-lap Superpole Race at 11:00 and Race 2 at 14:00. 

Jonathan Rea – SP: P3 / Race 1: P5

“Overall, a positive Race 1! This was my best main race position with the Yamaha R1 in the dry so far, I gave everything and ended up only a couple of seconds from the podium. We were close but not close enough. It’s the first time all weekend that we’ve completed a lot of laps in the dry to gather some clear information to give back to our engineers to improve the package tomorrow. If I can come out on Sunday and take the maximum from our R1 then I will be happy! Today, I didn’t feel “perfect” on the bike but I think we can take some positive steps for tomorrow. It was tough to make a good race set up with the weather yesterday but now we have clear areas to work on and the aim is to be back enjoying the fight again.”