POSITIVE JEREZ WINTER TEST FOR REA

Jonathan Rea took to the track for the final time in 2024, finishing off two days of WorldSBK winter testing today at Circuito de Jerez in warm, sunny conditions. He finished the test with a fastest lap time of 1'38.452, less than one tenth from the top of the timing sheet. 

The focus for this test was on a combination of chassis and electronics strategy improvements while simultaneously fine-tuning the individual R1 WorldSBK set-up for both Jonathan and team-mate Andrea Locatelli. 

Stepping into his new role, Crew Chief Oriol “Uri” Pallares led the #65 side for the first time with the team welcoming highly-experienced technician Gregory Rebeyrat. 

The next development test for Yamaha’s engineers and Pata Prometeon Yamaha will take place on 22-23 January, returning to Jerez once again followed by two further days at Portimao before the 2025 FIM Superbike World Championship opening round at Phillip Island, Australia on the weekend of February 22-23, 2025. 

Jonathan Rea – 1'38.452

“I’m satisfied with the work that we’ve done over these two days! In the end, we have a lot of items to try this winter but during this test in particular it was important to work on my feeling with the R1 and regain some confidence in areas that I struggled with a bit this year. We focused on the front end of the bike, being able to stop and be more aggressive flicking the bike to the apex. Working with Uri as my Crew Chief for the first time was nice, the vibe in the team is good and he has slotted right in – so we were able to get to work quickly. We tried some different electronic items and fine-tuned our base set-up – the start point when we arrived was good so we were able to move through the programme efficiently. I’m happy because we were able to be fast on the Q tyre, race tyres and deliver consistency in the lap times, building my feeling again. Clocking off now for the winter, we’ll be back in January to get really into the meat of the test plan. I’d like to wish everyone a happy holiday period and say a massive thanks to the whole team and Yamaha – plus a warm welcome to my new mechanic Gregory Rebeyrat and “chapeau” to Uri for a great first 2025 test.”