REA SECOND FASTEST ON DAY 2 AS PATA PROMETEON YAMAHA SIGN OFF FROM MISANO TEST

Pata Prometeon Yamaha completed it’s 2024 test programme after two days at Misano World Circuit in Italy today, as Jonathan Rea hit the top of the lap times before finishing second overall on Day 2. 

Inclement weather forecasts made juggling Rea’s last 1.5 remaining regulation test days tricky, but 73 productive laps on the first day helped the Ulsterman feel more and more “at home” on his Yamaha R1 WorldSBK. Despite a tricky Friday, with drizzle, an early lunch break and a deluge in the early afternoon, Rea and the #65 Pata Prometeon Yamaha crew made best use of the remaining half day to tick off a few more items on the “to do list” and finish the day strongly with a Superpole qualifying simulation that catapulted him to the top of the timesheets an hour before the end of the test. 

Jonathan Rea – 1'33.113

“I enjoyed the R1 this test, we arrived with some different set-up ideas than my “base bike” over the first races and I was able to ride in a more familiar style, just trying to get the Yamaha R1 to compliment me and for me to adapt subtly to the bike. With testing days restricted, we had to make the best use of track time and we had a great Day 1 – I was able to complete a lot of laps with no issues, I felt quite competitive with my pace both on race tyres and also the soft tyre. Then, Day 2 was a little bit more complicated because the weather came in really early – and I was only able to utilise half a day, so we had to be very clever timing-wise. I was able to tick some boxes still and get more familiar with the bike and start fine-tuning towards the race weekend. Still lots of work to do, but I am happy to start the Misano race weekend soon and excited for the prospects, but we still need to look at our race pace on Friday. It’s been nice to feel good on the bike and especially on the soft tyre, I was really able to get the R1 around fast. It felt like a real Superpole session at the end, everyone was going full gas with SCQ tyres and we managed to finish right there in the front row positions. It is possibly the best I have felt with the Yamaha R1 and my team, but there’s still a lot of margin to find so I have a positive outlook.”