Paul Denning believes there is 'more reason for optimism' for Jonathan Rea and Yamaha in 2025
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After a difficult 2024 World Superbike season Yamaha and Jonathan Rea are more optimistic ahead of the new season.
Jonathan Rea has become part of the furniture in the World Superbike Championship. The Northern Irishman has been in the paddock since 2009 and had won races in every year he had competed in.
However, that all changed in the 2024 season when the six-time World Champion joined Yamaha. Rea ended up finishing the year in 13th in the standings with a podium finish to his name.
But for the 2025 season, Yamaha has been given concessions after their difficulties last season. The Pata Maxus Yamaha Team Manager, Paul Denning, is confident that Rea will be back on top this season.
"The last part of our preparations for 2025 were somewhat affected by the bad weather and storms in southern Europe, but to be fair, our competitors were hit just as hard. Nevertheless, we managed to achieve some very good results," said Denning after the last European test in Portimão.
"We compared Yamaha's developments and confirmed some of the improvements we made at the Jerez test in November - especially with Jonathan."
After two tests in Jerez and Portimao, the #65 feels 'positive' ahead of the opening round of the season. But there are places where he believes the R1 still needs to improve.
"Jonathan has taken a step forward in terms of his feeling and performance during the preparation for the new season," Denning stated.
"His strong performances and really good work ethic in the two tests confirmed this. So there is even more reason for optimism. It is not long now until the first race at Phillip Island and we are excited to see what Pata Maxus Yamaha can achieve."
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