"Positives, but tide has to change" - Jonathan Rea collects first WorldSBK points with Yamaha

25/03/2024 11:39

Jonathan Rea was content to savour the positives of getting his first points of the 2024 WorldSBK season on the board during Round 2 of the season in Catalunya but admits the 'tide has to change' after challenges persisted in Spain.

The Ulsterman arrived at the event eager to make a big step forward on the Pata PROMETEON Yamaha after a disastrous opening event in Australia in which he failed to score a single point.

It was a trend that threatened to repeat itself at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya after Rea - having featured in the top five during free practice - left himself with work to do from 13th on the grid. Indeed, after technical issues ruling him out of Race 1 on the opening lap, Rea also failed to crack the top nine for points in the Superpole Race on Sunday morning.

However, he'd eventually enjoy a trouble-free run in Race 2, Rea working his way up to a solid eighth place finish to get points on the board at the sixth attempt.

Though ultimately relieved to reach this minor milestone in his new Yamaha endeavour, he concedes he's still tackling various issues in an effort to get back to the level of performance with which he is accustomed.

"Overall, it's been a very disappointing weekend. Like the trend of Phillip Island, we have made progress even if it might not look like that. We've taken our first points of the season in Race 2. Race 2 was a problem-free race without issues. 

"I struggled starting from P13 because you don't have track position and you have to be a bit more aggressive in the beginning. Then, after that, I'd already wasted some tyre and then tried to conserve as much as possible. 

"Guys like Remy Gardner, Danilo Petrucci and Michael van der Mark and Alex, I thought they'd come back to me at the end. They dropped their pace a little bit but not enough. I was catching but I ran out of laps.

"There are some positives in there; it's not where we want to be right now but we'll move onto Assen and try and have an open mind with what could happen there. 

"The tide has to change; we've had a lot of issues thrown our way and we're dealing with them in a really good way as a team by trying to breathe and turn the page."

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