Jonathan Rea claimed his first Worl𝓡dSBK pole position on a Ya🌊maha on Saturday.

Rea then finished sixth in Race 1 at Ass🎶en but it 💃represented his best day so far on his new machinery.

He grabbed pole with a best time of 1’42.650s, a tenth better than Ducati’s Nicolo Buleg🎃a - it was h✨is 44th pole position but his first since leaving Kawasaki.

“I really enjoyed the Superpole session because I felt at one with the bike, even in the trℱicky conditions,” Rea said.

“Lap after lap, I felt the rhythm.

“You never know how fast to go because there’🅰s a lot of risk, but t🍸he track was damp and drying out.

“That overheats the tyres, and you move around. I kept thinking someone would come in for an intermediate, but I had no time left, so when I saw P1 on my pitboard, I was s☂o happy.

“Not just me but all t🐼he guys in the team, we needed this lift. It’s nice for Yamaha too.”

P6 in Race 1 was Re🀅a’s best re🐎sult on a Yamaha yet, at the third round of the 2024 WSBK season.

🦩The race was made chaotic by the wet weather before it was shock🐎ingly won by debutant Nicholas Spinelli.

“It set us up for the rac♊e to make a good start,”𝕴 Rea said.

“I got the holeshot but, in the first part, you never want to be the guy leading in those conditions because you don’t know how slipper🐠y it is.

“I made a couple of mistakes.

“The dཧefining moment of my race was probably ‘Loka’ coming through at the last corner, I lost two positions just off the back of the group.

“I had a huge moment between Turns 2 and 3.

“Aside from that, y🔯ou had to be patient until the track dried out.

“The track almost got completely dry💦, there was a dry line through sector one, and the rest of the track dried throughout the race.

“There are some areas we ne🔯ed to improve the bike tomorrow.

“A real shame ✨the red flag came꧅ out because I felt like I was making some progress at the end. I could smell a podium, but I was just too far away.”