Can Jonathan Rea kickstart Yamaha career at Assen this weekend?
Joไn꧅athan Rea to debut at his favourite track on a Yamaha

168澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果历史:Jonathan Rea holds the record for the most 168澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果历史:WorldSBK wins at any track, with a remarkable 17 at Assen.
The third round of the WSBK 2024 season is this♔ weekend at the Dutch circuit.
Rea has historically dominated there with Kawasaki, but now retu💮rns for the first time on a Yamaha.
So f෴ar, his Yamaha career hasn’t got up and running.
“I’m really excited to go to Assen because it’s a track I really enjoy, I’ve had a lot of success there in the past and I feel it’s g꧟oing to be a really strong circuit for the Yamaha R1 WorldSBK as well,” Rea insisted.
“As alwa❀ys with Assen in April, we need to pay attention to the weather.
“It will be the first time this season that we will experience really cool conditions, so hopefully on Friday we can get a good feeling w🔯ith my bike, my crew and step by step work to have a good race package that we can fight for a good༺ result with on Saturday and Sunday.
“It’s always a really nice event in the Netherlands, lots of fans and lots of travelling support for me coming from 🐬the UK as well.
“I ha🍎ve high expectations for the weekend and I’m really looking forward to get🔯ting stuck in.”
Pata Promet⭕eon Yamaha team🔥mate Andrea Locatelli has fared better in 2024 so far.
Locatelli claimed his first WSBK podium at Ass෴en three years ago, and has secured a top-five finish in every race at this track since.
“I’m really happy to be back on track this week in Assen,” Locatelli said. “Thinking about the fi🌳rst tw🦩o rounds, we were able to be in the front group always to show our potential – in Phillip Island, especially.
“Barce🦹lona was ♔a bit of a tricky track for us, but in Race 1 we finished not so far from the front with P5.
“Race 2 was a bit unlucky, but I think overall, we h🍸ave star🌞ted the season in a good way.
“It has been a good start with some new guys on the team and wit❀h my Crew Chiefไ, Tom O’Kane.
“We have taken a step and improved a lot, and also with my confidence on the bike – these are im😼portant things.
♑“Assen is a really nice circuit, fast and flowing, and I love to ride it!
🤪“Every year we have achieved a podium there, so it would be nice to continue the tradition and have the opportun🔯ity to get another one!
“In the past few weeks, I have been working on some final recওovery on my knee but it is close to 100% and the feeling is good.
“I also met with Tom to organise🐎 our plan for the weekend and I think we have all the key things to be fast there, so let’s see.
“We want to be positive and I ♏believe we can fight to be back on the podium.”
Locatelli’s crew chief Tom O’Kane added: “The weather a🐠nd track temperature in Assen can vary greatly and, of course, these are 🌟major factors in tyre choice and bike set-up.
“The track itself has a couple of different characteristics: the first sector is tight an🍒d it's very important for the rider to make a good exit onto the back straight from the ve𒀰ry slow Turn 5.
“However, the rest🍃 of the track is mostly very fast corners connected by high speed direction changes.
“The bike must be stable i𝕴n the fast corners but agile enough for the direction changes.
“Loka has always been fast in Assen in WorldSBK and we'll be working hard to giv⛎e him the best R1 possible.”

James 🦹was a sports journalist at Sky Sports for a decade covering everything from American sports, to football, to F1.