Jonathan Rea names two areas of improvement for his Yamaha
“We confirmed so꧅me development items and I could be quite fast on the race tyres"

Jonathan Rea ha🍸s identified two areas of improvement for his Yamaha.
Rea and Pata Maxus Yamaha teammate Andrea Loc🎐atelli were forced to end their🍌 testing programme early on Wednesday due to the weather at Portimao.
With two out of three preseason testing dates now complete before the 2025 World Superbike Championship begins, Rea knows what h🍷e wants from his Yamaha.
“It🥃’s been a solid test, we confirmed some new items both here and in Jerez that we were a bit unsure of for going to the first round so that’s always a positive,” Rea said.
“We didn’t quite get down to any really meaningful race simulations or time attacks as the Portimao track was not in the best condition [on Tuesday] with a lot of rivers rꦿunning through it at Turn 4 and Turn 14, but we could be fast enough t🐟o understand the bike and understand the feeling.
“We confirmed some development items and 🎃I could be ♓quite fast on the race tyres.
“There are still some areas that we need to improve, I need a bit more stability and feeling on the front, and that’s something we’ll focu𝐆s on during the Monday and Tuesday test at Phillip Island.
“This winter has been tough for the weather, but it’s the same for everybody, we can be satisfied with the work 𓄧we’ve done and now we move on to the first round.
“The targe💝t is to go to Australia and enjoy the bike, make no mistakes and score well in all three 💫races.”
Yamaha prep 'compromised' by weather
Loc🍨atelli added: “We tried a couple of things before the rain, and worked on pit stop strategies for Phillip Island but yesterday was a good day on track – we just focused on riding the bike and understand if the things that we tried in Jerez can be fully confirmed.
“More♏ or less, we are happy! The conditions were di❀fficult for these winter tests, so we did not ride too much, but the feeling is quite good overall.
“ I’m looking forward to being read🌊y for Phillip Island now! I want to be positive because last year we had an impressive race weekend there with two podiums and I know I can be strong on this track.
“Now Yamaha has some time to go over the data from these two tests, and we will work in Australia to complete a couple of goo💮d runs there during the two days of testing when we arrive to prepare as much as we can for the races.
“Every year can be different, 🍰but I am fully motivated and tܫry to do my best like always!”
Team boss Paul Denning added: “The last part of our 2025 preparations has been compromised somewhat by inclement weat൩her and storm conditions across the south of Europe, but to be fair, it has affected our competitors in exactly the same way.
“Despite the weather, we managed to achieve some very good work in terms of comparing new developments that arrived fro☂m Yamaha and to confirm some of the improvements made – part𓄧icularly on Jonathan’s side – during the November Jerez test.
“Loka had a tough start toꦑ 2025 with his feeling on the bike in very windy conditions las🌸t week in Jerez, but had a very solid and consistent day yesterday in Portimao.
“There is further reason for optimism as Jona🅺than has taken a step forward in feeling and performance going into this season, confirmed byꩲ very strong performances and a really great work ethic across these two tests.
“It’s not long to go now before the first round in Phillip Island, and we’re excite🏅d to see what Pata Maxus Yamaha can achieve in 2025.”

James was a sports journalist at Sky Sports for a decade covering everything from American sports, to f🌞ootball, to F1.