Jonathan Rea will take over Toprak Razgatlioglu’s place at Pata Yamaha in the 2024 World Superbike season, succeeding a rider who had great success with the manufacturer and had a very unique riding style – particularly in approaching corners.
The British rider told La Gazzetta dello Sport that, after testing, he already has an idea of why the Turkish rider is able to ride the way he does: ‘Yamaha seems like a simple bike to use in terms of electronics and setup, based on a very agile frame. And that’s why now I can understand why he was able to ride like that. I am curious to see if I will be able to put my own touch, my style, on the bike‘.
Still, Rea clarified that he does not believe he needs to radically change his riding style to be competitive with the YZF-R1: ‘Honestly, Yamaha is operating in a very wide window. We can see that [Andrea] Locatelli is fast, the same goes for [Remy] Gardner, [Dominique] Aegerter and Toprak. All these riders have different styles. I just have to adapt the bike to myself, understand the qualities of Yamaha. So it can help me. I’m curious to see what our potential is‘.
