Jonathan Rea will debut with Yamaha this WSBK season with the dream of winning but with the certainty that he is not yet where he wanted to be. The rider, one of the most charismatic faces on the grid, said he is going into 2024 with mixed feelings.
Here are the first words of the British rider before the start of the season: ‘I feel more or less fine, not 100%, but yesterday morning I woke up feeling sorry for myself. Today was much better and I hope that tomorrow we can take another step forward. Tomorrow we start for real; I’ve been waiting for this moment for a long time. It will be a good moment to enter the pitlane for the first official session of 2024 and start working’.
The former world champion is looking forward to the start, but his sensations are still not the best, as he recalled: ‘The overall feeling is mixed. I like riding the bike and working with the team. I’ve been fast, but to be really, really fast, I still need some sensations. Track by track, we’re getting there’.
And he continues, saying that he will improve during the season, talking about winning… as a dream:
– The new surface was a bit difficult, it’s a completely different feeling. It has a lot of grip, so the riding style I normally use on the bike is not working here. Not at the moment. I feel that my ultimate pace hasn’t been as fast. Even my race pace is not fast and we have to improve. I really liked Jerez and Portimão, but we have to take a step forward here. Right now, winning a race here is a dream. The reality is that we have a lot of work to do to achieve it, but we won’t give up.
