SBK | Dutch GP Race 2, Rea: “It was my best weekend with Yamaha”

SBK Holland Yamaha – Jonathan Rea finished Race 2 of the Dutch Grand Prix, third stage of the 2024 World Championship, in 19th position.

ea highlights the progress in understanding the bike and how to exploit its strengths, highlighting his first experience with the Yamaha R1 in the wet during the Superpole, which led to a fantastic result. However, Rea explains that the weather conditions did not allow him to prepare an optimal race plan for the entire weekend. Tire decisions were made with experience and instinct, although he admits he could have taken a risk with an SCX rear tire in Race 2. Despite difficulties with the harder SC0, Rea continued to struggle in the leading group, eventually crashing following the crash of another rider. Now, Rea looks ahead with positivity, highlighting the upcoming tests and the time available to improve together with the team and Yamaha. With the knowledge that both Locatelli and Gardner have had notable performances, Rea prepares with enthusiasm for the next round at Misano, a track he loves and where he knows the Yamaha R1 can be competitive.

Statements Jonathan Rea Holland Superbike

“It was my best weekend with Yamaha to date, so we have to take the positives! Slowly but surely I am understanding the bike and how to exploit the strengths of the Yamaha R1. Also, I have never ridden the bike in the wet, so the Superpole session was good and the result was fantastic! Throughout the weekend there were not ideal conditions to prepare a race plan. We didn't understand the tire choice from the start because we didn't have many laps in the dry, so with experience and instinct we made our decisions. Potentially in Race 2 I should have used the SCX rear tire but I was worried about degradation due to the cold. It would have been a gamble for me not to have tried it all weekend, but with the harder SC0 I struggled a lot on the edge of the tire to get the first bit of acceleration out of the corners. I felt I was "there", but I ended up outside the leading group and lost Iannone's wake. In the end Alex tried to overtake but unfortunately he crashed in front of me and I crashed with him. Frustrating, because you don't need to be kicked when you're down, but now we can really take some positives. We have a couple of tests coming up and a lot of time both for me to move forward and for the team and Yamaha. It's clear that we need to take a step forward but it's encouraging that both Loka and Remy had such strong races. Now we look forward to Misano, it's a track that I like and we know that the Yamaha R1 is quite strong there, so let's hope that more positive aspects come."