Pata Honda’s Jonathan Rea and his crew struggled to find an optimum setting for his bike during a hot World Superbike qualifying session at Jerez, meaning the rider starts the double-header tomorrow from the fourth row.

Rea was feeling positive ahead of the race weekend as his team came to the Spanish track with a new specification on the engine, but he has had a few issues. But for the morning he will return to the engine spec that he has been running with all year – with the hope that he can improve his race pace on Sunday,

“It’s been a little frustrating to be honest because we were optimistic coming here with the new specification on the engine. We’ve had a few problems which is making it hard work and this is not where I want to start from,” said Rea.

“It’s been a tough weekend so far but the plan for tomorrow morning is to go back to the engine spec that we’ve been running all season. That might put us back a little with regard to electronics settings so warm-up will be crucial. But we need to do something because to race in the top five with the current setting is not possible.”