Jonathan Rea has reassured fans that he is ‘in one piece’ after a calamitous and point-less first WorldSBK weekend as a Yamaha rider ended with a red flag inducing Race 2 crash.

The Ulsterman has endured a torrid week that started with a crash during the one-day pre-season test at Phillip Island that left him nursing painful legs before struggling with set-up issues, mostly involving rear chatter, that he said had left his confidence ‘shattered’ after finishing outside the points in Race 1.

Changes overnight would help Rea make a more convincing account of himself on Sunday, rising to tenth - just outside the points - in the Superpole Race.

In race two, Rea was making strong progress after enjoying what he called a ‘track profit’ from Toprak Razgatlioglu suffering a blow-out - which subsequently took three riders behind him wide in response - to rise into fifth place.

However, Rea’s race would last just a single lap more when he lost the rear of his Yamaha coming into Turn 11, the start of the long, fast final corner left-hander.

Suffering an impact to his hip, the race was stopped as Rea was stretchered and transferred to the medical centre. He was later discharged after being diagnosed with multiple contusions and abrasions.

Reflecting on his tough weekend, Rea was frustrated to have his growing confidence punished with the crash he feared all event, adding that he will need to ‘rebuild from zero’ when Round 2 resumes in Spain in May.

“First and foremost, physically I’m okay apart from I hit my hip quite hard in the crash but no further injuries from Tuesday. I had two big crashes this week, but I’m in one piece. 

“Really frustrated because the crash came as a big surprise. It was as I was building my confidence on the bike and feeling quite good. I took some profit when Toprak’s engine had troubles and I found myself in a good place in the race. 

“As soon as I started to feel confident, I crashed. I just have to rebuild from zero, look into the crash, and try to improve the feeling for me. 

“You can see from how competitive ‘Loka’ is that we can get there. I want to go home now, regroup, and reset and come back stronger in Barcelona.”