Jonathan Rea admits he has some work to do if he is to get the most from his Pata PROMETEON Yamaha package during the opening round of the 2024 WorldSBK Championship at Phillip Island this weekend after hampering his efforts with a heavy impact in testing.

The Ulsterman, who embark on his first season with Yamaha this year after almost a decade with Kawasaki, endured a ‘difficult day’ during eight hours of track running as part of a one-day official pre-season test at the Australian circuit ahead of this weekend’s curtain raiser.

Rea would wind up 15th on the timesheets after struggling with pain to his shoulder and leg, the result of a crash that brought out the red flags during the morning session.

The six-time WorldSBK Champion explained that he lost the rear of his R1 at Turn 11 while circling the outside of the bend, before being given a whack by his spinning bike as they came down into the gravel trap.

Leaving him ‘lumping around like an old man’ for the remainder of the day, though Rea expects to get some heavy bruising to the back of his legs in the coming days, he doesn’t expect it to affect him for the race weekend. 

“I’m more or less OK, what happened was I was just running around the edge of the corner and I had a little slide, nothing too crazy, but I didn’t catch it,” he said. 

“When I backed off the gas, the asphalt grips it threw me up and inside the bike. I landed pretty hard on my shoulder, no problems, but when I went into the gravel the bike hit me when it was turning so it gave me a bit of a bang in the back of my legs. 

“Apart from a bit of swelling, the X-rays are all clear, but I have been lumping around like an old man! There is a lot of bruising but we have a few days rest before Friday, it should be 100% by the weekend.”

Discussing his general pace, Rea - who was outside the top ten at the time of his accident anyway - admits he is having a hard time finding the limit on his R1 around a venue that rewards those with confidence on the bike

“It has been a difficult day, I have been struggling to get super comfortable on the R1 here. I feel comfortable on the bike but pushing on the limit, I don’t understand all the limits for the maximum. 

“The ultimate pace is fast but the rhythm isn’t too far away.  Step-by-step just work with the guys to understand how to ride the R1 around here to be more competitive for the weekend.”