Jonathan Rea revealed that he suffered bike issues in Race One at Portimao which resulted in his drop to 15th.

After the Friday Practice sessions, Jonathan Rea was in high spirits as he finally felt strong on his Yamaha R1. The Northern Irishman carried his good feelings into Saturday as he qualified in eighth place.

The first race of the weekend started well for Rea as he got onto the back of the lead group. In the early stages of the race, he was running as high as sixth place. However, the six-time World Champion began to fall back through the order and ended up finishing 15th.

After the race, Rea told WorldSBK.com that he ran into a technical issue. Rea had issues with his quick-shifter which slowed his pace and prevented him from getting the result he deserved.

"Unfortunately after lap seven, we had an issue with the quick-shifter so I could not shift up or down with the electronics. I had to go back to manual shifting, which on the up-shifts is not ideal but on the down-shifts, it is really difficult," Rea said. "The lap times dropped, but I did not want to give up I wanted to finish the race. But from lap seven to 20 it was pointless to think about the bike."

Despite this issue, Rea was left in good spirits. The six-time champion had found good feelings from his R1 during the early stages of the race. This new-found confidence in his bike has left Rea confident for the Superpole Race and Race Two.

"If we think about the first seven laps the bike was probably the strongest bike I have rode this season," Rea continued. "I felt really good, I did not get a great start, but I had a good turn one and I was able to pass some riders, I felt that I could catch the group in front. I definitely feel like we have turned a corner."