Jonathan Rea and Pata Prometeon Yamaha celebrated the first podium of their 2024 FIM Superbike World Championship partnership at the team’s home round at Donington Park today, with a third-place finish in the 10-lap Superpole Race. From eighth place on the grid, Rea made a brilliant start and aggressive passes to jump into the podium positions on the opening lap and, as a chaotic sprint race developed behind him, the Northern Irishman had a superb run through to the chequered flag with his consistent pace a good step ahead of the chasing pack. Though unable to repeat the result in Race 2, Rea and his crew leave the UK Round in positive spirits after his best weekend on the Yamaha R1 WorldSBK to date.
Teammate Andrea Locatelli was less than pleased, having been caught up in a hectic Superpole Race that saw a large group of riders in an all-out battle for the top ten positions. An uncharacteristically bad start put him on the back foot in the opening laps as he tried to stay inside the top five, but ultimately finished in P7. Race 2 was challenging for both Pata Prometeon Yamaha Riders, who struggled to find grip on the picturesque 4.023km circuit in front of more than 52,000 British fans. Locatelli finished the final WorldSBK race of the weekend in seventh with Rea on his wheel in eighth, with both R1 riders showing podium pace over the race’s final laps. There’s a quick turnaround now with Round 6 of the season just next week at Most in the Czech Republic, as all teams travel into mainland Europe almost immediately to be ready for race weekend set-up again on Wednesday.
Jonathan Rea – SPRC: P3 / Race 2: P8
“The podium this morning was great! If I look at the weekend as a whole, we faced some challenges but also I think we’ve caught a bit of a positive wave! My feeling with the Yamaha R1 WorldSBK is much better. In the Superpole Race, I got a great start – I was thinking to go down the inside but just released the brake and went around the outside, got some great track position and then I was able to make some really nice laps in the beginning to stay with Toprak and Nicolo for a bit and just settle into my rhythm. It was a nice feeling and a great little bonus for everybody in the team! We couldn’t capitalise as much with track position in Race 2 even though I started on the front row, I struggled from the get-go with rear traction. The bike was almost the same as the Superpole Race but the feeling was not the same which we will look into. I was sort of slip-sliding around with my teammate Loka, and I just gritted my teeth for as long as I could with Bautista and Petrucci coming through. Disappointing to finish the weekend at Donington like that with eighth in Race 2, but we can take a lot of positives to Most next week. Not long to wait to race again and it will be nice to carry the momentum with a good feeling with bike and the team from this morning and see what we can do there.”
Andrea Locatelli – SPRC: P7 / Race 2: P7
“Another difficult race for us, but we tried to get the maximum result and we always push hard. This was the maximum we could get today unfortunately. I would like to finish the race more in front, my feeling was to try to finish on the podium but we need to understand why it was not possible to make it today. We need just to continue to work hard, try to improve and keep looking forward. Fortunately, next week we have another race in Most at a different style of track. We have some days to rest and to understand what we need, and there we can try again. In the end, we didn’t do everything well this weekend but we got good points for the championship and we didn’t make any mistakes. So this is a good point and I am looking forward to making another step forward.”
Paul Denning – Team Principal, Pata Prometeon Yamaha:
“Despite the Race 2 result not being quite what we hoped, it’s been a positive day and a positive weekend here at Donington Park. Both guys gave 100% in Race 2, but we suffered with a lack of grip from the start and with the level of competition as it is, if you are a small bit off, it’s hard to make up the difference. The riders both gave everything, fought really hard and were super consistent, so no complaints from the team’s side! This weekend for Jonathan overall has been a great step forward and to achieve his first podium with us was a wonderful moment and a real building block to go forward from. Thanks to him and to Loka for making a great effort at our home round and we move onto Most next weekend in positive spirits.”
