Jonathan Rea: Consistent top fives have to be Yamaha World Superbike team’s goal now

Yamaha’s Jonathan Rea insists “regularly we need to be in the top five now” in the second half of the 2024 World Superbike season.

The six-time WSBK champion’s first campaign on the R1 after switching from Kawasaki has proven to be difficult, with the Ulsterman so far scoring just one podium - a third at Donington.

Having failed to score in the first five races of the 2024 campaign, recent rounds have shown signs of improvement for the Yamaha rider - though he hasn’t cracked the top five since his sprint race podium at the UK event.

Looking ahead of this weekend’s Portimao round, Rea told WorldSBK.com: “Portimao’s a happy hunting ground for me, it’s a track I’ve had a lot of success at in the past.

“It means nothing sometimes when you change teams. The Yamaha’s a different beast around here. It has a lot of positives but also some areas where we need to work on.

“The test was good because we identified those areas and hopefully, we can work on them.

“The bike’s changed since we tested here. We’ve homed in on more of a set-up. It’s a different vibe with the evening race.

“It’s a track that always brings a lot of travelling support from Northern Ireland as well.

“The key for my weekends this season has been trying to qualify well and we’ll put a lot of emphasis on that throughout tomorrow and Saturday morning.

“Hopefully we can qualify on those first few rows and make the races a little bit more straight forward.

“It’s a physical track but the rider can find that last little bit and I know a bit around here so hopefully I can put it to good use. I’ve always been saying the aim is to, step by step, improve the feeling.

“ That’s still the case. I want to battle inside the top five.

“That’s the next step, to try to be there. I felt I had the pace to do that at Most actually, and at Donington I had a strong weekend. Regularly we need to be in the top five now. That’s the goal.”

Rea is 10th in the standings ahead of the Portimao round on 75 points, which is 70 shy of fifth-placed team-mate Andrea Locatelli.