Yamaha’s Jonathan Rea says top-five results are his primary goal for the final six rounds of the World Superbike Championship, starting this weekend at Portimao in Portugal.
Rea has made progress with the factory R1 over the past few rounds and earned his first Yamaha podium at Donington Park in the Superpole race.
The 37-year-old has climbed several places in the Championship table and is now 10th overall with round seven at the Portuguese circuit offering an opportunity to gain further ground.
On Friday, Rea was sixth fastest in free practice with Italy’s Danilo Petrucci (Barni Spark Racing Ducati) leading the way from Alvaro Bautista (Aruba Ducati) and Toprak Razgatlioglu (BMW Motorrad).
Six-time world champion Rea has won a record 13 races at the Portuguese circuit but he is tempering his expectations, despite testing at Portimao as part of the Pata Prometeon Yamaha team’s winter programme.
Instead, Rea is adopting a ‘step-by-step’ approach in his efforts to become a regular frontrunner once again.
“I’ve always been saying the aim is to, step by step, improve the feeling — that’s still the case,” said Rea, who has finished on the podium at Portimao 25 times in 35 races since 2008.
“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.”
A change to the usual schedule this weekend sees the two full-distance races taking place in the evening at 6.00pm on Saturday and Sunday, with the 10-lap Superpole sprint race on Sunday scheduled for 2.45pm.
Rea completed around 130 laps on the Yamaha at Portimao during January’s test but says his set-up with the machine has changed markedly since then.
“The test was good because we identified those areas and hopefully, we can work on them,” he said.
“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.
“The key for my weekends this season has been trying to qualify well and we’ll put a lot of emphasis on that.
“Hopefully we can qualify on those first few rows and make the races a little bit more straightforward.”
Rea is also hoping to put on a good show for the many fans who make the trip to Portugal to cheer him on.
“Portugal is a really awesome place to go to, I love the circuit and there’s always a lot of travelling support from Northern Ireland as well — so there’s a good vibe in the race week,” he said.
“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.”
Turkey’s Razgatlioglu — the championship leader and title favourite — could surpass one of Rea’s records this weekend if he wins at least two of the three races.
The BMW Motorrad rider is unbeaten in 10 races and needs one more victory to equal the record of 11 successive wins held by Rea and current champion Bautista.
Meanwhile, Glenn Irwin was 17th in free practice on Friday at Thruxton as the Hampshire venue hosts round seven of the British Superbike Championship.
The PBM Ducati rider is 19 points behind Honda’s Tommy Bridewell in the title race.
Bridewell was second fastest behind Yamaha rider Kyle Ryde while Andrew Irwin (Honda UK) was seventh.
The first race on Saturday is at 4.30pm with Sunday’s two races at 1.15pm and 4.15pm.