Pata Prometeon Yamaha Return to Fighting Form on Day 1 at Magny Cours
Jonathan Rea led Pata Prometeon Yamaha to eighth place in tight contention on the opening day of Round 8 of the 2024 FIM Superbike World Championship, which resumed today at Circuit de Nevers Magny-Cours in France.
Both Rea and Andrea Locatelli encountered small issues during Friday’s first Free Practice session, but together with their crews were able to overcome them to end the day in positive spirits ahead of the main points-paying races to come on Saturday and Sunday.
For the #65 Yamaha R1 WorldSBK rider Rea, he is hoping to continue improving his set-up into tomorrow but was satisfied with the work completed today – also checking off a full assessment of the three rear tyre options available from Pirelli this weekend.
Locatelli and his #55 crew were able to identify an issue from the previous round in Portimao and were able to make a marked step in improving the Italian’s feeling and confidence on his own machine.
Tomorrow Pata Prometeon Yamaha will be back in action with one final shorter Free Practice 3 in the morning from 9:00-9:20 CEST, crucial Superpole qualifying at 11:00 and Race 1 at 14:00.
COMBINED QUALIFYING TIMES
Jonathan Rea: P8 – 1’36.778
“We got a bit lucky and unlucky today! Lucky with the weather because it stayed dry even though the clouds have been hanging over us all day, but we managed to get some good track time. This morning, unfortunately we had a small technical issue that kept us in the garage a little more than we would have liked. We maximised FP2, we made positive changes every time we exited the box. I found an acceptable rhythm, but we have to improve, we have to improve the bike and we have some clear ideas on how to do that for tomorrow. Some clear areas, like just stopping the bike in the last part of the braking phase, but for Day 1 I feel satisfied with the work that we’ve done. Looking forward to tomorrow, keeping one eye on the weather because it looks quite inconsistent. In the dry we’re almost ready to race and understand the different tyre options that Pirelli brought. I am enjoying riding the bike, even if the set-up is not perfect yet, I’m enjoying it. Step-by-step, hopefully we can improve a little bit tomorrow ready for the race.”
Andrea Locatelli: P10 – 1’36.888
“It was not a bad day for us, because fortunately we understand now a problem that I felt this morning like in Portimao. It looks like we found more or less what it is and the feeling this afternoon was much, much better. I’m confident on my R1, I was pushing and now it looks like we need to start to work a little bit more after losing time in FP1 today. I think tomorrow we can make another step forward to close the gap – we are not so far, we can keep fighting and I want to give my all because this is the most important thing we can do. Let’s try tomorrow to do our best, I think we are “in the window” – the feeling is coming, so I’m looking forward and we’re working hard to be ready.”
