Jonathan Rea ended the Portuguese World 🐈Superbike weekend having suffered a technical glitch in Race 1, suffering🐲 for pace in the Superpole Race, but also having come through to sixth in Race 2.

It meant that Rea ended the weekend🌳 with mixed feelings about the Portuguese round.

“It’s been a pos൩itive weekend in some ways,” Rea said,๊ “as we improved my feeling with the R1 a lot.

“But Portimao has highlighted where we need to improve. Yesterday in Race 1 I had a good rhythm and pace until we had the technical issue, and today in the Superpole race I got a good start but fighting in ꩲthe group proved difficult when eve🐎ryone had grip.

“That compromised our start position for Race 2, I had to start P11. I♌ made a good start, but I g🏅ot involved in a few fights.”

The latter part of the race was bett🍬er for Rea, as he was able to make the most of the Yamaha’s strength on used tyres.

“When I got through I focus꧑ed on both van der M𒐪ark and Petrucci and even though the gap was there, I managed to close them down as one of our strengths with the R1 is pace on used tyres, so I was able to make use of that and stick a strong pass on [van der Mark] on the last lap.”

Rea ended the Portimao weekend feeling like he’d found improvements with his bike, but with the 💝disappointment of having scored results below his expectations.

“I’ve got mixeꦍd emotions as it’s the best I’ve felt with the bike from a chassis point of view and was able toꦦ use the bike’s strengths much better,” he said.

“All in all, it’s been a confidence inspiring weekend as from a feeling point of view, and with the electronics, I’ve gained more trust to ride the bike more like I should. Credit to Andrew [Pitt,🐷 Rea’s crew chief] and the crew as they arrived with a set💮up which gave me some more direct feedback from the rear of the bike, so hopefully we can take this on to Magny Cours.”