Jonathan Rea (Pata Prometeon Yamaha) had a great Friday at the Autodrom Most, with the #65 admitting that it was his best Friday since joining Yamaha. Rea was third at the end of Friday, just 0.514s adrift from Toprak Razgatlioglu (ROKiT BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team), who was fastest as the MOTUL FIM Superbike World Championship roared back into life for the Czech Round.

The six-time Champion said the bike is working well at Most in a positive start to the weekend. Rea was sixth in Free Practice 1, setting 17 laps across the session – ending the session 0.518s behind Razgatlioglu. Meanwhile, in FP2, Rea would lap consistently inside the 1’32 bracket, setting his best time of the day in the latter stages of the session to finish P3. The Yamaha and Rea worked especially well in sector 2, clocking the second-best time in that sector.

When asked whether Friday at Most was his best in blue, Rea replied: “Yeah, 100%. We didn’t have any issues. I was able to go out this morning, find my feet with the Yamaha R1 here at Most. I was pleasantly impressed because the bike works quite well here. We just have a few areas to tidy up electronically to get the bike to stop the way I want. It’s a track with so much compromise. You need the bike to be agile and change direction fast, but you also need it to be able to stop really well at Turn 1 and in the last sector. “

Discussing the tyres used during Friday’s running, Rea said: “We worked positively in the garage. We understood the two rear tyres, Pirelli brought a new rear construction SC1. We backed to back them and have a clear idea of which one we like. We’ve done a lot of laps on one option, but not the other. We still have a little bit of work to do for tomorrow and still, some margin to improve the bike. A good start to the weekend, we just need to keep that ball rolling.”

The iconic titanic trio returned in Free Practice 2, as Razgatlioglu ended the session quickest ahead of Alvaro Bautista (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati) in second, with behind Rea in third. The #65 later discussed what he is expecting from three unpredictable races this weekend at Most.

Discussing the top three and a big battle for the podium, Rea said: “I’ve had a very fast look at the analysis and Toprak’s still on another planet. I feel like we can fight for the podium but there’s a big group there of riders from second right through to eighth. It’s going to be a nice battle but there’s still room for improvement to think about battling for a race win.”

Make sure you watch Saturday’s action from 09:00 Local Time (UTC+2) using the WorldSBK VideoPass - now 30% off!