Jonathan Rea claimed his first WorldSBK pole p💝osition on a Yamahꦰa on Saturday.

Rea then finished sixth in Race 1 at Assen but it re🌼presented his best d♈ay so far on his new machinery.

He grabbed pole with a best time of 1’42.650s, a tenth꧒ better than Ducati’s Nicolo Bulega - it was his 44th pole position but his first since leaving Kawasaki.

“I really enjoyed the Superpole session because I felt at one with the bike, even in the tricky cܫonditions,” Rea said.

“Lap after lap, I felt the rhythm.

“You never know how fa🌳st to go because there’s a lot of risk, but the track was damp and drying out.

“ඣThat overheats the tyres, and you move around. I kept thinking someone would come in for an intermꦦediate, but I had no time left, so when I saw P1 on my pitboard, I was so happy.

“Not just me but all the ꦛguys in the team, we needed this lift. I🔥t’s nice for Yamaha too.”

P6 in Race 1 wꦿas Rea’s best result on a Yamaha yet,꧅ at the third round of the 2024 WSBK season.

The race was made chaotic by the wet weather before it was shockingly won by debutant Nich🍸olas Spinelli.

“It set us up for the race to m♋ake a good start,” Rea said.

“I got the holeshot but, in the first part, you never want to🎉 be the guy leading in those conditions because you d♑on’t know how slippery it is.

“I made a couple of mistakes.

“The defining moment 🦩of my race was probably ‘Loka’ coming through at the last corner, I lost two positions just off the back of the group.

“I had a huge moment between Turns 2 and 3.

“Aside fr✨om that, you had to be patient until the track dried out.

“The track almost got compl🦹etely dry, there was a dry line through sector one, and the rest of the track dried throughout the race.

“There are some areas we need to improve th♚e bike to♔morrow.

“A real shame൲ the red flag came out because I felt like I was making some progress at the end. I could smell a podium, but I was just too far away.”