A frustrated Jonathan Rea admitted he was ‘not happy’ with the handling of his Pata Prometeon Yamaha after struggling to 17th place on his racedebut with his new team in the opening World Superbike race of the season in Australia on Saturday.

The six-time world champion finished outside the points as his team-mate, Andrea Locatelli, claimed the runner-up spot behind first-time winner Nicolo Bulega (Aruba.it Ducati).

Ulsterman Rea made the move to Yamaha after nine years at Kawasaki and featured prominently in winter testing at Jerez in Spain and Portimao in Portugal, but the 37-year-old could not find the same performance levels at Phillip Island as rear chatter issues persisted with the R1.

“I’m quite numb to what we’re going through right now, we just need to stay focused, try to give myself some confidence but they need to change something for me to do my thing,” Rea said.

placeholder image — Jonathan Rea finished outside the points in 17th place on his debut for new team Pata Yamaha in the opening race of the 2024 World Superbike Championship in Australia

"I’m just not feeling it right now. At Jerez, the bike worked fantastic; in race rhythm with all riders, I could compete for a podium.

"At Portimao, not so much and we were floating around the top five. Here, we’re in the middle of the sh*t,” added Rea, who lost around 22 seconds during his compulsory pit stop for a new rear tyre.

“Frustrating, because it feels like we can’t catch a break – we’ve had a lot of curve balls thrown our way, but fortunately we’re still here to keep showing up.”

Former MotoGP contender Andrea Iannone was third on his WSBK debut on Saturday on the Team Go Eleven Ducati ahead of Kawasaki’s Alex Lowes and Toprak Razgatlioglu (ROKiT BMW).