Jonathan Rea is hopeful he can clinch a solid result in the Superpole race at Portimao in Portugal after a quick-shifter issue thwarted his chances in Saturday’s World Superbike race.

The Pata Prometeon Yamaha rider was fighting for fifth at the beginning of the race when he tucked the front of his R1 machine but made a spectacular save to stay upright.

Rea dropped to seventh as a result but the quick-shifter issue began to have an adverse impact on his pace and the six-time world champion ended the race in 15th, claiming a single point.

Rea will again start from eighth place in the Superpole race today (14:45 BST) and will aim to make amends after making encouraging progress with the set-up of the Yamaha in Portugal, which he says is the ‘strongest package’ he has had all season.

placeholder image — Jonathan Rea finished 15th in Saturday's opening World Superbike race at Portimao in Portugal on the Pata Prometeon Yamaha

“We definitely found a step forward today, but unfortunately quite early in the race we had an issue with the quick shifter so I couldn’t shift up or down with the electronics, and had to go back to manual shifting,” said Rea.

“The lap time obviously dropped a lot but I didn’t want to give up on the race – before this problem, my R1 was the strongest package I’ve ridden all season.

“Even without an amazing start, I made a good Turn 1, was able to pass some riders and felt like I could potentially catch the group in front.

“More positives than negatives to take from today, but it’s frustrating that we had a technical problem that kind of kicks us when we’re doing our best to keep the recent upward trend going and the confidence high,” he added.

“I definitely feel like we’ve turned a corner, I can ride on the limit and take liberties with the R1 to exploit its strengths and tomorrow in the Superpole Race I still get to start from my qualifying position in eighth – it gives me a good chance to get a good result and try to finish the weekend strongly in Race 2.”

Toprak Razgatlioglu won Saturday’s race for an 11th victory in a row, matching the record of successive wins held by Rea and Alvaro Bautista.

The BMW Motorrad rider is now aiming for an unprecedented 12th consecutive success in the Superpole race as the 27-year-old bids to extend his lead at the top of the championship standings.