Jonathan Rea has 'no chance' of World Superbike victory against dominant Alvaro Bautista and Ducati in Catalunya

The Northern Ireland rider, third fastest on the time sheets after free practice on Friday, is adamant title pacesetter Alvaro Bautista is too strong on the Aruba.it Ducati at the Spanish track, which has never been one of the happiest hunting grounds for Rea.

Bautista has already sealed two hat-tricks in Australia and last time out at Assen, winning eight of the nine races held so far in 2023. He is also unbeaten in any race he has finished, with the reigning champion crashing out of contention in the Superpole race in Indonesia at round two of the series.

The Spaniard, who has extended his contract with Ducati until the end of 2024, is 56 points ahead of Pata Yamaha’s Toprak Razgatlioglu in second place in the standings, while Rea in fifth is 101 points behind Bautista.

“Looking at his pace, no chance,” said Rea of his prospects this weekend.

“They have such an advantage at this track. It suits them and he’s riding very well.

“For me, we just need to improve in the long corners. The bike needs to turn much better. In the shorter corners, I’m trying to force the bike to turn which is also destroying the front tyre.

“The combination of circuit, temperature and everything is not the most suitable for our ZX-10RR but that doesn’t mean we won’t give up,” added the 36-year-old.

“We have to keep working, trying to find a way and we can aim for the podium. If we put everything together, that’s a realistic target but, from this point, it seems like a long way.”

Rea was 0.166s behind Bautista after day one, with Michael Ruben Rinaldi (Aruba.it Ducati) in second 0.147s behind his dominant team-mate.

Razgatlioglu, the 2021 champion, ended the day in fourth, only 0.067s back on Rea, while Team HRC’s Iker Lecuona and Andrea Locatelli (Pata Yamaha) rounded out the top six.

Rea added: “In the morning session in the cold conditions, I felt like I didn’t enjoy the bike or have a good feeling, but I was quite fast.

“I was also consistent compared to our rivals so that gave a little bit of a strange feeling. In the afternoon, we tried the race simulation. My speed wasn’t fast enough.

“I had some issues stopping the bike and turning in. With the different parts we have, it’s not something we can change in five minutes back to the base set-up that we tested with here. A bit of a waste session,” added the Ulsterman.

“I threw some softer tyres, the SCX on the rear and the new SC0 front tyre, and I was able to make a lap time which was respectable. We gained some information but not positive information today.”

Bradley Ray, the 2022 British Superbike champion, was 20th overall on the Motoxracing Yamaha, while Rea’s Kawasaki team-mate Alex Lowes was ninth.

The first race on Saturday is at 13:00 BST with the Superpole race on Sunday at 10:00 BST, followed by race two at 13:00 BST.