Jonathan Rea claimed his first WorldSBK pole position on a Yamaha👍 on▨ Saturday.

Rea then finished sixth in Race 1 at Assen but it represented his best day so far on his newꩲ machinery.

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

“I really enjoyed the Superಌpole session because I felt at one with t🔴he bike, even in the tricky conditions,” Rea said.

“Lap after lap, I felt the rhythm.

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

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

“Not just me but all the guys in the team,ജ we needed this lift. It’s nice for Yamaha too.”

P6 in Ra💯ce 1 was Rea’s best result on a Yamaha yet, at the third ๊round of the 2024 WSBK season.

The race was made chaotic b♐y the wet weather before it was shockingly won by debutant Nicholas Spinelli.

“It set us up for the race to make a good start,” Rea sai🍎d🦂.

“I got the 𝕴holeshot but, in the first part, you never want to be the guy leading in those condition⛎s because you don’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 from that, you had to be patient until the track dried ou𒆙t.

“The track almost got completely dry, ther༒e was a dry line thr☂ough sector one, and the rest of the track dried throughout the race.

“There are some areas we ne🎃ed to improve the bike tomorrow.

“A r𝓡eal shame 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.”