Jonathan Rea Gets New Crew Chief as Eugene Laverty Becomes Rider Coach

Oriol Pallares will slot in alongside six-time WorldSBK champion Jonathan Rea as his crew chief, after jumping across from Kawasaki to be his chief Mechanic at the start of 2024.

Rea was winless throughout 2024, but more worrying than that was the level of performances shown as the ex-Kawasaki star never looked like a challenger for race wins, and very rarely did the same when it came to podiums.

Rea achieved just one podium in 2024, while he was often bettered by teammate Andrea Locatelli. But his first season with Yamaha was overshadowed by the inability to win a race, as 2024 was the first time Rea went the entire season without a victory in his WorldSBK career.

Therefore it’s no surprise changes have taken place given the troublesome campaign Rea and Yamaha endured together, and Pallares will step into the role of crew chief after Pitt was let go by the factory Pata Yamaha team. 

Pitt, who is also a former racer and competed against Rea, was paired with the six-time world champion when Locatelli switched from Pitt to Tom O’Kane at the end of 2023.

Pallares joining the fold is not the only change inside the Yamaha WorldSBK project, as former rider coach at Pata Yamaha, Nicolo Canepa, has been promoted to sporting manager of the road racing department of Yamaha Motor Europe.

As a result of his new role, former WorldSBK race winner Eugene Laverty will step into that role and serve as a rider coach for both Rea and Locatelli.

Laverty was previously in the same role at Bonovo BMW which has downgraded from a two-rider team to just one, keeping hold of Scott Redding aboard Ducati machinery after Garrett Gerloff left for the Puccetti Kawasaki team.

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