Yamaha’s Jonas Folger has said his number one priority for tomorrow’s opening WorldSBK sessions is to learn all about his R1 as quickly as possible so he can work out a race setting.

The German former MotoGP star has raced an R1 before but the technical regulations are different, so the WorldSBK-spec R1 is completely new, However, the track is not as Folger has put in thousands of laps during his grand prix career.

“It is important to at least know the track really well because the bike will be new for me. It is a Yamaha R1 but it is different than the one I use in the German championship,” said Folger.

“It’s very important that I adapt quite fast to the bike and that we find a good setting. It will be a big help to know the track and know how to ride there, then I can fully focus on my bike.”

Folger has raced a couple of the WorldSBK guys including Scott Redding, Alvaro Bautista and Eugene Laverty but has never been up against five-time champion Jonathan Rea

“I don’t know the level, there are really strong riders, big names so it will be really tough but it will be nice to see where we stand and how fast I will be.”