Jonathan Rea was still left unsatisfied after this weekend’s World Superbikes round, despite a much improved performance that saw him claim a sixth podium at Assen in four rounds at the Dutch circuit.

Rea, who has struggled this season with technical problems, secured a much improved second place finish in the opening race and backed that up with a fourth place finish in race two.

The result extended Rea’s record of podium finishes at Assen to four consecutive years but the result left the Northern Irish rider still expecting more from his Honda CBR1000RR, adding that electronic interference hampered him in the second race.

“It was kind of typical Assen – we got on the podium, which was good,” he said. “In race one I rode really good(sic) but just had nothing for Sykes.

“In race two I was feeling quite good in the beginning but it was a little bit my fault that we couldn’t be on the box. I lost too much ground in the early laps, making mistakes, and then got involved in a battle for third with two other guys. It was clear that I didn’t have the acceleration off the small corners and where I was really strong in race one, in the back section, in race two I had too much electronics interference.

“There was a little bit of inconsistency and we’d changed tyres, and it was clear that the tyre in race two was spinning more. I know we’ve got more power than this but it’s impossible to accelerate like the others so we need to find some kind of compromise in the early corner exit area to make the power more manageable.

“It’s lucky that we have a two-day test to do that on Wednesday and Thursday before we go on to Monza where speed’s very important. A two and a four this weekend is not a win like Assen should be for me, but we’ve got to be satisfied. We’ve come from a long way back and the championship position is looking a bit more healthy than it did after Aragon so I guess I’m satisfied with the weekend.”