Frustrated Jonathan Rea admits he has lots to do after early struggles at Misano
Rea squeezed in a lap at the end of FP1 but there was more frustration in the afternoon when the 38-year-old was unable to make much progress with the set-up of the machine.
He finished 18th after the opening day, 1.715s down on pacesetter and championship leader Nicolo Bulega (Aruba.it Ducati).
Rea is now aiming to make up for lost time in final practice and qualifying on Saturday ahead of the opening race of the weekend at 1.00pm.
'Tough start to my day which put us on the back foot because we had a technical problem in the morning that kept me in the box,' Rea said.
'Fortunately, the mechanics worked incredibly hard and I was able to get a lap at the end of the session to verify the bike was okay and give us some confidence to move on in the afternoon.
'Unfortunately, FP2 we didn't make much progress with the set-up as temperatures rose and the track felt different, a bit greasy, and I really struggled with a lot of chatter and understeer.
'It was hard to be precise, I couldn't stop like I want to and be on the correct part of the circuit.
'I tried to take a wheel to understand what other riders were doing, but the more I tried, the worse it got.
'Definitely room for improvement tomorrow and very disappointed with today.'
Rea made his return from injury at Cremona in Italy last month after missing the first three rounds following a crash in testing at Phillip Island in Australia.
He is out of contract at Yamaha this year and is reported to be seeking a deal with a different manufacturer for 2026.
Rea is the most successful rider in World Superbike history, winning the title in six successive years between 2015 and 2020.
After leaving Kawasaki, he has struggled to find the same form at Yamaha and finished last year in 13th in the standings, with his best result a third place at Donington Park.
Italian Bulega, last year's title runner-up, was 0.190s faster than reigning champion Toprak Razgatlioglu (ROKiT BMW Motorrad) yesterday, with Alvaro Bautista (Aruba.it Ducati) in third.
Bulega leads the championship by 31 points from Razgatlioglu going into round six and is bidding to win the crown for the first time in only his second season in World Superbikes.
Razgatlioglu, meanwhile, is set to make the move to the MotoGP World Championship next year with the Pramac Yamaha team and is determined to retain the title for BMW before taking on a new challenge next year.
'On one side, I feel sad; on the other, I'm so happy,' said Razgatlioglu, whose crew chief is Northern Ireland man Phil Marron.
'I'm sad because I feel like World Superbike is part of my family. I know everyone,
'I'm really happy with the paddock. This paddock is relaxed, and everyone is friendly.
'Moving to MotoGP as a three-time World Superbike champion is my biggest dream for this year.
'We're still fighting for the title with Bulega and we're not so far behind, just 31 points. I hope we get the title this year.
'This is my last year with BMW, and I need to give something to them before I move to MotoGP.'
On Sunday, the Superpole race is at 10.00am with Race Two at 1.00pm.
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