It would have been a tough watch to see your team-mate win not just one WorldSBK race but two, and at your own home round to boot. And also break his win duck in WorldSBK before you have reached that level of career attainment.
But after race two at Donington Park, Pata Yamaha rider Alex Lowes explained why he lost pace near the end of each race, just as his team-mate was finding his. “I struggled at the end and the most frustrating thing for me is that historically, on any bike I have ridden, even of I have not been fast, I could be fast at the end of a race,” Lowes told bikesportnews.com.
It has been a recent issue for him, brought about by a significant technical change. “Since we have changed the electronics I have lost that, I am struggling at the end of the race, struggling to control the bike and you can see on telly how lively the bike was,” said Lowes. “I need to find a way to fix that part, because I am applying myself well, riding well, passing well, managing the races well, I just need to find that last bit. My race fitness is my strongest point, so it is quite frustrating.”
Lowes is happy with the way things are moving inside his team, and was happy with his Donington performance, just not the results. “I have had two really good debriefs after the Donington races, and I am really happy how the guys are working. If someone is not doing their job right then you can almost feel better, because you can fix that.
“But all the guys are working so well we just need something to click and find out what I am struggling with. We sort of know, but we need to find out some answers to that and I think we will be there. I am doing a good job but we need to get the results. Because the only thing that matters is results.”
Lowes was again happy to congratulate his team-mate van der Mark on a human level, this time on his double race win, despite how much Lowes wanted to be the first rider for Yamaha to win in the modern era. “Congratulations it Michael again, it shows the bike can do it,” he said, underlining the logic that it is good news for both top Yamaha riders for the technical package to have made that breakthrough win, not just the rider.
“It is nice for the team to get the win, they have put a lot into the project to help us get here. It is a hard one to take this weekend but you know what I am like - I will come back stronger at Brno. We had a good test there and honestly, it is the best track I have ridden on this bike. I can expect to challenge for podiums and improve in that last part of the race because everything else is there, isn’t it?”
