Pata Yamaha’s Alex Lowes had his ‘best ever’ WorldSBK test performance at Jerez, scorching to a 1’38.622 which put him third on the overall timesheet behind the two Kawasakis and the Derbyshire rider has said it is his dream to take it to Jonathan Rea next season.

Lowes was seven-tenths faster than his Superpole two time from a couple of weeks ago at the Spanish track which was a culmination of a number of new chassis parts, engine specs and some new electronics strategies which are being kept very firmly under wraps.

It is thought the electronics upgrades were brought in after a private test at Portimao some weeks ago which was attended by some technicians from Japan, but Lowes absolutely wasn’t giving up any information.

He now hopes that in race trim, he can get closer to the top spot on a regular basis but knows that after the pace shown by Rea it is going to be as tough as ever.

“All the pressure is on. Jonathan he has openly said he has improved the bike which is ominous for the rest of us. But I really feel like we are making steps forward. We still need to work to find some better settings within the new rules but the test I had in Jerez was the best I ever had,” said Lowes, speaking to bikesportnews.com this morning.

“I will try and close the gap to the them and my dream is to take the fight to JR and make things interesting so let’s see, hopefully my wedding will knock a few tenths off my lap time too!”

Lowes has changed crew chief since the season ended after long-time collaborator Ian Prestwood returned to Honda Racing in the UK to look after Jason O’Halloran. Twice World Supersport Champion Andrew Pitt has taken over the role.

“I’m really excited to be working with Andrew. I think he can help me in lots of areas, including my riding, and it’s always nice to have a world champion in your corner.”