Although leading the WorldSBK standings right now after a stellar opening round on a KRT Ninja that was all new to him this year, Alex Lowes went testing in Catalunya to learn important new lessons to take into the next competitive round at Jerez.

The hot conditions were therefore a boon for him, by making things more difficult and challenging. Lowes, who had ridden in a short test at the track in January alongside team-mate Jonathan Rea, left the ‘big test’ in good shape - fourth fastest and with a whole series of boxes ticked.

“The final day was good there was a list of things I wanted to improve on the bike and we tried a lot of things over the two days,” said the former BSB champion.

“In the final hour or so we put everything together what we had found positive and the bike was working really well. We did more laps than I thought - 107 - so a busy one. But I am really happy with such a positive second day here.

"This is still a learning process and with the amount of laps I have done I am trying to learn as quickly as possible. I am happy with my pace this afternoon, it was strong and probably a little bit faster than I expected, which is always nice.”

Lowes was also pleasantly surprised to get back into the groove as well as he has in the recent Misano and Catalunya tests.

“After such a long break in the season it has been easier to get back into the swing of things than I thought, but it will be nice to get a couple of weeks off now before the back-to-back races that restart the season. I am looking forward to some golf and relaxing.”

Going hyper-fast for one lap is still a goal to reach, it seems. “My pace with the used tyres is more competitive than with the new tyres, same as we saw in Phillip Island. On new tyres I was struggling but then we didn’t slow down.

Luckily for me we have had the same characteristic here. I think my pace on used tyres is really, really strong, one of the strongest it looks like on the sheets. This is always nice at the end of the race but I need to make sure I am fast enough at the start, in the first five or ten laps, to be in the mix.”

Now 29 years of age, Lowes feels in a good position in his career right now. “I am one year older, one year more experienced,” he said about his relative competitiveness in his new team in 2020. “Joining this team, every day I am learning more. It is a fantastic team and I am enjoying it a lot.

"I feel like I am more competitive than last year. Especially in these hot conditions today. Last year I may have struggled in these conditions. This afternoon I was really competitive. I feel I am quite strong. At Jerez we are going to need the bike to turn in hot conditions. Let’s see.”

Lowes, a keen golfer and enthusiast for anything with two wheels, has kept his focus during the recent lockdown period by working from home, as he explained. “I work hard away from the track and at least two or three times a week I am speaking with my crew chief Marcel, watching races back, looking at data and trying to understand where I can improve myself with this bike.

"That is part of it and I have spoken to him quite a lot, and he is helping me a lot. Obviously, he has been with Kawasaki for such a long time, he has enough knowledge to pass on to me.”