Kawasaki Racing’s Alex Lowes heads to Portimao for the second WorldSBK test in as many weeks on Tuesday.

Lowes has previously been lulled into a false sense of winter test security when finding he can set strong lap times in the cooler conditions, only to lose some pace when the season starts on warmer tracks during the real race season. He was still satisfied by the work done last week at Jerez, however, especially as there is one more European test to go soon, before the Official Championship test and then round one in Australia in a few weeks.

“It went pretty well, but in winter testing, the track is cold and grippy, and if you use soft tyres everything feels amazing,” explained Lowes after his Spanish outing. “I did a long run with the hardest front we had, and the hard rear, to try to take some grip away. I did sixteen laps but I still felt like I had a lot of grip. Even at the start of those laps I did some 1’39s, which is not realistic with a hard front and an SC0 rear. We shouldn’t be doing those lap times. It is hard to test when it is like this, but obviously we can still test the new parts back-to-back. But I was quite happy because I didn’t really push to go fast and I was quite consistent.”

The next test, at Portimao between 31 January and 1 February, will help Lowes and his team make their final preparations for the start of the 2023 season. “We have work to do,” he continued. “We didn’t massively improve in the speed and a few areas where we need to try to improve - off the corners and the speed. In a race situation, as we saw with Johnny [Rea] last year, when the grip drops at the end of the race you need to be in a position where you can pass. With our bike it looks like we are lacking a bit in this area. This is still the focus for me. The test was good but we still have similar problems.”

The pace of Bautista and the Ducati was an issue for all who would be king last year, and this year, with a revamped Ducati, Lowes spoke about the Bologna threat. “It is strange because normally in these conditions, when it is quite cold in Jerez, Johnny every year has been fastest - done some crazy lap times,” the 32-year-old said. “So if you take this into consideration it is a little bit worrying, because Bautista… it was easy for him to do 1’38s. 1’39s. I think he is going to be just fine.

“I think if you look at all the Ducatis, in general, Petrucci, in his first time on the bike - and I know he has ridden the Superbike before but this was his first time on the Pirelli tyres and in WorldSBK trim - he was also fast. They are going to be hard to beat.

“Obviously Alvaro has got the confidence of being World Champion, and he is riding great, so this helps a lot. But they were a big step in front. Toprak was obviously fast but pushing hard and riding how extreme he does on the brakes, he has more chance in these conditions to be the same speed. But when it is hot, this gap is more. I am a bit concerned about that. But we can’t focus on them, we have to focus on ourselves. There are some new guys in the team, Johnny and I have been working well together, and this is the way we need to keep working to improve our package.”

The cold track temperatures made the tyre grip good in some ways, but a bit marginal in others, especially at the final tight left, after so many right handed corners. “Obviously, it is always quite cold in January, but I felt like the final day at Jerez, with not so much sun… this year is a bit extreme,” the Brit reflected. “Like 14/15°C track temperature is pretty low. There is a fine line, because there is a lot of grip available but if your tyre is just a little bit cold, it is a disaster. So, yeah, this was tough to balance. It would be nice to test at 30-40°C, especially for us at Kawasaki, because in the hotter conditions we struggle more. Hopefully it is a little bit warmer in Portimao. But this has been a good test for me. We tested many things, and we were still able to be pretty fast.”

Going into the season as a whole, Lowes said, of his approach “The second part of last year I was strong and I expect to start like that. Physically, I feel good. Like today, we had a plan to test some new SCQ tyres from Pirelli but we didn’t do it. We are going to save it for Portugal because I felt it was a bit cold for this test so I didn’t really put myself in a position where I was going to make a mistake. I need to arrive at the first race healthy, fit and try to challenge the guys at the front.”