WorldSBK Argentina: ‘In reality, the speed difference is massive’ - Lowes

Kawasaki’s Alex Lowes has had to fight through more bad luck again this year, with illness getting in the way at times. For the past few WorldSBK rounds, even with the odd stroke of misfortune hitting him, he’s pulled himself up to sixth place overall, and looked every inch one of the top contenders behind the top three.

There has been friction in the KRT squad in the past between the two halves of the garage, but behind the scenes it is a highly collaborative technical exercise, even if they are strong rivals on racedays. Lowes appears to have a good personal and working realtionship with his team-mate Jonathan Rea, who is still involved in the championship fight in the run-up to Villicum. When asked how closely Lowes and Rea worked together, Lowes said: “Me and Jonathan, I’ve got a lot of respect for him,” he stated. “If he asks me a question about the bike, if I try a tyre or something, we speak fully open, like I was with Michael (van der Mark, when both were Yamaha riders). The relationship is really good.

“I feel like I’m riding the best I’ve ever ridden, genuinely. How I’m riding on the bike, how hard I’m pushing. I’ve not ridden much better than that in my career. I think that the bike is improving a bit, and it looks like everybody thinks that the Kawasaki, because Jonathan has won so much, how good the bike is, but it’s tough now for us, I believe.”

The Kawasaki has a clear engine disadvantage and an overall design that is maybe now starting to show its age. But for Lowes it is also having rivals that are very hard to beat. “I think Jonny is riding well, but you see some other guys have some advantages that it’s hard to pass, hard to overcome.”

When asked if a new and more revvy, more powerful engine in the