It was a tricky weekend with illness, but Alex Lowes took more points away from Imola to remain third in the standings!

Suffering with an illness, Alex Lowes (Pata Yamaha WorldSBK Team) put in two hearty and determined performances across the Imola weekend at the Pirelli Italian Round. The British rider, who sits in third in the championship standings, had his worst finish in a race since Race 1 at Magny-Cours in 2018, with 18th.

At a track that Yamaha have always struggled at, it was no surprise to see them slightly behind the opposition. However, that said, it was one of the most consistent rounds at Imola for the Yamaha YZF R1, with Michael van der Mark (Pata Yamaha WorldSBK Team) having two strong outings, whilst Alex Lowes was seventh in Race 1 and fifth in the Tissot Superpole Race.

Speaking after the weekend, Lowes reflected on his results: “The bike felt great in the Superpole Race. I had a good battle with Leon and Toprak in the early stages of the race, before pulling a bit of a gap on them. My best laps were near the end of the race and I felt that, maybe, if I'd have got clear sooner then I might have been able to have a good battle with Michael. But for us to finish fourth and fifth on what has previously been a tough track for us shows just how much we've improved. It gives me a lot of confidence going forward, now that we've been so competitive at what was probably our worst track last year.

Whilst maintaining third position in the championship, the gap between himself and teammate Michael van der Mark has come down to just six points ahead of the Acerbis Spanish Round at Jerez in June.

“I'm really happy with the weekend; I've been up against it a bit with the sickness, but I'm quite proud of myself for how I've dealt with it and come out of it with some decent points. A big thank you to all the fans that turned out over the weekend, but especially today. Luckily, they got to see the Superpole Race and then a thrilling World Supersport race, but it was a shame they missed out on Race 2 because of the weather conditions.”

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