With only 12 riders finishing the rain-impacted MOTUL FIM Superbike World Championship Race 1 at the Circuit de Nevers Magny-Cours on Saturday afternoon, Alex Lowes (Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK) was one of the many victims of the conditions.

Lowes unfortunately crashed when leading ahead of eventual race winner Michael van der Mark (ROKiT BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team) on lap 11 and although he was able to re-join in seventh place and battle on, he was forced to retire from fifth on lap 16, with a loose fairing hanging dangerously off the side of his Kawasaki ZX-10RR.

Summarising his thoughts on the start of the race Lowes stated, “From my point of view, I felt quite good. Everybody was looking at the weather, the clouds, trying to understand what was happening. We ran with the slick tyres as I felt like the track was quite good on the out lap. From the first lap, I felt strong, and I was able to get to the front and be there against the guys on the intermediate tyres.”

Running at the front from the beginning Lowes had looked in great shape both before and after the rain came and a tyre change became inevitable. He explained, “When it went to wets, I still felt quite good on the bike. When I was behind Mickey, I was struggling with the visibility. There was so much spray, I was struggling to feel comfortable, so I dropped back a little bit.”

“Then I decided to try to go in front. I felt quite good, like I was a bit quicker, and honestly, it’s a case of the punishment doesn’t quite fit the crime. It’s easy afterwards for the guys who didn’t make mistakes to say, ‘I knew the limit’. I felt I was riding okay but maybe on that lap, in that corner, I was obviously going too fast. It’s such a fine line when conditions are slippery like that.”

Despite the disappointment the Kawasaki rider was quick to congratulate the Race 1 winner, saying of his former colleague’s victory, “Well done to Mickey. We’re quite close friends off the track and we were teammates at Yamaha. He’s had a tough few years. People don’t realise that if you go through the injuries he’s gone through, it’s easy to get people down. I’m happy to see him back on the top step. He deserves it.”

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