MSS Colchester Kawasaki's Alex Lowes has actually apologised to his team for not converting his pole position into silverware at Thruxton BSB round even though he only saw the bike for the first time on Thursday afternoon when he rolled into the Hampshire track.

The Lincolnshire man, who is standing in for the injured Stuart Easton, stunned the paddock on Saturday after claiming the fastest time in qualifying but a lack of experience saw him slip down the order in race one and he then crashed out of race two trying to hunt down leader Shane Byrne.

“I’m happy that on my first time on the bike I showed I have the speed with pole position and leading the first race but obviously I’m disappointed I crashed out of the second one. I’m still learning so I just need to understand when to push and when to back off," said Lowes.

"I really wanted to do well for the team, they have had such a tough few weeks they deserved to be on the podium. The bike is fantastic, the team are great to work with and I’d like to say sorry to the whole team I couldn’t reward them with any trophies this weekend.”