Kawasaki's Alex Lowes had to fly straight from the Most WorldSBK round to compete in yesterday's Suzula Eight-Hours despite suffering from illness.

The former British Superbike king picked up an intestinal infection in the Czech Republic which ruled him out of the second feature race on the Sunday and it was straight into testing in Japan.

Despite qualifying second, Lowes and team-mates Jonathan Rea and Leon Haslam had no answer for winners Team HRC, finising second and a lap down.

“It was a tough race but it has been a tough ten days for me, coming from the Most WorldSBK round, where I did not feel at my best," said Lowes.

'In the race I did the best I could. I am a little bit disappointed because I feel I probably could have done a little bit better but we were not fast enough today. Second was about the best we could do. I want to say a big thanks to the whole Kawasaki Racing Team. T

"hey have had a tough schedule, including the tests we have done here, and it is a big challenge to take on such a big event as the Suzuka Eight-Hours. A massive thank you to all of them for the hard work and big respect to Leon and Johnny my team-mates, who have done a great job all week.

"It has been a pleasure to be here with them. Thank you very much guys. I hope we can come back in the future and do one better.”