Alex Lowes looked like he may be in a bit of trouble this weekend, especially after a last-minute change to the expected revs his new style and new substance, in some ways, WorldSBK Ninja ZX-10RR went through with just days to go until the points were allocated.

After running behind Rea in the early part fo the first race, a sudden slowing was the last thing he needed, as his front tyre started to slide around.
No major problem in the end of Lowes, who despite losing a second a lap to his pursuers eventually fought back against Toprak Razgatlioglu to take second place for a Kawasaki one-two.

"I felt good all weekend,” Lowes told bikesportness.com. "I’ve been really strong, lots of laps, but in the race maybe lap six or seven I found some problem. I was struggling with the front of the bike. I didn’t expect it. Then I have two, one in entry to turn five, a big slide on the front, then again in turn ten.

"I think, it’s the first race of the year. If I crash now, it’s just for nothing. So I think, okay, find your rhythm, then go. Then when somebody passes you, try to fight. But it was Toprak. I thought, Toprak because he’s so good on the brakes and in this area, for some reason I didn’t have the same feeling like I had in the practice.

"So, luckily Toprak was with the SCX tyre, so he started to slide a lot. I was quite smooth and I managed to manage well and battle with him. But the second part of the race was quite tough. But if I consider this the difficulty I had to finish second, I didn’t expect with these problems to be there.

So the positive point was the qualifying was good, the start was good. I was riding well at the start, and we can try to improve for tomorrow so this was nice. I felt quite calm on the bike. It’s the most important thing. I think I had some problem – we have to check, but I’m pretty sure I know what it is".

The injury from testing seems a long way away now, but even recently it appeared Lowes was not 100%. If this is less than that, he isn’t showing it. He thinks the long winter meant he arrived ready to race in any case. "Nothing really,” said Lowes. "I missed some of the testing, but it was quite a long time before the season. Now it feels quite good and there’s no problems. Luckily for me it was a training accident in the winter and we had a long winter, so this was a lucky thing.”

He was loving the race-one fight with tough nut Razgatlioglu too. "We had like six months off the bike just testing. I did some race simulations but to be honest it’s boring at the test. When you do 20 laps you’re looking around thinking, there’s no adrenaline. Today to start the first race and have such a good battle at the end, I didn’t feel good with the bike but with the battling it was great to be back in the action. This was fantastic. I had a big smile on my face."

Lowes had to let Rea go, but was also aware that in some places he felt he was better than Rea and his set-up. "The first part of the corner he turned the bike a bit better. In general, this allowed him to set the exit. But there’s many parts where I’m doing some things better than him. Last year I did nothing better.

"So this is quite promising for me. We know he’s the reference for everybody, and for me on the other side to start to see some things I’m doing well gives me some confidence. The important thing is stay calm, finishes the races in the first part of the championship, and we’ll try again tomorrow to do a bit better and push him a little bit more."

Lowes was loathe to speak about the ‘loss’ of RPM which means his new bike does not rev higher than last year’s bike. And he was aware that even with this he and Rea went one-two. As Rea went to 100 wins, of course. "I don't want to speak in a technical way about technical things because it’s not really my job, but Jonathan just does a good job.

"In today’s race, he went out to start the first five laps was just 1'50.1. It was incredible. So he does so many good things. Of course, he has a lot of credit but it’s not just the bike. I knew Jonny from Yamaha that I expected maybe a bigger step from the bike. It’s not there. The reality is they do everything really well and the bike is a bit better, but if you knew really, it’s not so much different. It’s not changed for five years, really. Just he’s doing a good job. I don’t really like to say it, but this is reality.

"I took this approach and it’s allowed me to work on myself a lot more, work on how I’m working with the team, improve the way they work, improve what I can manage, and this is allowing me to improve. But this is the reality. If you see the bike, it’s not the fastest bike. I still got to pass Toprak in the straight with a good run. This is the reality. What else can you do, turn? The chassis is an old chassis. You have to do it yourself. These are just the facts of the situation.”

The old racing saying of you have to beat your team-mate is a tough nut for Lowes or anybody to crash when your team-mate is Jonathan Rea. Lowes knows that there is a difference between Rea and any other team-mate he has had.

"Yeah, because when you wake up you want to beat your teammate, and when he’s that good it makes it even harder,” he said, half-joking. "So you do a good job and he still does a better job. In testing this year sometimes I think, that was a good lap, and I look and you’re angry at that. If you have the correct attitude like I’ve tried to take, you’re just positive. We all want to beat him, but first we need to ride to that level.

"What he’s doing is impressive because to win one race is difficult in the world championship. To win another race is difficult. To win a championship, everything has to be good. To win six and then come back after another year, after a long winter, with his motivation, respect to him because you cannot just arrive and be at the front.

'The effort that goes in is impressive. So, I’m happy to be his teammate but I hope sooner I can push him a bit more. This is the target."