Kawasaki hit the ton at another WorldSBK shutout as Lowes shines

“That was a fantastic race and I enjoyed it. It turned out to be very difficult and not necessarily what I had in the plan but that is part of racing,” he said. “All weekend I have been fairly much alone on track and doing my own thing and had some great results. But today being behind other riders was hampering the lap time. Overall to win here and continue my form at Donington is fantastic.”

Rea was unhurt and came back roaring on Sunday. The Northern Irishman somehow worked his way from a grid position of tenth to the lead in just one lap and not only kept Sykes at bay but also placed his bid for a third consecutive crown firmly back in place. #1 posted his eighth win from twelve races and recorded the 100th for Kawasaki in the discipline.

“I had an incredible first lap today,” he recalled. “I had been really frustrated because I got penalised by no fault of my own yesterday in scoring no points and then penalised again with my grid position today, when I went back to tenth. I knew I had to make a good start straight away otherwise my race was over. After warm-up I was really nervous. I was going through all these scenarios in my head about what I would do with a good start, or a bad start, and then what my race plan would be. My guys worked really hard overnight to build a completely brand new bike because yesterday’s was destroyed. The bike was talking to me in a way I have not had this year. So I knew today was mine…”

“It is always fantastic to race in front of the home fans, it is the only chance we get in the year so I wanted to do something special!” Lowes said. “I thought it had all gone wrong at the first corner as someone hit me from the inside and I nearly went off the track. I thought ‘oh no!’ But I managed to stay calm and stay focused. From then on it was one of the most enjoyable races I have ever had, because I was passing people for the whole 23 laps, so the race felt really short. We got a bit of good luck on the last lap when Marco Melandri made a mistake and we managed to get on the podium. It is nothing more than the team deserves, they work so hard and I am really happy to have been able to give something back to them. I expected to be the next fastest guy after the championship leaders, that is where I have been lately when I have a good feeling with the bike, I knew I could keep my pace until the end of the race.”