News

Alex Lowes and Michael van der Mark will both miss the final two days of this week’s Jerez WorldSBK test.

The Dutch rider’s absence was the first to be announced, as a Facebook message from Honda Pro Racing explained the following on Wednesday evening:

‘Michael van der Mark will miss the remaining two days of WorldSBK testing at Circuito de Jerez due to pain in his right arm. The 23-year-old Dutchman will fly to Antwerp, Belgium tomorrow for medical examinations.’

“It seems as though I have tendinitis,” van der Mark explained when asked by WorldSBK.com. “It is in the right forearm, which means I can’t move the wrist.”

The reason for Lowes’ early exit was a large highside at Turn 3 on Wednesday, resulting in a dislocated left shoulder for the Pata Yamaha World Superbike Team rider. More details were revealed via a press release on Thursday morning:

‘Early indications trackside concluded no serious damage after the dislocation was corrected by the swift actions of the circuit medical staff. However, with severely compromised movement and a speedy recovery his prime motivation, the British rider flew back to the UK this morning to seek specialist treatment.’

“I'm disappointed not to be able to continue testing, as we have been doing a great job in understanding the YZF-R1 and developing my own riding style to suit it over the past few weeks,” Lowes commented.

“We were unlucky with the weather at Aragon so I was looking forward to a full three days of good conditions at Jerez to really get down to business. It wasn't to be and my priority needs to be my fitness and rehabilitation after the crash yesterday, but we have been making some good progress so I'm pleased with the development so far.

“I felt really good on the bike yesterday and was able to be fast and consistent, I just made a small mistake - and perhaps got caught out by the drop in temperature at the end of the day - and it resulted in a pretty big crash!

“The guys have done a great job this month and I know they will continue their hard work without me, now I just need to focus on getting back to 100% so we can be in the best possible position for the January tests and ready for Phillip Island.”

These events come as a blow to both van der Mark and Lowes, as Thursday and Friday represented two full days of track time on which to continue bike development and potentially put in race simulations ahead of the testing ban next month.

Both the Honda World Superbike Team and Pata Yamaha World Superbike Team will continue testing in Jerez, with Nicky Hayden and Sylvain Guintoli respectively.