As the three week break between rounds comes to an end, the MOTUL FIM Superbike World Championship returns to the track for the Prosecco DOC Portuguese Round and Alex Lowes (Pata Yamaha Official WorldSBK Team) and Michael van der Mark (Pata Yamaha Official WorldSBK Team) are looking forward to taking to the track on their YZF-R1s.

Alex Lowes enjoys riding around the undulating Autodromo Internacional do Algarve, and feels refreshed following a short holiday after a solid performance in the German Round. Making four appearances around the 4.5km circuit in the WorldSBK class, the 26 year old has taken some strong results in Portugal – a highlight being top four in 2014. Already getting his YZF-R1 up to speed throughout the season with some podium finishing positions, Lowes will be hoping to find this pace again for Round 10.

Lowes explains his thoughts ahead of the weekend: "It seems like we have had a long time off since Germany but I've had a really good few weeks away from the track. I took a small holiday to the South of France and I have been working hard since I got back. I have been training as always with my guys in the gym, plus I managed to get a few days on the flat track bikes too - it's always important to be riding and flat track works well for me. I am looking forward to Portimao because it's a track that is really exciting and lots of fun to ride, it's a real thrill to make a fast lap. I am fully focused on improving mine and the team's results on the R1 before the end of the year and cannot wait to get back on track!"

Dutch team-mate Michael van der Mark secured the victory around Portimao in the WorldSSP series, and is looking forward to putting in a strong performance following a tough weekend last time out at Lausitzring. Following the announcement that the 24 year old is set to replace Valentino Rossi in MotoGP™ in two weeks time, it will be a busy month for van der Mark, but he is fully focused on WorldSBK ahead of the weekend.

"After a difficult weekend at the Lausitzring, I am looking forward to Portimao a lot.” Begins van der Mark. “We had a good test there during the winter, so I have experience of riding at the circuit on the Yamaha R1 already and it is also one of my favourite tracks. It's always a difficult track to setup the bike because it is such a unique circuit, and incorporates lots of different requirements over the lap, but that's also why I like it so much. Obviously, I am excited about the opportunity Yamaha has given me in Aragon but I am fully focused now on me and my R1 performing well at Portimao - I'm looking forward to getting into the fight with the top guys this weekend!"

Follow the WorldSBK action as the series makes its return to Portimao from 15^th-17^th September and riders battle for the glory of the victory, all with the WorldSBK VideoPass.