In his final race for the Pata Yamaha WorldSBK Team, Alex Lowes took a hearty fourth place, enough to crown him as the WorldSBK bronze-medallist in 2019. In a season that has seen him take a personal best in terms of end-of-season position, Lowes will take on a new challenge in 2020 with Kawasaki, partnering Jonathan Rea (Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK). With two podiums at Losail good enough to give him third overall, it is the second consecutive season that a Pata Yamaha rider has finished third in the World Superbike Championship.

After a strong Tissot Superpole showing that saw him on the front row for a third consecutive season in Qatar, Lowes made the most of his Friday pace, taking third place, only Rea and Chaz Davies (ARUBA.IT Racing – Ducati) able to better the Englishman, making for the 51^st all-British podium in WorldSBK. In the Tissot Superpole Race, Lowes once again battled hard and retained his front row starting slot with a third place, before going on to achieve a solid fourth in the final outing of the season.

Reflecting on his weekend, Lowes stated: “It was a strange last race because I felt like my pace was nearly strong enough to go with the front guys, but on the end of the first lap, Michael passed me and then three or four guys passed me. I was sat in the group quite comfortably but then I saw the gap closing behind me with Toprak and Leon, so I thought I needed to get ahead of Michael because I didn’t want to get caught up in anything.”

During his time at Yamaha, Lowes has achieved 17 podiums, eight front rows, one win and one pole for the Iwata manufacturer, along with three fastest laps. Lowes’ season has been one that may not have yielded a win, but pure consistency has seen him overcome the race winners of Michael van der Mark (Pata Yamaha WorldSBK Team), Toprak Razgatlioglu (Turkish Puccetti Racing) and Chaz Davies (ARUBA.IT Racing – Ducati).

Continuing to talk about his final round with the Pata Yamaha WorldSBK Team squad, Lowes commented: “It is great to get third in the Championship, the last three or four rounds have been really tight but this weekend, I’ve managed to do a real good job and be consistently up there fighting for the podium. It’s been a great end to the year, a bit bitter-sweet leaving Yamaha, as I’ve really enjoyed working with the team and the guys and I have a great relationship with them. I am proud to be third and I’m going to enjoy a drink with the guys tonight before moving on to the next challenge!”

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