Alex Lowes
You'd think having a twin brother in the MotoGP paddock might bother some. Not Alex Lowes.
It’s pissing down with rain at Silverstone. It’s okay though, as I’m sitting in one of the Wing’s many glitzy offices with Alex Lowes. He’s his usual vibrant, cheeky self. No surprise really; fresh from a Suzuka 8-Hour victory and clinching another year’s contract with Pata Yamaha in World SBK, wouldn’t you be?
Having grown up with the Lowes twins in the British Superbike paddock, I, as well as many, have enjoyed seeing the boys’ progression though the racing ranks and onto the world stage. As his brother struggled on an uncompetitive Aprilia in MotoGP before being unceremoniously dumped, Alex is making strides in his second season with the factory Pata Yamaha team.
“The season’s been okay I’d say. We’ve been a lot more consistent than last year and managed a few podiums. We’re 5th in the championship, the next behind the Ducatis and Kawasakis which is the good thing. My job is to try and close that gap. There have been a couple of mistakes, we’ve been working hard as a team but it’s not easy at the minute. We need to try and find some good steps forward.” And why isn’t it easy? “It’s not easy because, well, you’ve got good riders on good bikes in front. We’re lacking a little something to help us get off the corners compared to them [the Ducatis and Kawasakis]. If you lose that little bit on corner exit, you try and gain on the brakes, so then you seem to be complaining about braking and corner entry and the front. It’s not necessarily the power of the bike, just the way we get the power down from apex to the outside kerb – just that 50 metres – so that’s the area we’re trying to improve more than anything.”
Which is surprising (and ironic) given the road-going R1M’s corner exit ability, and its excellent slide control technology – something that’s not utilised on Alex’s Pata Yamaha superbike.
“On the stock R1M, it’s amazing. Something like that would help us at the minute. We are making steps forward with the TC and getting the power down but some tracks we seem to struggle. These tracks where you have to pick the bike up with a shallow exit, we can’t ride the bike out the corners. Chicanes and sharp exits, and Laguna Seca or Imola where there are such slow corners, we genuinely struggled for speed. But other tracks, we’ve been really strong and quite competitive. You make some progress then go to other circuits and you’re not happy. It’s a never-ending game.”
Despite glimpses of promise and a few podiums (the only rider to have mounted the podium other than a factory Ducati or Kawasaki rider), anyone with a bumhole can see that Alex is better than the bike. Is that frustrating?
“Yes, it’s frustrating because I went to World SBK believing I could win. You’re never gonna be happy unless you win. And that’s what’s hard – you could ride as good as anyone on the grid and still finish fifth but it’s trying to channel that frustration into helping the team find what you need from the bike. Yamaha deserve to be challenging at the front and they want to be, and I can feel that.”
With Ducati and Kawasaki romping the series, hogging the upper echelons and leaving Yamaha just behind, that must affect you mentally?
“No, not really because you always get up in the morning thinking you can make the difference. Whether it is Rea or Chaz on a better bike, you believe that today I’m gonna somehow find something. To be honest, at some points this year, I have found something.
“I think going forward for World SBK, regardless of my situation, there can’t be a gap like there is at the minute because nobody will watch the racing. Moving forward, there needs to be, like in MotoGP or BSB, 10 riders that can win a race; 10 people sat on packages that can win a race. With World SBK, there are enough good people within the championship for good racing. The top guys are going to say, ‘the other guys need to do better’. I’ve heard some people ask why they should make their bike worse when Yamaha or Honda or Aprilia haven’t upped their game.
“There are arguments from all sides but all that needs to happen is for the racing to be closer. I think it’s getting to the stage now where Jonny Rea isn’t getting the credit he deserves for winning. I think he struggles with that a bit. At Laguna, I was 30 seconds behind Jonny. He could ride behind me with one hand. He shouldn’t be able to do that with anyone on the grid, never mind someone who has had podiums and battled with him.”
There’s no hiding from the fact that World SBK isn’t in its finest state and the
never-ending search for closer racing continues. Some will argue Carl Fogarty managed to dominate the championship yet maintain close racing, although the two eras cannot be compared. If Alex were Scott Smart – World SBK’s technical boss – what would he do for the championship?
“If I were Scott Smart, I’d have a bit more hair, I’d be worse at chatting up women, my banter would be poor but I’d win any pub quiz. Love you, Scott! He’s got an impossible job though hasn’t he? How can you keep all those teams happy? What they need to do is quite simple – they need to make it more stock. It needs to be more affordable for all the teams.
“Even if you went to stock road bikes with modifications, with tyres and better brakes and suspension for racing, that would be the best way to go if you could make it work. Then the manufacturers would have an interest to make the bike look good on track.”
Stock racing would certainly encourage manufacturers to build the best they can, even more than Superstock, although 2017 is the first year where frankly there aren’t any shit 1000cc sportsbikes. Many have suggested a control ECU and follow in the footsteps of BSB.
“BSB rules are great and I understand that it works for that championship. But, BSB is essentially private teams. For World SBK, when you look at the manufacturers putting in the money to run the teams, if they’re going to run control ECUs then development will suffer. I think that’s a major issue, as without factory support, there wouldn’t be a championship because there aren’t many privateer teams that can afford to go round the world and race. I’d bbe more than happy to ride standard bikes. If I was on the R1M and going two or three seconds a lap slower, nobody could tell on the edge of the track. The racing will be closerr and it’ll be just as fun to race for me.
“I rode the standard R1 at a trackday Cadwell Park three weekks ago. It was completely standard, it hhad the lights on and everything, and I waas doing 1m 30s laps, which is three seconds off the lap record. I didn’t touch a cclick of suspension. Imagine justt a little bit of fettling.”
There’s no denying BSB is brilliant but I’ve never understood the costly chassis set-ups. Sure, there are no electronics, cheaper engines, etc. but teams are paying north of £10,000 for swingarms. As a rider, can you really feel the benefits?
“As a rider, it doesn’t matter about the swingarm. The reason why it matters to Yamaha at the minute is because we’re too slow, so you’re trying to pay to make the bikes better to close the gap. If you can’t change that part, it wouldn’t matter would it? It’s a lot of money for not a lot of gain. I think that teams that haven’t got as much tech support, they wouldn’t know anyway. They just think they have to buy a swingarm when there’s not a lot wrong with the standard one. Then again, it’s nothing to do with me. I just ride the bike!
“I don’t know whether or not you could ever police this but they should put an upper price cap in place for overall budgets. You’ve got Kawasaki Racing Team. Their number one focus is World SBK, as that’s the only world championship they’re competing in aside fromWEC. Whatever the rules are, if they’ve got £5m and a lot more staff than others, they’re going to interpret the rules in a better way. I think that’s a bigger problem. If you’ve got the best people to work on the bike, then you’ll be in a better place. Yamaha has got the MotoGP project to invest in and a bit of support into us.
“The only thing that matters to me is that we’re putting on a good show for the fans who pay good money to watch the race. Whatever the rules are, whatever the bike is, we’ll enjoy racing it. They’re going to upset people but that’s racing. I remember when the EVO rules came out for BSB. Everyone moaned about them and now look at it. It’s great. Stuart Higgs stood strong and said that’s what the rules are, and someone essentially needs the balls to do that in World SBK. The R1 is a great bike and it shouldn’t be getting smoked by 30 seconds in a World Superbike race. Was Jonny riding a bit better with more confidence than us? Maybe he was, but I can’t accept he was riding 30 seconds better than me and I think he’d agree. If they announce there won’t be any change for next year, there’ll be no interest in World SBK and it’s not fair.”
At this point I asked Alex about his plans for next year, hoping for some embargoed information, as the recent announcement regarding his plans hadn’t been publicised. He told me he’d signed for another season on board the Pata Yamaha in World SBK – and this was before Suzuka. Why just one year? Surely Yamaha would require his services for at least two seasons, or was he aligning himself with other factory seats?
“My job is to better the results and close the gap to the front. I really believe I can be World Superbike champion and fight with Jonny and Chaz. I feel like I have a really good relationship with Yamaha and I’d love to do it on a Yamaha, so we need to work to
make that happen, whether that’s next year or in the future.
“Because I did a really good job at Suzuka this year, it helped me a lot personally. They’ve got a tight year in MotoGP where it’s close and they need to win the championship, but they still believe in me and Michael and the World SBK project, and the R1, so they are supporting us and me going well over there definitely helped. You get that little bit more respect, they listen to what you’re saying a bit more and I believe that relationship is becoming closer. If you want to win in World SBK, the relationship between Yamaha Europe and Japan needs to be stronger, and it’s getting that way.”
Having grown up in the BSB paddock and racing together, the inseparable twins eventually separated as Sam was promoted to the World SBK paddock and Alex stayed in Blighty. Now Alex has gone to World SBK, does he see Sam in MotoGP and feel envious, despite impressive performances as a Tech3 wildcard last season?
“No! Not one bit. I’ll be really honest about it, I’ve got no interest in riding around between 10th and 23rd in MotoGP for two reasons. One is that I know, no matter how hard I ride, I won’t be happy with where I finish unless it’s wet, where you might get a result. I also don’t enjoy the paddock that much. It’s a bit serious and it’s difficult to feel at ease, and I’m clever enough to know that I won’t get on the Movistar Yamaha as I’m 26 now. I did a couple of races last year and I did quite well. I was quite fast really for how much I’d been on the bike but I went back to World SBK and thought, ‘I can win World SBK.’ If I dedicate my life to it like I am, I believe I can win.
“I’m never going to win MotoGP. I’m never going to get the opportunity, so why would I go there to finish 10th? With my mentality, I know I wouldn’t be happy doing that. I remember at Misano last year, I was 10th in one of the practice sessions and one second off. I wasn’t back in the motorhome thinking, ‘yeah, that was good’. I was pissed off, looking through the data trying to find that second.
“My brother is in that environment, a difficult situation and he’s not happy. My plan for my career, what I’d love to achieve is testing the Yamaha MotoGP bike for the factory and continue racing in World SBK.” Is this something you’ve talked about? “Yes, I’d really like to do that. I loved riding the bike, it was mega and would love another chance to do some testing and, if I won World SBK for Yamaha and Suzuka again, maybe if the factory guys picked up a little injury, I’d like to come back for a race or two having already done a bit of testing and be ready. If I ever got that opportunity, watch out, because I’d be fucking going for it. I’d be more than happy with that.
“I’m content if I don’t get a shot at MotoGP. Look at how many riders you’ve seen go there on second-rate machinery and unless you’re 17, you’re not going to get one of the top bikes any more. If Yamaha turned round and said ‘we want you to ride Rossi’s bike for a season,’ I’d chop my arm off to do it, but I’m realistic and happy at where I am.”
Trying to convince the punters that a decent seat in World SBK is better than a shabby seat in GPs is hard. These guys eat, sleep and live for racing and, more importantly, winning. I don’t know another pair of more focussed racers than the Lowes boys and winning takes priority over lording it up in the GP paddock.
“You’re battling with the fans on their thoughts on riders and MotoGP. Of course MotoGP is amazing. You’ve got the best riders on the best bikes. But if Marc Marquez had my upbringing with my opportunities, he wouldn’t be riding for Repsol Honda and twice world champion at 21. I didn’t follow him and think, ‘oh my god, he’s a fucking alien.’ It doesn’t exist. Look at Petrucci this year and I’m not taking away anything from them as I have a lot of respect for them. Rossi and the top boys are special people because
of their commitment to the job, and they’ve all had good opportunities when they were younger and worked their arses off, so they deserve it. Generally, I don’t agree with the aliens thing.
“It was a privilege to share the track with Rossi though. He’s a legend. I was at Brno with my brother and he came up to me and put his arm around my back. At first I thought it was Pol Espargaro messing around, as he’s really the only rider I would know. I turned round and it was Rossi. He started chatting and congratulated me on Suzuka, and joked that I need that bike in World SBK.
“But without sounding bad, Scott Redding or Bradley Smith wouldn’t win in World SBK. They wouldn’t beat Jonny.” Do you not think, I interrupted. “There’s no thinking about it. I can see why people think they would and I don’t blame them, as MotoGP is so big. Look at the support that it’s got compared to World SBK. MotoGP should be prototype racing. World SBK should be production racing. Let’s make the classes distinctive and stop trying to draw comparisons between the two. There is no comparison. If you’re outside the top ten in every session in MotoGP, they can’t be having fun can they. I need a goal and a realistic reason to get up, and above all else enjoy it. If I didn’t enjoy it, I wouldn’t go racing.
“I would have loved to have a full-time chance on the Tech3 bike but they now have two really strong riders and fair play to them. I can accept that, as I still haven’t achieved what I need to achieve in World SBK. I’m content in myself and that makes a massive difference in life.”
Cal Crutchlow didn’t exactly light up World SBK when he was there. It took him a long time just to win a race, and Monster money, decent management and being there at the right time took him to MotoGP. Alex’s response to this was, “don’t hate the player, hate the game! If you’d have put Rea on the same bike, he would have done a similar job but nowadays, people wouldn’t even put them in the same category.”
Having heard a quote from Jack Burnicle about Alex likening the Suzuka 8-Hour bike to the M1, I was keen to talk Suzuka – arguably Alex’s greatest achievement. He didn’t just win Suzuka, he absolutely smoked it.
“What you’ve got with the Suzuka bike is completely different tyres [dubplate Bridgestone rubber rather than World SBK’s mass-produced Pirellis], which really highlight the bike’s strong point which is turning, as you can really load the front. They bring out the best of the bike and the chassis is already way better. The electronics package is the other feature – it’s not the MotoGP electronics package, it’s the MotoGP electronics package before the control ECU came a few years ago, so it’s better than Rossi has. And it’s designed for Bridgestone 16.5in slicks, which is exactly what we had at Suzuka. So the synergy between the tyres and the electronics is amazing, and you add a nice smooth, linear engine as the motor has to last the full eight hours – all this makes for a fantastic bike to ride. The way in which it gives you the power and the way it turns in, it’s very similar to the M1. That’s the first thing I thought when I left the pits. The throttle connection is also so like the M1.
“The biggest thing for me is that it gave me so more confidence than the World SBK, and you can’t put a lap time on confidence. We need to learn from what we can about the Suzuka bike and try and develop the World SBK. I’ve ridden lots of variations of the R1 and I know we still haven’t reached the full potential of the package we have.”
Whatever happens in the latter half of this World SBK season, and in 2018, you can bet your bollocks on Alex Lowes giving 100% and Yamaha shrinking that gap to the Ducatis and Kawasakis. Let’s just hope the rule changes allow for closer, more enthralling racing. #Team22
I’VE RIDDEN LOTS OF VARIATIONS OF THE R1 AND I KNOW WE STILL HAVEN’T REACHED THE FULL POTENTIAL OF THE PACKAGE WE HAVE.