Lowes shrugs off test crash, needs surgery

Alex Lowes has played down his crash during winter testing at Jerez but confirms he will need further surgery on the shoulder he dislocated.

The 25-year-old had been enjoying a productive test on the new Pata Yamaha YZF-R1 having completed 77 laps before high-siding at the fast left-handed turn three and needed doctors to treat his dislocated shoulder at the track.

The 2013 British Superbike champion has confirmed he will require further surgery in the next few days for it to heal sufficiently over the winter but can't put a date on his recovery timescale.

"I'm alright, it was just one of those things," Lowes said. "It was a high side at turn three at Jerez, it was too bad I just landed on my shoulder which dislocated it and there has been a bit of damage in there so I need another operation this week. I am not sure yet how long it is going to be for recovery."

Lowes says the reason behind his off was caused by trying a new gear set-up and he had also been adjusting his riding style to suit the new Yamaha.

"I was trying to do something different in one corner with the bike, trying a different gear and I didn't work. I found that out the hard way," Lowes said. "Overall the bike is good and I'm happy the crash is just one of those things.

"I've had to change my riding style for the bike but not too much just changing the position of my bodyweight because the bike is so small and a light bike. What you do with it can have more of an effect on the bike."

With Lowes concentrating on returning to full fitness for 2016 during the winter testing ban, he is confident Crescent Racing can use the next few weeks to develop new parts from the Yamaha factory to improve the bike's technical set-up ahead of its highly anticipated return to the World Superbike championship.

"For 2016 the first thing I need to do is get fit," he explained. "The potential of the bike is really good and we have got some things we are going to try to improve over the winter from Yamaha.

"If we can make a couple of small steps with the bike technically then I think we'll be in a good place. Obviously the bike is new to the World Superbike rules so our bike will get better and better as the year goes by. So we need to start the championship as well as we can and go from there."