Lowes ended his 2023 WorldSBK season watching from the sidelines afterღ suffering an eye injury during a clash w🦹ith Toprak Razgatlioglu.

But the Kawasaki rider was able to take part in the two-day test that preceded the season-finale, as he finished one spot behind former team-mate Jonath💦an Rea in fourth. 

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“It was really𓃲 important for me after the crash on the weekend,”began Lowes. “Was important to test with Jonathan [Rea] moving on. I'm the only one with experience on the Kawasaki to back-to-back the new items. 

“I was a bit worried that I wouldn’t be in too good of a condition to ride. My eyes and face were okay. A bit uncomfortable but we managed to get 70 laps in and work✅ hard on some new parts. 

“The base of the Kawasaki is ꦰso strong that it’s hard to improve. We tried🐎 some 2024 items. There were some positives and some negatives. But we needed these laps.”

Ducati ‘so fast’

Like others who don’t ride Ducati machines, Lowes had to watch Nicolo Bulega and Andrea Iannone show huge potential during their fi✤rst 🌱outing aboard the Panigale V4 R.

A worry ahead of ne🔯xt season, Lowes said the♏ pace of the Ducati is allowing riders to be ‘so fast straight away’. 

Lowes told 𝕴WorldSBK.com: “With some new guys joining the championship and we see how strong the Ducati is - they can ride so fast straight away. 

“We have some work to do and we need to work☂ hard. It’s an important winter for us, and for me.”

With regards to what Lowes was able🐬 to test at Jerez, new parts including an updated engine spec were spotted.&🐼nbsp;

“The engine spec is different and there are some different parts from Showa,” said Lowes. “It’s all the smal🅘l details that can make a big differe♑nce. 

“You put a new engine spec in and want to feel the thing fly up the straight, bu🎀t that’s not the reality of wherཧe we are. It’s small little gains that will make the difference.”