---
title: "Lowes keen to carry Assen confidence into Imola"
canonical: "https://readmotorsport.com/2017/05/10/lowes-keen-carry-assen-confidence-imola/"
type: "post"
language: "en-GB"
author: "Lewis Duncan"
section: "SBK"
published: "2017-05-10T20:08:43Z"
modified: "2017-05-10T20:08:43Z"
---

# Lowes keen to carry Assen confidence into Imola

After a positive conclusion to his Assen weekend, Pata Yamaha’s Alex Lowes is keen to carry that momentum forward into this weekend’s Imola round of the 2017 World Superbike Championship.

Lowes enjoyed a solid opening couple of rounds to his campaign aboard the YZF-R1, the Briton taking five consecutive top five results. His fortunes have been mixed since, a mistake in Aragon’s Sunday encounter dropping him outside of the top 10 and a crash in the first race at Assen robbing him of vital points.

![Mirco Lazzari gp/Getty Images Sport](https://media.readmotorsport.com/readmotorsport/2017/05/674817006.jpg)

He put those woes behind him in the second race at the Dutch venue and climbed his way from 15th to finish a hugely respectable fifth to keep him fifth in the standings on 76 points, and is keen to keep this form going at a circuit he regards as similar to those he grew up riding around in Britain.

“Imola is a great track with lots of character and is similar to the type of tracks I grew up on in British Superbikes,” said Lowes.

“We finished Assen with a positive results and I got a lot of confidence from race two, so I’m excited to get to Imola with the goal of a solid weekend, looking for the best result possible.”

Though aiming high this year, Imola has not been the kindest of circuits to Lowes in recent seasons. In his first two years in the championship he only just scraped into the top 10 in eighth, 10th and ninth respectively. Last year he ended the first race 11th, but put on a good show on Sunday to take sixth.

![Mirco Lazzari gp/Getty Images Sport](https://media.readmotorsport.com/readmotorsport/2017/05/674819910.jpg)

Team-mate Michael van der Mark has faired reasonably well at Imola, the Dutch rider taking to the podium in his World Superpsort title-winning campaign back in 2014.

Similar results have been harder to come by in WorldSBK, van der Mark’s best finish a seventh last year in race one. Despite this, and after a claiming a fighting fourth in the second race at home last time out, the Yamaha rider is confident his R1 will carry him to another top five result this weekend.

“I am looking forward to Imola,” said van der Mark.

“It was a hectic weekend at Assen, but in the end the result was really good. I hope we can continue our form and fight for the top five again.

“Imola is a completely different track compared to the tracks we have been to so far, so I’m curious to see how the R1 will work here with the base set-up we have. I’m confident we can have a good weekend.”