Alex Lowes will make his MotoGP debut in this weekend’s British Grand Prix after being drafted in by Monster Yamaha Tech 3 for the injured Bradley Smith. The Lincolnshire rider will partner Pol Espargaro at Silverstone, as well as at Misano as his compatriot sits out the upcoming back-to-back races.
Smith sustained his injuries while representing Yamaha’s YART squad in the 8 Hours of Oschersleben, the final round of the FIM Endurance World Championship. The Oxford rider was involved in an accident with a slower rider during free practice and while it was initially feared he had broken his femur, Smith has in fact suffered knee ligament damage, keeping him out of the next two races.
Lowes has experience aboard the Tech 3 Yamaha YZR-M1 having taken part in the Brno post-race test as a reward for helping Yamaha to victory in July’s Suzuka 8 Hour. Lowes completed fifteen laps at the test, although it ended with a slow-speed crash, and was just under four seconds off the outright pace.
The 25 year old currently represents the factory PATA Yamaha team in World Superbikes, where he currently lies eleventh in the championship, and at the blessing of Paul Denning and his team, Lowes has been released to make his premier class Grand Prix debut this Sunday.