Alex Lowes · Biography

Alexander Thomas Lowes was born on 14 September 1990 in Lincoln, in the English county of Lincolnshire, and grew up riding alongside his twin brother, Sam, who also became a professional motorcycle racer. He started racing at the age of six, spent his first seasons in motocross and came through the British junior road-racing ladder before building his career in Superbike racing, where he has carried the number 22.

Junior categories

Lowes rode motocross from 1998 to 2001 before switching to tarmac. In 2002 he was second overall in the JRA Championship on a Cagiva, and in 2003 he finished fourth in the Aprilia Superteen Championship. A year later he was runner-up in the GP125 MRO Championship, with a win at Pembrey. From 2004 to 2006 he contested the British 125cc championship, and in 2006 he made a wildcard appearance in the 125cc World Championship at Donington Park, where he did not finish.

From Supersport to the British Superbike title

In 2007 he stepped up to the British Supersport Championship on a Honda CBR600RR. The next two seasons took him abroad: 16th in European Superstock 600 in 2008 with Kawasaki Italia and 26th in the FIM Superstock 1000 Cup in 2009 on an MV Agusta. Back in British Supersport in 2010 with Seton Tuning Yamaha, he finished 12th and made his British Superbike debut on a KTM. After a 2011 season split between four teams, in which he also made his World Superbike debut with Ten Kate Honda at Brno, he joined Team WFR Honda in 2012 and finished fourth. In 2013, riding for Samsung Honda, he won the British Superbike Championship with 643 points, sealing the title at the final round at Brands Hatch in October ahead of three-time champion Shane Byrne.

World Superbike with Suzuki

The British title earned him a full-time World Superbike seat with the Voltcom Crescent Suzuki team for 2014. On the GSX-R1000 he finished 11th in his rookie season and 10th in 2015, the year he also took fifth place at the Suzuka 8 Hours with Suzuki.

Yamaha and a first victory

In 2016 Lowes joined the Pata Yamaha team, which was returning to World Superbike with the YZF-R1. He finished 12th that year, fifth in 2017 and sixth in 2018. His first World Superbike win came on 10 June 2018 in Race 2 at Brno, the circuit where he had made his series debut, leading home team-mate Michael van der Mark for a Yamaha one-two after Jonathan Rea crashed out. In 2019 he finished third in the championship, his best overall result in the series.

Suzuka 8 Hours and MotoGP

With the Yamaha Factory Racing Team, Lowes won the Suzuka 8 Hours three years in a row. In 2016 he shared the YZF-R1 with Pol Espargaró and Katsuyuki Nakasuga, and in 2017 and 2018 with Nakasuga and Michael van der Mark; in 2019 the team finished second. The 2016 victory earned him a test on the Monster Yamaha Tech 3 MotoGP bike, and in September that year he replaced the injured Bradley Smith at the British Grand Prix at Silverstone and the San Marino Grand Prix at Misano. He scored points on his debut at Silverstone.

Kawasaki Racing Team

For 2020 he moved to the Kawasaki Racing Team as Jonathan Rea’s team-mate. On his first weekend with the team, at Phillip Island, he was second in Race 1 by 0.007 seconds and won Race 2 on 1 March, passing Rea with two laps to go and beating him by 0.037 seconds. He finished sixth in the 2020 championship, eighth in 2021, sixth in 2022 and 11th in 2023. At the 2024 opener, again at Phillip Island, he won both the Superpole Race and Race 2, the first double of his World Superbike career, ending a four-year wait for a win and leaving Australia as championship leader. He ended 2024 fourth overall with 316 points and 12 podiums.

Bimota

In 2025 Lowes became the lead rider of the bimota by Kawasaki Racing Team, the project that brought the Italian manufacturer back to World Superbike with the KB998. Partnered by Axel Bassani, he took four podiums in the bike’s debut season and finished sixth in the championship with 218 points, ahead of his brother Sam, who ended the year on 184. In 2026 he stayed with Bimota for a second season with the marque.