Lowes' Philip Island damage much worse than initially thought

Alex Lowes has returned to the UK after an enforced stay in Australia after the opening round of the World Superbike championship. The reigning British Superbike Champion was originally set to return directly after the race, but when injuries sustained in a free practice crash were discovered to be worse than initially thought, he remained Down Under to allow his body time to recover.

Lowes highsided in the final free practice session of the weekend at turn eleven, and despite being diagnosed with a dislocated ankle still took ap0rt in the weekend’s races, qualifying on the front row before crashing out of race one and finishing race two in 13th place.

However, with significant pain caused by the injury, he travelled to Adelaide for further analysis, where MRI scans showed that he had in fact sustained fractures to his tibia, ankle and three bones in his forefoot.

The breaks do not require surgery, and Lowes is now striving to be race fit before the next round of the championship at the end of the month at Spain’s Aragon circuit.