Alex Lowes could not hide his excitement as Yamaha Motor Europe and Crescent Racing took to the track together in Jerez for the first time last week.

The English rider, 2013 British Superbike Champion and heading into his third WorldSBK season next year, partners Sylvain Guintoli on the YZF-R1 machine which has proven to be highly successful in its short racing life to date.

“We had some slightly dodgy weather, but it was more about getting a run out on the bike,” Lowes told WorldSBK.com in Spain. “It is a new team working together, lots of new things and new relationships to build.

“It’s like day one at school! My feelings with the bike are really good. The engine is really smooth and great to ride. We didn’t work on actually settings too much, but the chassis felt great. Overall it was really nice and I am smiling, which is a good thing!”

He went on to add that the most exhilarating aspect is the scope for improvement:

“There is definitely a lot to improve and that is the exciting thing. My job, as Alex Lowes, is to work as hard as I can and work with the guys. I have a really, really good bike and good crew behind me. With Yamaha Racing, if I work as hard as I can to make the bike as good as it can be, I think we can do a great job. It’s all about starting and building for the first race and for the future. So far, so good. I’m really happy.”

When he entered WorldSBK at the start of 2014, Lowes impressed by taking his Suzuki to podium finishes at Assen and Donington, with the Dutch ride his best finish to date as he claimed second position behind winner Jonathan Rea. There was just the one rostrum in 2015, in Thailand, as the Suzuki bikes would then struggle once their electronics package was changed.