Northern Irish rider Ian Lowry has just completed a two-day test at Almeria in Spain in readiness for when he rides alongside Tom Sykes in the Kawasaki World Superbike Team in Germany next weekend.

Lowry has already ridden for the Paul Bird Motorsports-operated KRT team in the Brands Hatch round of British Superbike earlier this month, but the test in Spain allowed him more time to get his machine dialled in before his WSBK debut.

The BSB regular will deputise for team regular Chris Vermeulen, who is recuperating from recent surgery on his right knee.

“It all went well and I’m pretty pleased,” Lowry said of the test. “The bike is really good. It just took us a little while to get a setting that works with my riding style, but we seem to have found that now. We made some big steps with the bike set-up on the second morning.

“We worked hard to get there and I am happy with the way things are going. The team has been fantastic in getting the bike to where it is now. The track surface was so hot we did not get out on the final afternoon. The air temperature was 44 degrees at one stage. Coming from Northern Ireland, I have never experienced heat like that before!”

Despite intense heat making the Almeria test a real challenge for all involved, Lowry and his crew eventually found a strong set-up to take to the 11th round of the WSBK championship.