Source: Suzuki Racing.

Voltcom Crescent Suzuki’s Alex Lowes has his sights set on a Superbike World Championship podium in the dry following a breakthrough second in race two on Sunday at Assen.

Lowes, starting from ninth on the grid, battled hard on his Yoshimura-powered GSX-R to challenge the front runners, claiming second place on his fourth lap, and setting the first of his three fastest laps of the race.

The British rider seemed unperturbed by the afternoon’s two restarts due to the forecasted heavy rain as he continued to hunt-down eventual winner, Honda’s Jonathan Rea.

Closing the gap to the front, the Englishman set two further stunning laps, securing the Pirelli Fastest lap award with a 1m52.975 on his penultimate revolution, to claim his debut podium on only his third weekend on the world stage.

“It was a great race for me and it’s really good for the team for me to finally get on the podium!” Lowes said. “It was a wet race, so it’s never as nice as getting on the podium in the dry but I’m very happy and hopefully this can kick-start our season after the injuries.

“It’s been a really difficult start to the year for me and now I’ve got some good points on the board and a podium, I’m looking forward to hopefully improving both myself and the bike – and seeing if we can be a bit closer to the front in the dry!”

Lowes had previously mastered his best result of the championship so far with a ninth-placed finish in race one, now ranked 10th in the standings after mixed results at Phillip Island and Aragon.