Alex Lowes to replace injured Smith
Alex Lowes will make his MotoGP race debut in front of his home fans at this weekend's British Grand Prix.
The World Superbike star is to replace the injured Bradley Smith at the Monster Yamaha Tech 3 team for both Silverstone and the following Misano round.
Smith suffered right knee ligament injuries when he tangled with a slower rider in practice at the Oschersleben World Endurance finale.
The Englishman was returning to an R1 for the first time since last year's Suzuka victory to try and help the YART squad secure the title.
Lowes meanwhile had ridden a MotoGP bike - the same Tech 3 machine he will now race - a few days earlier at the Brno post-race test, as a reward for his part in this year's Yamaha Suzuka 8 Hours victory.
Although he fell at the very end of his outing, Lowes - twin brother of Moto2 title contender and future Aprilia MotoGP racer Sam - had just set a lap time a creditable 2.6s from Tech 3 regular Pol Espargaro, after 15 laps on an M1.
That test - plus the Yamaha/Monster/British/Available (due to no clash with WorldSBK) factors - meant Lowes was the clear favourite should Smith be unable to compete in what would have been his final home appearance in Tech 3 colours.
