The Pata Yamaha Official WorldSBK Team got off to their best start of the year in Qatar on day one of the final round of the 2017 FIM Superbike World Championship. In the sweltering heat and humidity under the floodlights at the Losail International Circuit, Alex Lowes continued the excellent form he has shown at the last two rounds, finishing the day in a sensational second position on the combined timesheets, just 0.259s off the top. Michael van der Mark also had a great start to the final race weekend of the season, ending Thursday in fifth overall to cap a superb opening day for the team with both riders, once again, making it directly through to SP2.