The Pata Yamaha Official WorldSBK Team suffered from a double dose of misfortune under the floodlights in Qatar on Friday, as both riders crashed out of Race 1 after having shown real promise throughout the weekend. Alex Lowes recorded his second consecutive front-row start and started Race 1 from P2 on the grid. During the race, he was involved in an excellent battle for the second position before he crashed at Turn 16. He managed to rejoin but, due to damage sustained in the original accident, crashed again with two laps to go bringing a premature end to his race. His teammate Michael van der Mark qualified in seventh and was battling hard during the race to chase down the leading group when was unlucky to make contact with another rider and crashed out on lap 7.