BRITISH Superbike rider Alex Lowes will be standing in for the injured Jonathan Rea at this weekend's World Superbike round in the Czech Republic.

Rea, who lives in Castletown, suffered a serious wrist injury in a crash at the Misano round of the championship last month.

Lowes, from Lincoln, has raced at the 5.4km Brno circuit during his time in European Superstock championships two years ago, but this will be his first outing on a full SBK-specification Castrol Honda CBR1000RR Fireblade producing more than 215bhp.

The 20-year-old began the season in the British Superbike championship campaigning an Evo-specification CBR that carries a virtually stock engine and does not feature the sophisticated electronics of the SBK machine.

As a result of his impressive rides he joined the MSS Colchester Kawasaki squad to replace the injured Stuart Easton.

Alex said: "After the British Superbike race weekend just gone I'm happy to be able to focus 100 per cent on Brno now and I can't wait to get on the bike there.

"I went to the team workshop last week and the guys made me feel really relaxed and welcome and went through a circuit map with me to discuss the gearing and other settings that Jonathan used last year.

"I also tried the bike for size, but really didn't change anything except lowering the front brake lever a little and adding a thumb lever for the rear brake.

"I'll walk the track with the guys when I get to Brno and then just aim to keep improving in every session over the weekend.

"It's difficult to know what to expect in the way of results until I get out there, but my aim is simply to enjoy myself, work hard and do the best that I can to make the most of this chance."

Practice at Brno starts today (Friday) with superpole tomorrow and the races on Sunday.