A spectacular first round of the season for KRT ended with not only two race wins for Lowes but the overall championship lead for the experienced British rider. 

The Superpole race started with Lowes on the front row again after finishing third in Superpole qualifying. He made the most of his leading position to stay in podium contention in the early laps. Alex would take the lead and then set his own pace as the battle for the other podium fights took place just far enough behind to allow Lowes to control the race in the final three laps.

It was Alex’s first race win for Kawasaki since he first joined KRT in 2020, when he secured Race Two at Phillip Island during his debut weekend in green.

Given his Superpole Race success Lowes had high hopes of another podium finish in what was scheduled to be a 20-lap Race Two - albeit split into two halves by regulation and with a mandatory tyre change stop. After a major oil leak from one of the support class machines led to a reduction of grip in T2 and T3 a long track clean-up protocol took place. This caused a severe delay to both WorldSSP and WorldSBK races and reducing the final WorldSBK race to an 11 lap ‘sprint’ - albeit for full points.

A tense high speed battle ensured for Lowes behind the long time leader Alvaro Bautista. When Andrea Locatelli crashed in Turn Four near the end, Lowes’ knew he could pass Bautista before the flag, given his better tyre grip. Alex timed his pass around the outside to perfection and kept Bautista behind him across the line to record a margin of victory of 0.048 seconds.
 
Bassani was 11th in the Superpole Race after starting from 11th place on the grid. In Race Two he was on course to finish inside the top eight places until another rider interrupted his line and Axel dropped back to finish in 11th place. This is Axel’s first race weekend with the KRT squad and he leaves PI in 14th position in the early championship fight.

With two full points scores on Sunday added to his fourth place finish from Race One on Saturday Alex has 50 championship points, nine more than the next best rider.

After a truly remarkable opening round in many regards the next competitive action for the KRT duo will be close to their team’s home base at Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya, between 22-24 March. A major WorldSBK test session will be held at the same venue before race weekend, between 14-15 March.

Alex Lowes, stated: “It has been a long time since our last win but we have been working hard. In the Superpole Race I was really emotional, I think I was crying on the in-lap. On Race Two I felt I would have more chance if it was a longer race. I was a bit disappointed after the pre-race tests on Tuesday because my tyre life looked good. We have been working really hard to make the bike smoother this year and easier to manage. We cannot read too much into this final race. We know this is a special circuit, but you still have to manage the race well and the bike still has to look after the tyre. I think mine was the best tyre at the end of the race. Alvaro’s bike was moving a lot and he could not enter into corners. I sat there behind and tried to look after the tyre as much as possible. I am obviously very happy. It has been a big, important winter, changing many small details. I am fit and strong now, improving my confidence. I did a good job today. I am going to enjoy the moment because we did a really good job this week. To get two wins today was fantastic, and mixing it up there, I was really happy. The guys have done a fantastic job all weekend.”

Axel Bassani, stated: “In the Superpole race it was difficult when you start from behind and there are only ten laps. Race Two was a bit better but it was not easy as there were many riders close together. It was not easy to make your own pace when behind another rider. I tried to manage my race and arrive in P-8 or P9, but in the last lap Aegerter overtook me and put me out. I lost two positions. We need to improve, but the feeling was good with the bike in this race, and I was able to push and be consistent in my lap times. We need to re-start from there. We had short races this weekend, not easy to manage. Let’s see in the European races and over long distance if we can show more our potential. But we will see in Barcelona.”

Tito Rabat (Kawasaki Puccetti Racing) placed 19th in the Superpole Race and 16th in Race Two on Sunday.

2024 KRT Rider WorldSBK Statistics

Alex Lowes:
2024: Races: 3, Wins 2, Podiums 2, Superpoles 0
Career Race Wins: 4 (3 for Kawasaki)
Career Podiums: 36 (16 for Kawasaki)
Career Poles: 1 (0 for Kawasaki)

Axel Bassani:
2024: Races: 3, Wins 0, Podiums 0, Superpoles 0
Career Race Wins: 0 (0 for Kawasaki)
Career Podiums: 6 (0 for Kawasaki)
Career Poles: 0 (0 for Kawasaki)

8 x Riders’ Championships (Scott Russell 1993, Tom Sykes 2013, Jonathan Rea 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019 & 2020), 1 x EVO Riders’ Championship (David Salom 2014)
6 x Manufacturers’ Championships (Ninja ZX-10R 2015 & 2016, Ninja ZX-10RR 2017, 2018, 2019 and 2020)
5 x Teams’ Championships (KRT/Provec Racing 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018 & 2019)

Kawasaki FIM Superbike World Championship Statistics
Total Kawasaki Race Wins: 180 – second overall
Total Kawasaki Podiums: 544 – second overall
Total Kawasaki Poles: 108 – second overall

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