Mere kilometres from their facilities in the nearby Rimini, Italy, Alex Lowes and the MOTUL FIM Superbike World Championship’s bimota by Kawasaki Racing Team put on a proud performance for the manufacturer’s home fans in attendance at the Misano World Circuit "Marco Simoncelli". showing plenty of speed to fight in the top five across two of the Pirelli Emilia-Romagna Round’s three races
BIMOTA-ON-BIMOTA IN RACE 1
Alex Lowes started hot with his best Tissot Superpole session performance of the season so far, landing his first front row in P3 thanks to his 1’32s flat time, clocking him in under seven tenths behind Nicolo Bulega (Aruba.it Racing - Ducati) in P1. After Race 1’s opening lap, Independent Ducatis Yari Montella (Barni Spark Racing Team) and Lorenzo Baldassarri (Team GoEleven) both made their way past the #22, setting up an entertaining battle for P5 with his teammate Axel Bassani. ‘Balda’ crashed out of the race on Lap 5, promoting the pair up to P4 and P5 with the Brit in the forward position. He held on as the Italian closed in, before Lap 7, when Bassani made his way past on Turn 10. The #22 hung around eight-tenths behind the Italian until Lap 14, when the #47 broke it open to around two seconds, and finished just shy of three seconds clear of the Brit.
“IT WAS A SHAME; I FELT GOOD ON THE SCQ TYRE”
Sunday started strong for Alex Lowes. In the Tissot Superpole Race, he again lost a position early to the #5, but he defended his P4 well until the final sector of Lap 5, when his KB998 Rimini suffered a problem. forcing him to pull off the racing line. By the end of Lap 5, he sat in P13, before retiring on the subsequent lap as his teammate strode forward and completed the race in P4.
On his tech issue, Alex Lowes was frustrated, yet he still sang the praises of his team backing him: “In the Superpole Race, something went wrong with the bike, and I had to pull off the track. As to what it was, I can’t say too much, but it was a shame because I felt good with the SCQ tyre and I was riding well. I was in fourth, so it would have been a nice boost to the weekend, but the guys did a great job fixing the bike and getting it ready for Race 2.”
“OVERALL, A SOLID WEEKEND… MAYBE EIGHT OUT OF TEN”
The DNF saw the Englishman sent back to a P10 starting position in the decisive Race 2, and a terrific jump off the line at lights out saw him up to sixth place through Turn 1, and after going bar to bar in the Turn 4 corner, he was back up to P5 midway through the opening lap. Turns later, Lowes squeezed past Andrea Locatelli (Pata Maxus Yamaha) for P4 on the parabolic Turn 14. He held onto P4 with both hands while Montella settled into the race behind him. The Brit rode three tenths ahead of the #5 at the outset of Lap 3 until a mistake during Lap 4 cost him time, and Montella made his way past to take P4 from him. The Bimota rider struggled to keep up with the Independent Ducati from that point on, the gap swelling to more than a second by Lap 6. Ahead of him in P3, his teammate’s luck took a turn for the worse as, with the podium all but assured to him, the #47 crashed out, elevating the Englishman to a P4 finish, his first since Race 2 last round at Aragon.
On Misano’s final race, Alex Lowes said: “It was a positive Race 2; it was unfortunate to have the issue which saw me have to pull out of the Superpole Race, but in Race 2 It felt pretty good despite the conditions having changed, it was windy and I got a track limits warning early in the race which meant I had to be pretty cautions in the second part and couldn’t attack too much. I enjoyed it. Overall, a solid weekend, not easy with these hot conditions, but I’d say maybe an eight out of ten. I’m ready for a beer on the beach!”
Alex Lowes will feature in his home round next time out at Donington Park, action kicking off on July 10th. Watch live and OnDemand with the WorldSBK VideoPass! Now 50% off!