It’s curtains on the home round for British rider Alex Lowes (bimota by Kawasaki Racing Team) and his teammate Axel Bassani, who put together another strong weekend. The pair have continued to post improved results over the last few rounds, and Sunday saw a battle between the two teammates in Race 2, with the Italian rider coming out on top. Both riders stayed out of the gravel and posted results: a pair of top-five finishes each. Despite closing the Prosecco DOC UK Round behind his teammate, Lowes was none too bothered to see the improving consistency from himself and ‘El Bocia’.
LOWES LEADS THE WAY IN THE FIRST TWO RACES
Lowes’ weekend started from P7 after a 1’25.373s Tissot Superpole session lap saw him lead the third row ahead of Bassani just two hundredths behind him. A strong jump off the line in Race 1 saw the #22 hold P4 for the first five laps until Yari Montella (Barni Spark Racing Team) and fellow Brit Tommy Bridewell (Superbikes Advocates) made their way past on Lap 6 and later lost a position to Lorenzo Baldassarri (Team GoEleven) to finish in P7, Bassani didn’t enjoy the same strong start to the race, falling back to P10 on Lap 4. His pace improved as the race neared its midpoint, as he overtook Miguel Oliveira (ROKiT BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team) and Xavi Vierge (Pata Maxus Yamaha), but Garrett Gerloff (Kawasaki WorldSBK Team) found a way past on Lap 9, which relegated the #47 to a P9 finish.
Sunday morning would prove to be the crown jewel of the #22’s weekend in the United Kingdom. Another strong jump saw him gain two positions by the end of Lap 1 to sit P5, improving to P4 when Iker Lecuona (Aruba.it Racing - Ducati) crashed out from the lead. Bassani showed a similar trajectory to his Race 1, dropping positions at lights out, he sat in P7 by Lap 2, later overtaking Bridewell and, in the final three laps, Vierge, to improve to P5.
Race 2 saw the #22 and #47 start from an improved P4, and P5. Lowes climbed up to P3 across the first five laps, before Lap 6 saw both his brother and eventual P2 finisher Lecuona make his way past, first the #14 at the Old Hairpin, then the factory Ducati rider at the Melbourne Hairpin. While Lecuona rode away from both of them, Alex was able to capitalise on his brother's flagging pace, who later appeared to suffer a tech issue. Alex took advantage and made his way past on Lap 13, riding in P4 for the next eight laps as his teammate closed in on the Englishman. Meanwhile, Bassani had dropped two positions by Lap 3 to sit in P7 and later P6 when the #46 retired with a tech issue. The #22 suffered from a lack of grip in the late stage of the race, meaning that when the Italian passed Sam Lowes to tail the #22. Bassani’s race management enabled ‘El Bocia’ to take back a quarter of a second on Lap 16, three tenths on Lap 18, and a tenth and a half on Lap 20 to set up a Lap 21 move at the Foggy Esses to take P4 from the Englishman.
“IN THE LAST LAPS, WE WERE BOTH STRUGGLING FOR GRIP ON THE REAR… P4 AND P5 IS REALLY GOOD FOR THE TEAM”
‘El Bocia’ coming out on top is an important morale victory, as throughout their time together with Bimota he has seen himself finish behind the experienced Englishman. Particularly this season, however, Bassani looks like he has turned a new leaf, sporting the most podiums of the team’s rider pair, and while he still is behind the #22 on the Riders’ Championship standings, he has minimised the points disparity between the two riders over the course of 2026 so far.
On his Sunday and the battle with his teammate, Bassani said: “I’m really happy because Donington is typically a difficult track for me. We worked really hard, and I’m really happy with how we finished. Sunday morning was more difficult as I started farther back. P4 here is like a podium for us. In the final laps, we were both struggling for rear grip. We were at really similar levels, but P4 and P5 is really good for the team. We are always there, near the front. It’s really good for the team.”
“I PAID THE PRICE FOR PUSHING HARD EARLY, I TRIED TO HAVE A GO AT HIM, BUT I DIDN’T HAVE MUCH GRIP”
While Alex came up short of his teammate in Race 2, he was pleased with the team's continued progress, as not only Alex but both riders seem to have stabilised their results around the top six after a lack of consistency earlier in the year. While Ducati locked down the Teams’ and Manufacturers’ Championships at Donington, Bimota finished the round more than 80 points clear of BMW for second place in the Manufacturers’ title race. In the Riders’ Championship, results like these help prevent Yari Montella from running away with third place, but the #22 will need to find a way onto the podium more frequently if he wants to stage a comeback with four rounds left to ride.
On the latter two races of his weekend, Alex Lowes said: “It was a good Sunday. We made some changes from Race 1; the Superpole Race was good, we finished in P4, and in Race 2, we tried maybe too hard over the first 6-10 laps. When Iker passed, I was doing high 1’25s, which in the hot track conditions was maybe too much. At that pace, I was wearing the rear tyre down and riding right on the edge. With about 10 laps to go, I had no more grip. When I looked up at my pit board and saw eight laps to go, I paid the price for pushing that hard early on, and Axel caught me. I tried to have a go at him, but I didn’t have much grip to give him much competition. It was a good battle; of course, I wanted to beat him, but it’s still great for the team. I’m glad for Axel; he’s been improving a lot since he joined the team, three years ago now. It’s been steady improvement. He’s a fast rider, he’s young, and he’s consistent. It’s good for me to try to keep up with him, learning from him and him learning things from me. We’re consistently performing at a high level now.”
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