After morning rains the track proved to be dry for the Superpole Race start at 11am local time, with dry weather continuing underneath occasionally cloudy skies for the rest of the day.

In the ten lap Superpole race Alex was in an early podium-challenging position on his Ninja ZX-10RR. He would eventually finish fifth, just 1.611 seconds from the race winner Toprak Razgatlioglu. From 15th place on the grid Axel would finish 14th in the ‘sprint’.

In Race Two, the second full distance race of the weekend, Lowes originally placed seventh, all the time closing in on the two riders who would finish only just ahead of him.

The rider originally credited with sixth place, Remy Gardner, was automatically penalised to drop one position after he exceeded the track limits on the final lap. Alex was thus promoted to sixth place, taking a double digit points score away from Race Two as a result.

Race Two was an unfortunate one for Axel, as he was knocked off by another rider on lap one at T4 and was unable to restart due to his machine being damaged.

In the championship standings Alex is now third overall, with 75 points - the same total as new second ranked rider and Race Two winner, Alvaro Bautista. Axel is 14th, with 15 points.

Assen in the Netherlands will host the third round of the WorldSBK championship, between 19-21 April.

Alex Lowes, stated: “I am really happy with how our Sunday went because this is not the easiest track for us. It has been a difficult weekend and we didn’t really have the speed in the recent tests or on Friday in Free Practice. So to get three top six results is good. I was really strong at the end of the last race, catching Petrucci and Gardner, trying to get into the top five. After Australia we were expecting a lot but we know this track is quite difficult. I enjoyed the Superpole Race and feeling comfortable with the bike. I was able to do the best laps we have made at the track and improve my race time compared to last year by quite a lot. Overall, we have to be happy. I enjoyed the team’s home race and I am already looking forward to the next round in Assen.”

Axel Bassani, stated: “The Superpole Race was good but it is difficult to recover places even if we had 20 laps. With ten laps in the Superpole race it was quite impossible. We lost some positions in the last laps. It was not easy but the feeling was better than yesterday. For sure we have to work a lot with the front, and also the rear as I don’t really have a good feeling. But it was better. In Race Two, the feeling was really good even on the end of the formation lap, because we had changed something. I recovered some positions in the first three corners, so I was able to be in P9 and then I would manage my race to arrive at the end in a good position. But, Michael Ruben Rinaldi arrived straight on me and that put me down really strongly. It is a shame because I think today we had the possibility to stay with Alex, with Johnny, and try to arrive in seventh or eighth place. For us that would be not bad. We will start again in the Netherlands and see what happens.”

Tito Rabat (Kawasaki Puccetti Racing) was a strong 16th in the Superpole Race and followed that up with an even better 15th Race Two. He is now 20th in the championship standings.

2024 KRT Rider WorldSBK Statistics

Alex Lowes:
2024: Races: 6, 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: 6, 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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