Another Top Five For Lowes In The Netherlands

On the second race day of the Assen WorldSBK weekend, bimota by Kawasaki Racing Team rider Alex Lowes secured the best individual BbKRT result of fifth place, which he earned in the ten-lap Superpole Race.

With dark clouds around but only occasional falls of light rain over the final raceday in the Netherlands, Lowes and his team-mate Axel Bassani had two races to take part in at the classic 4.542km long circuit.

Lowes lined up sixth on the grid for the Superpole Race, and after a strong start he ended up in fifth place in the final classification. He was finally involved in a real fight with double world champion Alvaro Bautista, and it was a battle that remained ‘live’ all the way to the end. Alex was just 0.154 seconds behind Bautista across the finish line. Fifth place replicated his Race One result from Saturday.

The Superpole Race was a tough test for Axel as he started the race in 17th place, while feeling the effects of an illness. He was ultimately handed a long lap penalty for accidentally cutting the course, which left him in 18th position at the end of the ten-lap sprint.

In Race Two, over 21 laps, Lowes dropped from fourth place after the first three laps to 11th at the flag. Bassani was finally 13th and three seconds further back, but taking more championship points away from the third round of the WorldSBK series.

In Race Two Lowes had experienced a drop in rear traction entering the corners, from the fifth lap onward, which meant he could not lean the bike over while entering corners in the way he wanted. The result was that he could not attack other riders to overtake, or defend his track position with relative ease.

Bassani was happy with his pace in Race Two, despite starting from 17th place again, but found it very difficult to pass other riders. His 13th place finish earned him some more championship points.

In the overall rankings, Alex is now fourth with 69 points and Bassani is sixth, with 67 points.

The next round of the championship will be held at the relatively new WorldSBK Circuit of Balaton Park, in Hungary, between 1-3 May.

Alex Lowes stated: “The Superpole Race was good. I slowed down a little bit when it started to rain a little, but I had a good start. I was happy with the pace and set the best lap I have done here at Assen. The bike was working well. I was nearly in the mix with the leading bikes and trying to hold Alvaro Bautista off. He was a bit stronger and passed me near the end of the race. Then I was trying to stay with him to try to come back. I was happy with the race and happy with the speed. In Race Two, I had a good start again, put myself in a strong position, and had a few good laps trying to go with the Ducatis. After about five laps, I had a big problem with vibration and sliding from the rear. From there on, I was just trying to finish the race. We have to check why we had this problem. Other than that, over the whole weekend, I felt like I maximised our package well. Apart from the last 14 laps of the second race, I think we did a good job. I am trying to take the positive points and move forward for Balaton Park.”

Axel Bassani stated: “In general, it has been a difficult weekend - and also being ill was not the best solution! We finished the Superpole race with things being quite difficult. My feeling with the set-up was not really good, and then we had a long lap penalty. When you have that, then the race is completely finished. In Race Two, honestly, I was feeling quite good with the bike and I felt like I also had more pace than the riders in front of me. But it was really difficult to overtake. I tried it sometimes, but every time I was going long. I had to adapt to the pace that the riders were setting in front. In the end, I took some points. Now we have to work for Balaton and come back a little bit more strongly.”