BbKRT Getting Set For Lowes’ Home Round

Round eight of the 2026 FIM Superbike World Championship will soon get underway after a ‘mini break’ in race action since the previous round at Misano in mid-June. The forthcoming venue of Donington Park in the UK is both the original WorldSBK host venue and a home round for one half of the bimota by Kawasaki Racing Team rider line-up - Alex Lowes.

As always, Alex will be joined by regular team-mate Axel Bassani when the action gets underway on track at Donington, with race weekend stretching from Friday 10 July to Sunday 12 July.

A shorter version of the current 4.023km-long Donington Park layout played host to the first-ever WorldSBK race weekend, back in 1988, and the famous old parkland circuit has already seen 70 individual WorldSBK races take place on its generally undulating layout.

This year, Axel and Alex will head to the UK having already secured podium finishes in year two of the bimota KB998 Rimini’s racing life, during the opening round of the 2026 season, at Phillip Island in Australia.

Alex is currently fourth overall in the championship standings, with 156 points, and Axel is an improved sixth, with 128.

Friday 10 July at Donington will feature two 45-minute Free Practice sessions, before a shorter FP3 session on Saturday morning. Shortly afterwards, there will be the traditional Superpole Qualifying session, followed by a full-distance Race One, to be held over 23 laps. Sunday 12 July will feature a short morning warm-up session, a ten-lap Superpole Race, and finally a 23-lap Race Two.

The end of the Donington weekend will mark the completion of two-thirds of the 2026 championship season. It also signals the start of a very long summer break, with the ninth round of the championship not taking place until the weekend of 4-6 September, at Magny-Cours in France.

Alex Lowes, stated: “I can’t wait for the Donington weekend and obviously it is the only chance I get to race in front of the British fans all year. It is a great track and I think from Turn One to Coppice Corner, leading onto the back straight, there are some of the best sections of racetrack anywhere that we go to. The track is good fun, and I have always enjoyed it. I am looking forward to working hard on Friday, seeing all the people, using some of the energy from the fans, friends, and family that are going to be there. I will do my best and try to get on the podium. That is the target. I would love to get on the podium on the bimota at Donington Park.”

Axel Bassani, stated: “We are ready to go to Donington. It is always special to go there and I like to race on that track layout. It has a really fast first part, then in the last few corners we have very strong braking sections. We will see, but I feel in this moment that we have a really good base on the bike and the capacity to stay consistent and have a good speed. We will check how we will start on Friday, but for sure we will try to stay calm and focused on our job. We will try to extract the maximum from the weekend and we will see what happens. The attitude is positive and we will continue to work like we have done until now.”