Lowes Finishes Debut BbKRT Season In Sixth Place Overall

Alex Lowes finished the final round of the year with a sixth place in Race Two and in overall sixth position in the championship table. His BbKRT team-mate Axel Bassani confirmed his top ten ranking in the points table after the two races on Sunday at Jerez.

As the third straight day of warm and dry conditions arrived for riders and spectators to enjoy, the final races of the year got underway at the Circuito de Jerez - Angel Nieto, on Sunday 19 October.

Alex lined up for the ten-lap sprint race in third position, with Axel in 13th place on the grid.

The opening Sunday race saw Lowes involved in a fight for the off-podium positions from the start, eventually finishing in a strong fifth place. Axel just missed out on a championship point in that contest by finishing tenth.

In the final race of the weekend - and of the season - Lowes was again inside the fight for the top few places through all 20 laps. He ended up in sixth place, having been in fifth place for the first five laps.

Having already confirmed his final sixth place in the Rider’s Championship rankings in the first season on the new bimota by Kawasaki Racing Team KB998 Rimini machine, Lowes’ combined race finishes at Jerez of sixth, fifth and then sixth again provided a positive finish to what has been a strong debut season for all involved inside the BbKRT squad.

Bassani was tenth in Race Two, scoring six more championship points to underline his top-ten credentials on the new WorldSBK machine.

Lowes’ personal season total of 218 points took him to his top six ranking, while Bassani scored 140 points on his way to his tenth place overall.

The 2026 season gets underway at Phillip Island in late February, but the first full on-track preparations will begin at Jerez in two days’ time, with private tests being held between 21-22 October.

Alex Lowes, stated: “I am quite happy with our day’s work and I thought I rode the bike really well today. We tried some things and probably missed a little bit of feeling in the second half of the race. We had a solid final weekend, but not an easy one in the hot conditions. Overall I am happy, certainly, with the second part of the season. In the first year of a new project, the effort, passion and motivation from everybody in the team has been fantastic. I am proud to be part of this project in our first year against other manufacturers and teams who have years of experience. I think we have to be really happy. I am grateful for the job that has been done, it is impressive. From the mechanical side, the KB998 Rimini is a new bike and we have not had any problems. This shows you what a good job the engineers and mechanics have done. I am proud of them. Now, as always in racing, now we will analyse, reflect and try to improve during the winter to try to be stronger next year.”

Axel Bassani, stated: “Today has been quite good and we were always in the top ten. We were consistent and always fighting with some top riders. It was quite a good season because everything was new for us, but we were always there, fighting for a good position. We finished inside the top ten in the Rider’s Championship so this was really positive for a new bike and a new project. The bike never stopped during the season, which is very important because we can believe in the bike, and we can always arrive at the finish line. I am happy for everybody in the team, for myself and all the mechanics - they have done an incredible job. Thank you to everyone. We will keep working for the future.”