Lowes Starts Final Weekend Ins...

Alex Lowes (bimota by Kawasaki Racing Team) began the final round of the season in good form at the Circuito de Jerez - Angel Nieto, by finishing inside the top six places after the first free practice sessions were completed.

Lowes and his team-mate Axel Bassani found hot conditions waiting for them at Jerez, with air temperatures of almost 30°C in evidence at times on Friday, 17 October.

With Lowes finally sixth in the combined Friday free practice times at the 4.423km-long Andalusian venue, Bassani ended up 13th. He had been tenth fastest in the hotter conditions of FP2, until those times were combined with the FP1 best laps, when he ended up three places lower.

Jerez is a circuit each WorldSBK bimota KB998 Rimini rider has tested at this season, which allowed some degree of ‘real-world’ preparation before the track action started on Friday. That said, the unexpected hot ambient and track temperatures had to be taken into account, especially as the rest of race weekend promises to have similar conditions to those experienced on day one.

A final FP3 track session will take place on Saturday, 18 October, before Superpole Qualifying and then the first 20-lap race of the weekend gets underway in the afternoon. On Sunday, there will be a ten-lap Tissot-Superpole Race, before the final 20-lap Race Two on Sunday.

Alex Lowes, stated: “This afternoon we did a long run and I was not that happy with the front. I was on the SC1 and I was sliding a little bit at the end. I tried an SC2 front at the end of the session, just to get a reference in the hot conditions. I think we are missing a few tenths in the last part of the race distance at the moment, but we have all night to check the data. I felt good on the bike, I was enjoying riding it, and I was taking a lot from it. But, I think we need to improve a little bit if we want to fight for the podium - which is our target this weekend. We did more laps than anyone and we have a lot of information. It is nice to be riding in such hot, sunny conditions at Jerez in October.”

Axel Bassani, stated: “It has been quite a positive day. We are struggling a little bit in some points but we are working hard to find something. We are not really distant from the top five, so we are positive. We will see how things are tomorrow, when it will be quite hot for the opening race. So, it will be important to be consistent and not make a lot of mistakes, then we will see what happens.”