In Superpole Qualifying shortly before Race One Lowes put himself third in the rankings, making for a front row start in the opener and Sunday’s Superpole Race.

Bassani could not extract the full potential of his machine over a single fast lap due to traction issue and went 18th quickest in Superpole. Despite his grid position he was a relatively close 1.5 seconds behind Superpole winner Toprak Razgatlioglu in terms of sheer pace.

After an imperfect drive off the grid to the first turn, Lowes found himself down the order from the start, ending lap one in eighth position. He started to make progress as the race carried on, moving up to sixth place on two occasions through the race.

He would subsequently to fall at Turn Two on lap 17 shortly after being re-passed by Nicolo Bulega. Alex restarted but would head back into the pits to retire.

Bassani had a tough race starting from 18th place on the grid, and was unable to find the feeling or pace from his bike set-up to attack the way he wanted to. He also had to take a long lap penalty for running off track at T1, then not losing the required one second in lap time after he rejoined.

Sunday 21 July at Most will feature the ten-lap Tissot Superpole Race and then a final 22-lap Race Two.

Alex Lowes, stated: “I was happy with Superpole as we need to start at the front to give ourselves the best chance to fight. Unfortunately I didn’t make a good start and the bike slowed a little in 2nd/3rd gear, so we need to check that for tomorrow. I was taking my time and trying to keep the pace I knew, which was mid-1’32s. With seven or eight laps to go I could see Bulega struggling a bit. I tried to pass him a couple of times but he came back past me up the straight. The final time he came across a bit when he passed me. Then he braked and I was on his outside, but going faster, so we went a little wide at T1. This meant my entry into T2 was a bit tighter. I leaned the bike slightly more and lost the front. I was having a good race so the punishment didn’t fit the crime. We will try again tomorrow with a few small changes before the Superpole race.”

Axel Bassani, stated: “In Superpole we were a little bit unlucky because the second tyre for the time attack was not working. It was impossible to ride. In the race I was not able to ride like I wanted and attack. I was slow and I have not a lot to say. I also had to do a long lap because I went out of the track in Turn One. A really unproductive race and I hope things will be better tomorrow.”

Tito Rabat (Kawasaki Puccetti Racing) finished Saturday in 17th position in Race One, after qualifying 19th in Superpole.

2024 KRT Rider WorldSBK Statistics

Alex Lowes:
2024: Races: 16, Wins 2, Podiums 6, Superpoles 0
Career Race Wins: 4 (3 for Kawasaki)
Career Podiums: 40 (20 for Kawasaki)
Career Poles: 1 (0 for Kawasaki)

Axel Bassani:
2024: Races: 16, 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: 548 – second overall
Total Kawasaki Poles: 108 – second overall

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