As well as the Jerez round being the literal season finale - as none of the four World Championships that run inside the greater WorldSBK paddock yet decided - it will hold a huge significance for all inside the KRT set-up.
This will be the last round for the team and its riders Alex Lowes and Axel Bassani before they become a new entity - Bimota by Kawasaki Racing Team - to take on the WorldSBK challenge next season.
Before then, Alex and Axel are looking forward to a final taste of race action on the Ninja ZX-10RR at what is one of Europe’s truly legendary motorcycle racing venues of the modern era.
In 2025 the Kawasaki Puccetti Racing team will run American rider Garrett Gerloff in a one-rider official WorldSBK squad, which will continue to race the Ninja ZX-10RR.
At 4.423km long, Jerez is a regular testing and now racing venue on the WorldSBK calendar, with a vast variety of corners and even some elevation changes to make it a challenge for any rider or machine.
On the eve of the 2024 season-ending round Lowes is fifth in the championship with 285 points. Axel sits 15th overall, with 94 points, in what is his first season not only as a KRT rider, but a factory rider in WorldSBK.
Alex Lowes, stated: “The season has gone too fast as always but Jerez is always a great circuit to ride. It will be a bit sad to be the last race on the Ninja ZX-10RR for me and the team, so our plan is to enjoy it all together and try to achieve the strongest results possible. Overall, it’s been a successful season so I’m determined to fight for podium finishes to round the year off!”
Axel Bassani, stated: “Jerez will be the last round of the year and I had a test there. The feeling was quite good but testing and race weekends are two different things. I hope to go on track on Friday at Jerez and find the right feeling again. We will try to enjoy the last round. It will be important to find the best way so that we can also start next year with good motivation. We will try to have three good races for Kawasaki as this will be our last round with this Ninja ZX-10RR machine. I will put 100% on track to try to give Kawasaki and my team a good result so that we can enjoy it all together.”
Tito Rabat (Kawasaki Puccetti Racing) will be back into the thick of WorldSBK action for the last time on the KRT supplied Ninja ZX-10RR. He currently sits in 20th in the championship with 22 points and a personal-best 2024 race finish of tenth, which he has now achieved three times.
2024 KRT Rider WorldSBK Statistics
Alex Lowes:
2024: Races: 32, Wins 2, Podiums 11, Superpoles 1
Career Race Wins: 4 (3 for Kawasaki)
Career Podiums: 45 (25 for Kawasaki)
Career Poles: 2 (1 for Kawasaki)
Axel Bassani:
2024: Races: 33, 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: 553 – second overall
Total Kawasaki Poles: 109 – second overall
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