The start of the season has been almost completely positive for Lowes in the refreshed KRT set-up. Two race wins at Phillip Island in Australia led to Alex scoring strongly in all but one of the subsequent races. He is fourth overall in the championship standings on the approach to Misano as he looks to take three more strong race results on the latest spec of Ninja ZX-10RR machine.
During the previous round at Misano Lowes finished the points scoring races in fifth, third and fourth places. He was also a top runner in a subsequent test session at the Cremona Circuit in Italy, which is a venue that will host a round of WorldSBK for the first time in September.
Bassani has had a lot to adapt to since he joined KRT as an official rider, as this is his first as a factory rider. He had his best results of the year so far at his own home round in Misano, with a sixth in the ‘Sprint’ race and then seventh in Race Two.
A visit to Donington Park in the English East Midlands is not only a return home for Lowes, it is a return to the place of WorldSBK’s birth. Donington was the first venue the championship ever raced at, way back in April 1988.
The peculiarities of the 2024 WorldSBK calendar mean that the fifth round of the championship is taking place in mid-July. This leaves the potential for relatively hot weather but given the geography of the British Isles there may be no guarantees about the ambient conditions Alex and Axel will meet when track action begins.
Race One will take place on Saturday 13 July, at 1400 (BST). The ten-lap Superpole Race is scheduled for 11.00 on Sunday and the final 21-lap race of the weekend is planned to get underway at 14.00.
A quick turnaround will be needed for all participants at Donington as the sixth round of the championship will take place at Most in the Czech Republic, between 19-21 July.
Alex Lowes, stated: “It has been a few weeks since Misano but I have spent some time with the family, recharging the batteries. We have a busy period coming up, with two races - Donington and Most - being held back-to-back. I like the track and I have had some good results there on the Kawasaki Ninja ZX-10RR. I think it suits our bike. This year we have had a positive start, so obviously I am dreaming about challenging for the podium over the weekend at Donington. It is a real home race and I live literally ten minutes from the circuit. I will enjoy the whole week with family, friends and the team so let’s continue our good run of results. Donington is never an easy circuit to set the bike up for, as it is a track of two halves. You have the fast flowing sections of Craner Curves and Schwantz Curve - and what a section of racetrack that is! The last sector is a lot more stop-start, and all about acceleration and braking. I am looking forward to getting stuck into it on Friday with my crew chief Pere and the team, to get ourselves into the best possible situation for the races on Saturday and Sunday.”
Axel Bassani, stated: “After three weeks without racing we go to Donington for the next round. I like the layout of the circuit, although it is really difficult. The first part has some very fast sectors but the last part is really slow with very small corners. It is complex. After the Misano round we went to test at Cremona and we started to feel better. We found something in the set-up, for sure. We are improving every time and we are trying a lot of things, and some different ways. I think in Donington we can do well and we have to do good work in Superpole qualifying. So far for me this has been a problem, so if we are able to start in the first few rows I think we can have a good weekend.”
Tito Rabat (Kawasaki Puccetti Racing) is looking to make even more progress at the Donington Park Round on his directly-supplied KRT Ninja ZX-10RR. He has scored points in three races so far, including the most recent one at Misano.
2024 KRT Rider WorldSBK Statistics
Alex Lowes:
2024: Races: 12, Wins 2, Podiums 4, Superpoles 0
Career Race Wins: 4 (3 for Kawasaki)
Career Podiums: 38 (18 for Kawasaki)
Career Poles: 1 (0 for Kawasaki)
Axel Bassani:
2024: Races: 12, 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: 546 – second overall
Total Kawasaki Poles: 108 – second overall
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