Lowes on a high
British rider has best-ever weekend to lead WSB standings on Kawasaki debut
Ice-cold Alex rules WSB roost after first-round stunner
Never mind Rea, Redding or Toprak, it was Alex Lowes who left Phillip Island with a superb race win and the World Superbike championship lead for the first time in his career. By clinching victory in Sunday’s second race and beating world champion teammate Jonathan Rea in a straight fight, the former Yamaha man proved why he was third in the series last year and was snapped up by Kawasaki. His win also followed a very close second in Race One and fourth in the sprint. Those close to Lowes expected a tougher start as the 29-year-old had crashed twice in earlier testing and looked to be struggling to adapt to the Kawasaki ZX-10RR. But after working hard with crew chief Marcel Duinker in Friday practice, he established a potent race pace. Despite starting eighth on the grid, Lowes only lost to Razgatlioglu in Race One by just 0.007 seconds – the equal fifthclosest finish in the 33-year history of the championship.
But Lowes’ career best race came on Sunday, adding to his maiden win at Brno in 2018 by calmly picking off rivals one by one. The first race weekend of the new decade marked the 30th anniversary of World Superbikes at Phillip Island, where the 54,000-strong weekend crowd was wowed by fairing-bashing and bar-to-bar action as riders preserved their tyres for the majority of the race distance before ‘pulling the pin’ to deliver truly nail-biting finalés.
Just 0.041 seconds covered the podium finishers in Race One (the second-closest in history), while the total margin between first and second places across the weekend’s three races was just 0.111 seconds. “I feel fantastic, it’s been a great weekend with the new team,” Lowes said afterwards.
“The final race was tricky because temperatures were so high, making grip levels drop. I had to be patient. People were banging into me, pushing me wide! Baz hit me a few times, then Toprak, then Michael. It was fun racing but hard to find a rhythm! I was back in eighth then Chaz and Bautista came past me. However, I felt strong on the bike the whole time. I stayed focused on being smooth, looking after the tyre and coming forward. It doesn’t always happen but the plan paid off! I’m really happy to get my first win with Kawasaki and I’m going to enjoy it tonight!” Lowes is a changed man since making his debut in 2014. Then he was anger personified, furious should things not work out. But the affable Englishman is now one of the most mature riders on the grid. Next is Qatar on March 14-15th, should it not be affected by the coronavirus restrictions which have seen MotoGP lose its race (see page 6). In total, Lowes has achieved four Doha podiums between 2017 and 2019.