‘I had a little plan… and it worked!’ Alex Lowes
Leads World Superbike Championship after Phillip Island thriller…so how did he do it?
On a single afternoon, Alex Lowes doubled both the number of race wins Kawasaki enjoyed last year as well as those in his own career thanks to his first double victory since his time in British Superbikes. As the Australian Round at Phillip Island delivered one of the most event-filled meetings in living memory, the Lincolnshire rider pulled a stunning move on World Champion Alvaro Bautista around the outside of the world-famous Lukey Heights corner to secure his second win of the day.
The result means Lowes now leads the 2024 WSBK standings heading to Barcelona next month, but is remaining realistic in what looks to be one of the most open title fights in recent history. On a weekend which saw no fewer than seven riders celebrating podiums, how did #22 overcome the chaos to bag 80% of the points on offer?
MCN investigates just what made the Kawasaki man so fast on Sunday at the legendary Phillip Island…
Phillip Island is Lowes’ happy hunting ground
Lowes has always been good at ‘PI’. Riding a Suzuki, he qualified fifth there on his full-time debut ten years ago. Since joining Kawasaki, he’s celebrated no fewer than six podiums: two each in 2020, 2022 and 2024. Coming from BSB, which takes in venues like Oulton Park, Knockhill and Cadwell Park, the Brit is accustomed to elevation changes and blind corners.
He's the best overtaker
When it comes to all guns blazing, no holds barred overtaking manoeuvres, there’s nobody better than Alex Lowes… although he may have to watch his back now that twin brother Sam is on the grid with a Marc VDS Ducati. Everyone is talking about Alex’s physicsdefying move around the outside of Bautista although it wasn’t his first – he did the same thing to the Spaniard a year ago – twice!
If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it
This year will be remembered as a season of changes: Jonathan Rea has moved from Kawasaki to Yamaha, Toprak Razgatlioglu has switched from Yamaha to BMW, and new regulations have been introduced to make the show more unpredictable. Granted, Lowes is working with a different crew chief, but he’s still part of the same Kawasaki Racing Team he joined in 2020. And it is
‘When I have a good day, I enjoy it’
that continuity that becomes key, especially at the start of the season when testing has been limited.
Engine regs play their part
Speak to any Kawasaki rider over the last few years and the word ‘inertia’ will have cropped up. As of 2024, a range of new rules have, in theory, allowed each manufacturer to gain something. As Lowes told MCN last November, the rule most beneficial to Kawasaki is that allowing crankshaft weight to be changed by up to 20%. The lighter the moving parts in the engine, the less unwanted inertia there is. The ZX-10RR is the oldest bike on the grid, so Kawasaki needed all the help they could get. As the RPM limits have been reset to the red lines of the road-going machines, the green bikes have 500 more revs than they ended with last year.
Bautista is weighed down
Although the Ducati also has 500 revs, the added weight penalty for Alvaro Bautista was on clear display. Just as Lowes out-dragged Jonathan Rea in a run to the Phillip Island line four years ago, he did the same with Bautista on Sunday. And while there appeared to be some level of top speed parity on show with nothing separating the Ducatis, BMWs, Kawasakis and even Yamahas, Phillip Island isn’t necessarily an accurate gauge of top speed performance. With the exit of the final corner being so fast and long, speed at the end of the straight is as much about drive grip as it is true horsepower.
Riba is a magician
Not only is Pere Riba a crew chief but he’s a former racer, a race winner and championship leader in World Supersport, as well as a competent superbike competitor. On top of that, he’s a brilliant people motivator and used to be a serial tyre tester in Japan… no wonder Lowes noted how much more grip he had than Bautista: “Alvaro was struggling to enter the corners. I had a little plan… and it worked!” explained Lowes. The shortening of the race stints due to the late addition of pit-stops to help cope with an abrasive new track surface allowed Kawasaki to use a more aggressive setup to perfection.
Being a dad puts things in a new perspective
“My life has changed a lot since I last won four years ago,” Lowes commented. “I’m a dad now. Maybe my perspective on racing has changed. I’m not saying it means less, because it doesn’t. I work every day but I can enjoy it more now. When I have a good day, I enjoy it. You never get used to winning but, when the bus doesn’t stop outside yours too often, you really need to enjoy it when it does.”