Alex Lowes clinches the first victory of the season at the Australia circuit and leads the WSBK.
Lowes maximized his leader position to stay in contention for the podium in the early laps, positioning himself ahead of the 2023 season champion, Álvaro Bautista. The Kawasaki rider took the lead and then set his own pace, while the battle for the remaining podium positions unfolded away from the race leaders. This allowed Lowes to dominate the race in the last three laps, culminating in an epic photo finish.
The race was marked by a significant oil leak from one of the bikes, causing reduced grip in turns 2 and 3. After implementing an extensive cleaning protocol for the safety of the riders, the significant delays in the WorldSSP and WorldSBK races shortened the final WorldSBK race to an 11-lap sprint.
Meanwhile, Axel Bassani finished 11th in the Superpole Race after starting from the 11th position on the grid. In the second competition, he was on track to secure a spot among the top eight when another rider disrupted his trajectory, forcing Axel to fall back and finish in the 11th position.
The KRT duo will compete again for positions at the end of May, during the weekend of March 22-24, on their home turf: the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya.
STATEMENTS:
Alex Lowes (Kawasaki Racing Team Rider): "I'm in good shape and strong now, improving my confidence. Today I did a good job. I'll savor the moment because we've done really well this week. Getting two wins today has been fantastic, it made me very happy. The guys have done a fantastic job all weekend."
Axel Bassani (Kawasaki Racing Team Rider): "We need to improve, but in this race, I had good feelings with the bike, and I could push and be consistent in my times. We have to start from there again. We had short races this weekend, not easy to manage. We'll see in the European and long-distance races and see if we can show more of our potential. We'll see in Barcelona."
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