In a wet Superpole session on Saturday morning Alex crashed on the treacherous track surface but got back to the pits. After a medical check on himself and repairs to his machine Alex eventually qualified ninth on the grid, earning himself a third row starting position. Axel found enough pace from his wet set-up to take tenth place on the grid after Superpole, heading up the fourth row.

In the first race itself, held in dry but heavily overcast conditions, Lowes would stay in contention for a podium position until the very end, finishing just under one second from the third placed rider, Iker Lecuona. Alex pushed even harder on the final lap to try and take a podium finish but after a warning from his front end he ran a little wide and took a cool-headed fourth place result.

The 13 points his Race One performance earned him helped Alex in his overall championship ambitions, as he has now drawn level with Danilo Petrucci in their fight for fourth place.

Starting from tenth, Bassani was in the leading mix early on but was to fall from eighth place while entering T6, on lap seven. He was uninjured in what was a fast crash as he lost the front under braking.

Now Alex and Axel will have two more Estoril races to compete in, with a ten lap Superpole race on Sunday morning and another 21-lap Race Two in the final afternoon.

Alex Lowes, stated: “This Race has been a hard one, especially after my morning crash in Superpole. In the end I was on the limit to be there, the front was moving a bit but I tried to get right onto the back of Iker. I pushed on the last lap, in the first couple of sectors, but in T7 I went a bit wide so I said to myself, “OK, fourth is good today.” This track has been difficult this weekend because of the conditions. There have been a lot of crashes where there has not been a lot of warning before the crash. I think the grip is quite low on the track, which doesn’t help. After that, it was nice to get a good lump of points today and that was a solid ride, I think.”

Axel Bassani, stated: “I only did six laps so it was a very short race for me. The start was not bad, and I was there in the front with the fastest guys. I was trying to stay on the same pace as them but I was struggling a lot. The bike was moving around and sliding. I arrived at T6 and unfortunately I lost the front during braking. It was a big crash but I am OK. I am sorry for the team, and tomorrow we will try to do better.”

Tito Rabat (Kawasaki Puccetti Racing) started from 23rd place on the grid but after an amazing performance to fight his way through the field he finished in tenth place. This equalled his best result of the season so far.

2024 KRT Rider WorldSBK Statistics

Alex Lowes:
2024: Races: 30, 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: 31, 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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