Alex Lowes leaves Australia with two wins and as tournament captain

Alex Lowes can look back at the first successful race weekend of the 2024 FIM Superbike World Championship season in Australia. The Kawasaki rider managed to finish fourth in the first race on Saturday and crossed the finish line as the winner of both the Tissot Superpole and the second race on Sunday. So Lowes leaves Australia at the top of the championship standings, although in the past he has always worked under skipper Jonathan Rea within the Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK team.

Following the departure of Jonathan Rea from Kawasaki, Alex Lowes has been automatically promoted to captain within the Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK team. The Briton had young Italian Axel Bassani as a teammate and Jonathan Rea's long-time crew chief, Spaniard Pere Ripa, was alongside him as the new crew chief.

Despite all these changes and the fact that the RIAA has often complained in 2023 that the Kawasaki ZX-10RR is becoming increasingly uncompetitive, very few people thought Lowes would be able to make waves last weekend in Phillip Island, get close to the podium or he will. Be able to win the race at all.

But Kawasaki's new leader was there last weekend. After putting his ZX-10RR on the front row of the grid during Saturday's Superpole race with a third lap, he narrowly missed the podium later in the day with a fourth-place finish, but that was different on Sunday. During the third and final day of the Grand Ridge Brewery Australian Tour, there was revenge, as Lowes took the win in the Tissot Superpole and did so again later in the day in Race 2. With his win in this final race of the weekend, the Briton earned respect By returning the world champion to second place on the last lap after a wonderful overtaking from the outside.

Alex Luiz: “The final overtaking was not very difficult, I had much more grip. Alvaro had tire problems and lost a lot in the corners. It probably looked more exciting than it actually was, simply because my tires were much better and I had much more grip than him in That moment. On this track, you can lose a lot from the moment your tires wear out. My ZX-10RR worked great and in this case even better than Alvaro, all credit to my team, they did a great job last winter.

Despite winning the Superpole race, Luiz previously thought his chances in Race 1 and Race 2 would be better. It became clear during the testing days and also during training that the Kawasaki could handle the tires much better than some other brands of motorcycles. Lowes was disappointed when news arrived that both long races had been shortened by two laps and that mandatory tire stops had been introduced during this first round of the season at Phillip Island.

Alex Luiz: “I knew my speed wasn't bad. However, I thought my chances were better in longer races, so I was disappointed.” [na het horen van het nieuws over de verplichte bandenwissel] Because my tires have always held up well. We worked a lot last winter to improve the engine, especially on long distances. In 2023, we always had problems in the second half of the race and we kept falling behind in this part of the race, not only me but also Johnny [Rea]. Now I saw that Alvaro had to deal with these problems in the second part of the race and there was not much he could do. In the second race I had saved the best until last, and because my tires were still good at the end, I was able to score. I've always been fast on a Kawasaki, but in recent years I've had a lot of injuries, which definitely hasn't helped me. Now I'm fit and well and have completed some good winter testing. We proved this weekend that we haven't forgotten about racing and that we can still do it. Of course there will be other days and circuits, but for now I'm enjoying this moment. Of course it's great to get two wins here, to be in the lead all weekend and to come home top of the championship standings.

In the tournament, Alex Luiz leads the tournament with 50 points, ahead of Nicolo Bulega with 41 points and Andrea Locatelli with 29 points.

Did you miss the live stream this weekend? No problem, through the following links you can watch summaries of the first and second race.

Useful Links Grand Ridge Brewery Australian Tour:

Full schedule and results
Where to watch on TV
visual report

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