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Lowes Secures Sprint Podium At Misano
The final day of FIM Superbike World Championship action at the Misano World Circuit ‘Marco Simoncelli’ provided warm and dry track conditions for KRT competitors Alex Lowes and Axel Bassani once again. Lowes took a podium finish in the ten lap Superpole race and Bassani a season-best sixth in the same ‘Sprint’.
At a circuit that has sometimes not been the kindest to KRT riders in the past - particularly in hot track conditions - Alex Lowes overcame any potential issues to take his fourth podium finish of 2024.
In the 10-lap Superpole Race Lowes was riding in the potential podium places from the start, keeping his good early pace all the way through to the end. He has now taken at least one podium finish at three of the four venues WorldSBK has visited so far this season.
Bassani was a strong sixth in the sprint race after qualifying 11th. He was helped in some ways by the retirement of other riders but his good pace and race craft made his top six score a well-deserved effort.
With the Race Two grid placings being based on the results of the Superpole race, Alex took a front row starting spot while Axel earned an important second row starting position for the finale at his home round.
Both official Ninja ZX-10RR riders made good use of their grid positions, with Alex soon into a strong second, which he held until eventual race winner Toprak Razgatlioglu passed him on lap one. Alex rode confidently in third place but on lap 12 of 21 he was passed by Alvaro Bautista.
Lowes was able to stay in close proximity to Bautista for some time but could not close the gap to the double world champion and he made sure of his strong points score for his fourth place finish.
In the final race Bassani had arguably his best ride in KRT colours so far as he took sixth place on lap two and remained in that position until lap nine when Danilo Petrucci passed him.
An eventual seventh in a long race in such hot conditions is proof that Axel and his crew are making real progress in their joint goal to bring him up to speed at the quickest possible pace as he continues to adapt to an inline-four cylinder engine configuration.
After three hot Misano races and three points scoring finishes each for Alex and Axel, Lowes is fourth overall with 124 points and Axel is up to 11th with 40 points.
In the Manufacturers’ Championship standings Kawasaki is third; in the team’s championship KRT is also in third place.
Donington Park in the UK will provide Alex with a home race weekend as it forms the fifth round of the season, to be run between 12-14 July.
