Racing News

Fourth Place Finish For Lowes Completes Estoril Weekend

Alex Lowes and Axel Bassani (bimota by Kawasaki Racing Team) took part in the two final races of the Estoril WorldSBK round, with Lowes taking the single best team race result of fourth place in Race Two.

In the first Sunday race, the ten-lap Superpole ‘sprint’, Axel was the top BbKRT race finisher, in eighth place. He scored two championship points for his efforts.

Alex Lowes was on his way to a top five place, but a crash while attempting to overtake another rider saw him slide off without injury at T1. He restarted to finish 15th, but under the reduced allocation of points available for the Superpole races, he could not add to his championship total.

In Race Two at the 4.182km long Circuito Estoril, Lowes had fought his way into fourth position, with designs of catching Álvaro Bautista to gain a podium finish.

Alex was not quite in the perfect position to make a late attack and after having some front end movements as he upped his pace in his pursuit of the Spanish rider, he secured fourth place, and some particularly valuable championship points.

Axel was happy with his pace and overall set-up in Race Two, but with so many of the top riders demonstrating the same level of speed through the race, he ended up in eighth place.

In the overall championship, Lowes has now moved up to sixth place in the rankings, with 193 points. Axel is tenth overall, with 129 points, having scored points in all three Estoril races.

In a few days’ time, the Circuito de Jerez - Angel Nieto in Spain hosts the final race weekend of the 2025 WorldSBK championship, between 17-19 October.

Alex Lowes stated: “I felt quite strong in the Superpole race. It was hectic, with everyone going so fast. But I felt my pace could be a bit faster still, although I was struggling to pass. I tried to pass in T1, but I was a bit wide. I was still believing that if I did a clean turn one I could maybe catch and attack Alvaro by the end of that final lap. You have to try sometimes and it didn’t work out but we came back strong with a good ride in the second race. We have to be happy with our weekend’s work. In Race Two there was a bit of a yo-yo effect with Alvaro. I was really fast in some parts of the track with my bike and he was fast in other parts with his bike. It was difficult to get a rhythm but with about six laps to go I tried again and did a 1’36.4 lap. I was having some slides on the front and I knew if I had got close, and even passed him, he was only going to pass me back. I did not need to have two crashes today. In the last four or five laps I had a gap and I could manage it a little bit. I was happy with how the bike felt.”

Axel Bassani stated: “The Superpole race was quite good and the feeling was OK. I lost a lot of time in the first two laps with another rider, as it was difficult to overtake him. I lost two seconds to the group ahead. In Race Two the pace was good, and from P4 to P8 was quite similar. So we stayed in pretty much the same positions - but it was a good race.”