Alex Lowes: ‘I knew for sure that I was going to get Topraked’

An impressive weekend from the Kawasaki rider reminded everyone exactly what Lowes is capable of as he led the way for large parts of Race 1, before completing yet another overtake on 2021 WorldSBK champion Toprak Razgatlioglu to secure third in Race 2.

A red flag ended proceedings with five laps to go of Race 2 after a crash involving Eugene Laverty and Xavi Fores at turn one.

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But without the early stoppage, Lowes, who was being pressured by Razgatlioglu, felt he could hang on despite knowing a move was coming at some stage. 

"At this track this bike is quite stable and that helps. I have always gone well here," added Lowes. "I think without the red flag I could have still fought for third position anyway in the final race. 

"When I knew I could not catch Jonathan and Alvaro I dropped my lap time maybe half a second, trying to look after my tyres on the left side. 

"I knew for sure that I was going to get ‘Topraked’ at the end of the race! When I passed him it looked like he was struggling more than me; his bike was sliding and was a bit unstable. I was sure it was going to be a last lap battle. 

"I was looking forward to it because I have not had a good battle with him this year. It is just good to be up there competing with those guys in the races, in all the track and weather conditions. A strong end to the season for me."

Since Portimao Lowes has finished eight of the 12 races inside the top five which shows consistency has been a big turning point since the summer break. 

Early season retirements ultimately proved too costly in his battle with Michael Ruben Rinaldi and Andrea Locatelli for P4 in the championship, however, Lowes was the best rider of the three since Portimao from a results standpoint. 

Summing up his performance over the last few rounds, Lowes said: "I'm really happy with the weekend, happy with the second podium this year. We've made some improvements in the middle of the year. I've been pretty competitive minus Mandalika and we've been strong every weekend."