Alex Lowes hits the deck twice but claims ‘my pace is good, happier after the test’

Leader of the WorldSBK championship following his double win in Phillip Island, Alex Lowes arrived in Catalunya looking to build on his best ever start to a season.

But day-two saw Lowes crash twice, once at turn five and again at turn ten, the same corner that caught out Danilo Petrucci who finished third. 

• Danilo Petrucci crashes but rebounds with P3 finish: ‘I think we’re in good shape’ 

• 2024 World Superbike Catalunya Test - Results (Day-two, Final)

Both crashes led to the left side of Lowes’ handlebar being damaged, but the Kawasaki rider was still upbeat afterwards.

“It was good and busy,” began Lowes. “I worked a lot today. It’s always hard because people are putting tyres in.

“I did a race simulation, trying to look after the tyres especially the front; this track seems quite low grip and critical on the front.

“I was happy with my consistency in the race run, it was certainly a lot better than last year with similar conditions.

“We’re making steps forward but so’s everyone else. I was happy enough. The steps we made with the bike were good. 

“I used a SCQ at the end, but the second last exit wasn’t really ready for it, so my three laps were all the same. I didn’t go any faster on the Q.

“My crashes were just small front-end crashes. They were my fault. We’re trying stuff on the bike, electronics, so maybe the setting we had didn’t work.”

Lowes managed to bounce back from both crashes and improve his lap time late on as he broke into the top nine.

Much happier with where his ZX-10RR is compared to the last visit to Catalunya, Lowes said: “I think my pace is good, but until we get there, we don’t know. It’s been good because, Australia with the new surface was really grippy and this is one of the least grippy tracks.

“It’s important to come here, get a feel for the stuff we tried in the winter; the electronics and the setting, more the setting than the software as it’s a lot different to last year.

“I’m a lot happier now I know it works. I did the race simulation today; I’ve got the experience of that.

“We’re definitely better prepared even though I had a couple of crashes. I’m happier after the test than before the test because we didn’t know what to expect.”