Alex Lowes explains Kawasaki “weakness” at Estoril World Superbike

Mixed conditions on Friday presented challenges for all WorldSBK riders in Estoril, although Kawasaki’s Alex Lowes explained that the Akashi marque also has concerns in the dry.

The day started wet in Portugal, with FP1 a session which got faster throughout, until several riders — including Lowes — crashed in the closing minutes.

Lowes explained that, with rain a possibility throughout the weekend, even though the conditions were not ideal in FP1, it was necessary to get experience in anticipation of similar conditions on Saturday and Sunday.

“This morning the conditions were really difficult,” Lowes told WorldSBK.com. “Normally, with conditions like this, I wouldn’t be too eager to do many laps, but with changeable weather expected tomorrow, I wanted to get some track time in.

“The track was changing a lot, and some sections were very slippery and difficult to manage. It wasn’t just me struggling with the conditions this morning.”

In comparison to the morning, all the riders were able to get in laps on slick tyres in the afternoon’s FP2 session, although rain cut that dry running short at the end.

The afternoon running exposed what Lowes sees as Kawsaki’s main weakness, especially in the final sector.

“In the afternoon, it was mostly dry,” Lowes said. “This is our first time on this track in a couple of years. I enjoy the layout and it’s a fun track to ride and it’s very fast.

“I think, in the wet, I can fight and in the dry I can be in the group. We’re struggling a bit in the last sector, especially with the straight here in Estoril, which is a bit of a weakness for us.

“But I’m confident there are parts of the track where I’ll be really strong, and I think I can be in the fight.”