Alex Lowes expecting “emotional weekend” at Jerez WorldSBK

This weekend’s final WorldSBK round of the 2024 season will bring to a close what has been Alex Lowes’ best in the series.

While it’s true that it’s mathematically impossible for Lowes to beat Alvaro Bautista to third in the riders’ standings and thus match his overall result from 2019, he could still beat Danilo Petrucci to fourth (Lowes is six points behind Petrucci ahead of this weekend) and has scored two more podiums with one round to go than he managed in 2019 when the season was one round (three races) longer, as well as two wins at the season-opener in Phillip Island.

Lowes’ impressive season has also been his first working with Pere Riba as his crew chief, having switched to the side of the Kawasaki garage previously occupied by Jonathan Rea after the six-times WorldSBK Champion’s switch to Yamaha over the winter.

“It feels like this season’s gone really quickly,” Lowes told WorldSBK.com.

“Every year goes quickly but there’s been a few changes inside the garage for me, working with Pere [Riba] and the crew, and it seems like yesterday we started working together.”

The final weekend of the 2024 season also marks the last of Lowes in green, as the Kawasaki team switches to a ZX-10RR-powered Bimota for 2025.

“It’ll be an emotional weekend because Kawasaki green has been so famous in WorldSBK for the last 15 years, especially with some fantastic results with Johnny [Jonathan Rea] and Tom [Sykes],” Lowes said.

“Multiple World Champions, not just Riders’ but Teams’ and Manufacturers’.

“A shame, personally, to be the last weekend in green, but we have a new challenge; we’re staying together, it’s just a different challenge.”