Alex Lowes vows to iron out “silly mistakes” in WorldSBK 2025

The 2025 WorldSBK season is a curious one in anticipation for Alex Lowes, who was stronger than ever in 2024, but who has a new motorcycle to contend with in 2025.

The Bimota KB998 shares the same engine as the Kawasaki ZX-10RR Lowes had ridden from the beginning of 2020 until the end of last year, and the British rider stayed in the same team to make the switch to the Italian brand, but the change in chassis and aerodynamics meant there has still been a significant adaptation to be made over the winter.

“Obviously, I’ve spent a lot of years on the Kawasaki, so this winter I took the time to understand the bike,” Lowes told WorldSBK.com at the Bimota by Kawasaki Racing Team launch.

“I was really fast on the bike on the first day I rode it, so I realised we had good potential; then I just took my time to understand exactly how to take the maximum from the package.

“We did some really good work in Portimao, and I think the bike is slightly different to ride.

“I understand it quite well already, honestly my confidence in the bike is quite good. Let’s see where we are when we line up to race.”

Lowes enters 2025 after perhaps his best season in WorldSBK, with two wins and 12 podiums in 2024, but there are still areas he wants to improve on for the upcoming season, which will be his 12th in the series.

“Last year was good, honestly, I was fighting for the podium pretty much every weekend apart from Barcelona and Aragon, which was fantastic with the Kawasaki,” he said.

“I think I made some silly mistakes in the qualifying a few times trying to push too hard which put me on the back foot a little bit sometimes for the first race.

“I’ll try to avoid these mistakes and see if I can keep that consistent level of performance at every track like I had last year. So, that’s the target, I feel great, I feel relaxed, and it’s not too long until we get to find out.”

The two victories Lowes picked up last year came at Phillip Island, as did his first Kawasaki win back in 2020. The British rider also feels there is an opportunity to be competitive in Australia this year, despite the change in motorcycle.

“There’s always a chance,” he said.

“I think we have a lot of work to do before that, two days of testing. We don’t really know where we’re going to stack up against our rivals, but we’ve got a good chance of being competitive.

“In both Jerez and Portimao I felt I was at a similar level to the Kawasaki already. So, let’s see.

“I’m quite optimistic for Australia, it’s a track I enjoy. I think the bike will suit the track, but we have to target being that competitive for many weekends.”

Riba: Lowes is “very open to improve himself”

Lowes’ cautious optimism ahead of the opening round in Phillip Island is shared by his crew chief, Pere Riba, who feels Lowes is in his “best moment” as a rider, but is also conscious of the complications that could arise with the new bike.

“I don’t know in this moment, honestly,” said Riba when asked what Lowes can achieve this season.

“I think Alex is in his best moment. He was growing during 2024 and still he can improve in some areas, for sure.

“But we have the variable of the new bike and we have to approach the season clever and calm, because when you want to go too fast you can make a step backwards.

“This means we are going to Australia with our feet on the ground and trying to understand the bike, understand the package, and everybody is really motivated but we have to go step-by-step.”

Part of Lowes’ strength as a rider, according to Riba, is his ability to focus on himself and how to improve as a rider, instead of trying to find improvements only from the bike.

“I’m very happy to work with Alex, he’s a very professional person, professional rider, and he’s very open to improve himself.

“This is very good, because when you find a rider that is just talking about the handicaps of the bike or the points to improve and is not looking at himself it’s not the best.

“But Alex is very open, he’s always asking what he can improve himself and I think he did a great job during the 2024 season, and I think he’s also excited in front of this new project with Bimota.”