Alex Lowes “happy” with eighth in first Bimota WorldSBK race, “proud” of winter development

An eighth-place finish on the circuit he won at a year ago is on paper a clear backwards step and perhaps a disappointment for Alex Lowes, but the British rider insists he is happy with his first World Superbike race aboard the Bimota KB998.

Lowes was 10th in Superpole on Saturday morning, and rode the first stint of the race inside the top-10, before stopping later than all the riders ahead of him, staying out until lap 11, the final opportunity to pit.

He received a 0.6-second penalty for exceeding the pit lane intervention time, but that didn’t affect his position in the end, and eighth was a position Lowes felt he could be pleased with.

“I’m happy,” Lowes said. “I think I’m happier than other people, because, for many people, we did a good job last year so maybe the expectation was more.

“But it’s the first time we’re trying the bike in these extremely hot conditions, we have no information, we’re learning, we’re changing the bike for the race, we’re taking a lot of data.

“[So], to arrive with a brand new bike, to be fighting with [Andrea] Locatelli, not too far behind the second group of Ducatis, we cannot be too disappointed.

“They have some big advantages here, and we have to keep improving, keep working with what we’ve got.”

Lowes added that he is “proud” of the work Bimota has done over the winter to prepare the bike for its first race outing.

“I’m really proud,” Lowes said when asked about the winter development of the KB998.

“I seem to look at the situation different to most people. It’s not an easy job; there’s a lot of manufacturers that have been working hard and for a long time to arrive here.

“I think Axel [Bassani] was first or second in a lot of the winter tests and then maybe we expect too much. But the reality is that the other guys are a lot more ready than us, everything is [for Bimota] is brand new.

“So, I knew it wasn’t going to be easy, I’m happy with the job we’ve done, I’m sure we can do better, I’m sure we will keep doing better, and we have to be happy with the start point because it is what it is and we have to try to improve for the next races.”

Looking ahead, Lowes said he is aiming to get the Bimota a bit further up the finishing order in Sunday’s two races, but is also aware that he will need to make improvements to do so.

“[We will] just try to improve the feeling of the bike, try to improve our performance against the other guys,” he said.

“I wasn’t too far away [in Race 1], but it’s easier to be on the back of the group; to mix with them, pass them, and fight with them is another story.

“I need a bit more feeling from the front.

“Of course, it’s World Superbike, it’s so close, everybody improves.

“But that’s so valuable for us to have those 20 laps in hot conditions, we can understand now how to improve myself on the Bimota, the guys how to improve the bike from the data, and like everybody else we’ll try to make a step forward tomorrow and be a bit closer to the top-six which is our target this weekend.”