Lowes, who had been second fastest on his Ninja ZX-10RR in the first FP1 qualifying session this morning, ended up seventh fastest in a hot afternoon FP2 session. Overall, in the combined day one practice times Alex was 6th fastest, thanks to his FP1 best time of 1’34.008.

Axel made a positive start at home and went on to finish eighth fastest for the day. His best lap time was 0.797 seconds from the fastest rider, Toprak Razgatlioglu. Like Alex, Axel relied on his FP1 pace for his best time, when he had high initial grip. Axel’s personal best of 1’34.245 had seen him fourth quickest of all in the morning session.

Almost the whole WorldSBK field were present at private Misano test sessions between 30-31 May, during which a lot of race set-up work was carried out in readiness for the start of the first points scoring elements of this race weekend.

Warm and slightly humid weather was in evidence all day at Misano, with the strong prospect of more hot weather across the rest of race weekend.

Race One will take place on Saturday 15 June, at 14.00. Before then there will be a final free practice session on Saturday morning and then Tissot-Superpole qualifying.

Alex Lowes, stated: “I think we had a solid first day. It looks like the temperature is going to get high this weekend, which goes against us a little bit. We are really trying to maximise the package we have to fight for the strongest results in all the races. Quite honestly, I enjoyed myself at Misano on track today so let’s see what we can do tomorrow.”

Axel Bassani, stated: “The first free practice was good, especially the first track exit. We did a 1’34.2, not pushing so much. But then we struggled a bit with grip. In FP2 I hoped to go faster but we had some issues with the bike. We tried a long run but I think we missed something, especially in the first seven or eight laps. Now we will look at the data to understand today and find some feeling with like I had in the recent test in Misano.”  

Tito Rabat (Kawasaki Puccetti Racing) was 18th in the Friday combined practice times, with a best time of 1’34.794 set on FP2. Tito’s lap time put him just 1.346 behind the fastest Friday pace.

2024 KRT Rider WorldSBK Statistics

Alex Lowes:
2024: Races: 9, Wins 2, Podiums 3, Superpoles 0
Career Race Wins: 4 (3 for Kawasaki)
Career Podiums: 37 (17 for Kawasaki)
Career Poles: 1 (0 for Kawasaki)

Axel Bassani:
2024: Races: 9, Wins 0, Podiums 0, Superpoles 0
Career Race Wins: 0 (0 for Kawasaki)
Career Podiums: 6 (0 for Kawasaki)
Career Poles: 0 (0 for Kawasaki)

8 x Riders’ Championships (Scott Russell 1993, Tom Sykes 2013, Jonathan Rea 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019 & 2020), 1 x EVO Riders’ Championship (David Salom 2014)
6 x Manufacturers’ Championships (Ninja ZX-10R 2015 & 2016, Ninja ZX-10RR 2017, 2018, 2019 and 2020)
5 x Teams’ Championships (KRT/Provec Racing 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018 & 2019)

Kawasaki FIM Superbike World Championship Statistics
Total Kawasaki Race Wins: 180 – second overall
Total Kawasaki Podiums: 545 – second overall
Total Kawasaki Poles: 108 – second overall

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