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Top 5 For Lowes In Opening Estoril Race
The first race of the penultimate round of the WorldSBK season saw Alex Lowes (BbKRT) secure fifth place on his bimota KB998 Rimini machine, with his teammate Axel Bassani finishing seventh.
After heading up FP3 on Saturday morning with the fastest lap of all, Lowes would go on to finish third in Superpole Qualifying, earning a valuable front row starting position for the first race of the weekend. Bassani placed eighth in Superpole Qualifying at the classic 2.6-mile-long circuit, securing a third row starting spot.
In Race 1, Lowes got away well and was second on the opening lap. He tried to defend a potential podium position on the second lap, but he was passed by two riders, and on the third lap by another one, putting Lowes in fifth place.
A long race of full commitment, while not exceeding the limit, saw Lowes maintain his fifth place right to the end, finishing just over 1.3 seconds from the rider in fourth position. Lowes gained 11 more championship points after Race 1, with two more opportunities to grow his points total again on Sunday, October 11.
Bassani moved up to sixth place after some determined early laps, shadowing his teammate Alex from Lap 3 to Lap 9. Bassani would have to give up just one position to Lorenzo Baldassarri before the end of the race, winning a tough last-lap tussle with another fellow Italian, Yari Montella, by a small but important 0.033 seconds.
With Saturday’s action now wrapped up, there will be two more WorldSBK races at Estoril on Sunday, October 11. The Superpole Race, over 10 laps, and a second full-distance Race 2 will complete the Portuguese race weekend for Lowes and Bassani.
“I was fastest in FP3 this morning because I used the softer tire option, but [Iker] Lecuona and [Nicolo] Bulega didn’t. Superpole Qualifying was good, and we got onto the front row. But to ride on that limit for 21 laps is not possible. I made a good start, but I think you could see that it was too easy for them to pass me, but difficult for me to do much with them. I felt like I had no chance racing with them, but I also think I had one of the best races I have had all year, and we still finished fifth. I didn’t miss an apex, never made a mistake, and kept pushing to the end. We went loads faster than last year, made a good start, then I put myself in a good track position, so what more can I do?”
- Alex Lowes
“Race 1 at Estoril was a difficult race because I pushed 120% from the first lap to the end. In every corner, and in every braking zone, I was pushing really hard. I recovered some positions in the first laps, but when the tire started to drop, after nine or 10 laps, I started to find it difficult to keep my pace. I battled a little bit with [Lorenzo] Baldassarri for sixth position. It was difficult, but I fought to the end. That was my maximum today, and I gave everything, so I am happy with that. We will try to improve for Sunday and do something more, but we did a good job on Saturday, and P7 in Race 1 was good.”
- Axel Bassani
