Tyre “gamble” pays off for Alex Lowes at French WorldSBK despite late “struggle”

A tyre “gamble” for Alex Lowes resulted in a second podium of the weekend at the French WorldSBK.

Lowes was one of a few riders to choose the SCQ rear tyre for the 10-lap Superpole Race, while most riders went with the SCX, including eventual race winner Toprak Razgatlioglu.

The Bimota rider said the decision was done partly with 2026 in mind, and that the end of the race was difficult as the grip dropped.

“We took a bit of a gamble on the grid, went with the SCQ tyre, and honestly the last four or five laps I was really struggling on the bike,” Alex Lowes said in his post-race world feed TV interview.

“So, luckily, we made a good start.

“It’s good experience for us. Normally, on the Kawasaki last year, on the Bimota [as well], in some of the races we’ve usually been the one on the hard tyre coming forward.

“But we’re still learning and testing a little bit and we wanted to understand the SCQ tyre in slightly hotter conditions with a view to next year.

“The last few laps were hard, good race, got to be happy with another podium and I’m looking forward to this afternoon – it’s going to be different again, a lot hotter conditions, probably some of the nicest conditions we’ve ever had in Magny-Cours.”

Title battle moves further towards Razgatlioglu

Both Toprak Razgatlioglu and Nicolo Bulega chose the SCX rear tyre but it was Razgatlioglu who again came out on top between the two.

Bulega made the holeshot, but quickly lost the lead at turn five when Razgatlioglu made his move to the front.

A mistake later on dropped Bulega to fourth and although he was able to recover again to second he was over three seconds behind Razgatlioglu at the end of the 10 laps. The Italian is now 34 points adrift of Razgatlioglu in the World Superbike title battle.

“I did a mistake because I’m a bit on the limit with my bike at the moment and I was trying to follow Toprak [Razgatlioglu],” Bulega said in his world feed TV interview in parc ferme.

“But honestly he’s very strong here and it was not possible.

“So, I did a mistake, but anyway then the important thing was to recover to P2.”

For Razgatlioglu, the victory was his 11th in a row this season and his 10th at Magny-Cours, an achievement he is unique in having accomplished.

“I’m really happy, I did 10 wins in Magny-Cours,” he told the international TV feed in parc ferme.

“This is incredible for me.

“I’m really happy, also I did a very good pace in the Superpole Race, but we have one more race – this one’s more hard because [21] laps.

“Anyway, I’m ready because I need three wins here. We will see, this is motorsport and everything is possible, but it looks like we are ready to fight again.”