Alex Lowes achieves top-six Aragon WorldSBK target despite “small mistake”

Three top-six finishes for Alex Lowes meant the Aragon WorldSBK was a success, despite not being able to continue his podium form from Magny-Cours.

Bimota had tested at Aragon in August, and both Lowes and Axel Bassani had expected to struggle at MotorLand due to its long back straight.

But Lowes’ results marked a strong weekend, going 5-6-6 across the weekend.

“I am really happy with two sixth places on Sunday at MotorLand,” Alex Lowes said.

“We knew it wasn’t going to be an easy weekend for us, but I enjoyed it and the bike was working well. 

“We made some small changes to the set-up between the races and I felt like my pace improved.”

At one point in Race 2, Lowes was running in sixth but then dropped to eighth. This was because of a mistake he made behind Andrea Iannone, he explained.

“In the last race, I made a small mistake when Andrea Iannone braked a lot earlier than I anticipated into turn seven and I just hit the back of him. I did well to stay on the bike, honestly,” Lowes said.

“It was my mistake because I did not anticipate that he was going to stop so early. 

“I came back quite strongly and I was able to pass Andrea Locatelli at the end. 

“I thought we could have fought for fourth and fifth place, but our target was to fight for top-six places in every race at Aragon. 

“We did that, and qualified on the front row on Saturday, so I think it has been a really good weekend. 

“Thanks to all the guys and I am looking forward to the final two rounds of the year now.”

Bassani: “Impossible” to pass Petrucci

Axel Bassani had three quite different World Superbike races in Aragon thanks to his grid penalty that forced him to start from the back of the grid in Race 1 before coming through to eighth.

The Superpole Race saw him struggle more than in Saturday’s race, but Race 2 was better and he was back in the top-10, albeit with no way through on Danilo Petrucci.

“The Superpole Race was quite difficult on Sunday in Aragon,” Bassani said.

“A lot of riders overtook me on the straight and I was trying to recover some positions. 

“In Race 2, the feeling was not bad, similar to the first race. When I arrived behind Danilo Petrucci, it was impossible to overtake him. I was always losing in the straight and then recovering under braking and in the corners. 

“But, I made the rest of the race behind him, although I think my pace was a little bit better.

“We got good points for finishing ninth and now we go to Estoril for round 11.”