In dry track conditions at the 4.411km long ‘Circuit de Nevers Magny-Cours’ on 6 September a grid of 23 WorldSBK riders took to the track to set-up their machines and try to post a fast laptime in the process.

Lowes would prove to be the quickest Ninja ZX-10RR rider after the completion of FP1 and FP2, setting a 1’36.592 lap time to place him fifth. Alex was just over half a second from the fastest time of all on day one.

Bassani made a step forward again, helped along the way by his team-mate Lowes and he ended up ninth in the combined times, just over 0.8 seconds from the fastest.

A red flag was thrown early in the FP2 session after World Championship leader Toprak Razgatlioglu crashed at the fast downhill entry to the Lycee complex of corners. The track action was halted for some time and this caused a delay the start of the final WorldSSP Superpole session.

Next up for the KRT duo will be FP3, Tissot Superpole qualifying and Race One on Saturday 7 September.

Alex Lowes, stated: “We tried some different tyres from Pirelli today. There is a new front and new rear option, which we tried in the afternoon. Luckily, we got away with some dry track time. The new rear tyre felt good. I put my preferred choices back in at the end of the session, with some laps already done on them, and I was able to improve my time. Magny-Cours is not a hard track on tyre wear but we did a good job - and I am enjoying it. I am feeling strong and it is nice to be back on track. We now need to be flexible in potentially different conditions tomorrow, using the right tyres at the right time.”

Axel Bassani, stated: “It was strange in FP1 because the feeling with the bike was not so good. In FP2 it was much better and we started the first exit with Alex. I followed him and he helped me a lot. It is always nice to follow someone who has the same bike as you. In the second exit we tried a new tyre and it was good. In general the feeling is really good, the pace was nice and we will see what happens tomorrow.”

Tito Rabat (Kawasaki Puccetti Racing) was 20th in the combined times on Friday at Magny-Cours.

2024 KRT Rider WorldSBK Statistics

Alex Lowes:
2024: Races: 21, Wins 2, Podiums 9, Superpoles 0
Career Race Wins: 4 (3 for Kawasaki)
Career Podiums: 43 (23 for Kawasaki)
Career Poles: 1 (0 for Kawasaki)

Axel Bassani:
2024: Races: 21, 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: 551 – second overall
Total Kawasaki Poles: 108 – second overall

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