The generously-proportioned 5.077km Motorland Aragon circuit offered up cool early morning conditions but the unbroken afternoon sunshine finally took track temperatures up to almost 40°C, making FP2 hot work for all involved. High winds also became a factor at times, pushing the riders into some corners but holding them back as they accelerated out of some others.
Lowes worked on a race set-up to tackle what may be high track temperatures in the Saturday and Sunday races. Despite qualifying in 12th position, he was only 0.682 seconds from fastest Friday rider, Garrett Gerloff.
Bassani was 15th in the combined times on Friday, but was still less than a second from the fastest rider on the opening day. Alex went faster in the afternoon FP2 session but Axel had set his quickest time in FP1.
Both riders tried a new option of Pirelli rear tyre as they did long runs to simulate real race conditions.
The Motorland Aragon track surface has been replaced since the last time WorldSBK raced here, with some sections also featuring patches of asphalt that were required even after the original resurfaced track had been laid down.
With the Friday track action completed the WorldSBK riders will now face a final FP3 session, an intense Tissot-Superpole qualifying contest and then an 18-lap Race One on Saturday 28 September.
Alex Lowes, stated: “We did a race run this afternoon and we tried a different variation from Pirelli. I was able to work hard and consistently. It is clear that at this track, some other guys have some advantages. We cannot lie about this fact, so I have to be really focused on maximising everything from my package and see what result that gives us. That is the our target for Race One on Saturday. We couldn’t do any more today than the work we completed and we have put ourselves in a good position for 18 laps tomorrow.”
Axel Bassani, stated: “We worked a lot in FP1and FP2. In FP1 the feeling was not so bad and we had the same set of tyres on for the whole session. In the second half of the session the feel from the rear was not so good but we worked with that in any case. In FP2 we tried the new Pirelli rear tyre and then we went with one more pit exit, after making a set-up change on the bike. I think we will go back to what we had for tomorrow. It was a productive first day for us and we will continue to work hard.”
Tito Rabat (Kawasaki Puccetti Racing) was 19th in the combined times on Friday at Motorland
2024 KRT Rider WorldSBK Statistics
Alex Lowes:
2024: Races: 27, Wins 2, Podiums 11, Superpoles 1
Career Race Wins: 4 (3 for Kawasaki)
Career Podiums: 45 (25 for Kawasaki)
Career Poles: 2 (1 for Kawasaki)
Axel Bassani:
2024: Races: 27, 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: 553 – second overall
Total Kawasaki Poles: 109 – second overall
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