After an enjoyable opening day at Estoril, Alex Lowes has his sights set on a return to the podium this weekend.
Alex Lowes arrived at the penultimate round of the 2025 World Superbike Championship with hopes of strong results at Estoril and Jerez.
However, after the two Free Practice sessions on Friday at the Portuguese circuit, the British rider is right in the mix for the podium battle this weekend.
The bimota by Kawasaki Racing Team rider finished in third place in both Free Practice sessions, and was only beaten by Nicolo Bulega and Toprak Razgatlioglu at the end of the opening day.
This weekend is the first time that Lowes has ridden the KB998 Rimini at the Circuito Estoril, and he is happy with how it feels after the first two sessions, but knows where he needs to improve.
"I am happy with todays work, it was our first time here with the bimota," Lowes told WorldSBK.com after Free Practice Two on Friday.
"I have really enjoyed it. The track was enjoyable to ride today. In the middle part, the way the bike works was fun; we were quite fast, but there are still some areas to improve.
"At some parts of the track, I am not very fast, but Axel [Bassani] is really fast. So, hopefully, we can use this to piece it together for tomorrow. In general, it was positive.
"We tried this new tyre that Pirelli have brought, it was important to test it this afternoon in race conditions. Everything is looking quite good for a Friday Practice session."
When asked about his goals for the remainder of the weekend, Lowes admitted that a podium would be 'fantastic', but the Superpole session will be 'important' for his podium chances.
"I don't really know yet, I think Friday is never a true reflection on the race weekend," he explained.
"I know that I worked hard in the afternoon session, I tried lots of things, and all of my laps were fast and consistent throughout the day. This is good news, but I am sure everyone will improve. We know how tight World Superbike is.
"Qualifying will be important for us, and my target is to get the best results possible. If we can fight for the podium, that would be fantastic.
"I guess Toprak [Razgatlioglu] and Nicolo [Bulega] are going to be a step in front. But there is a chance, if we improve a few tenths tonight, that we can have a good race."
