Alex Lowes' first target at Donington WorldSBK was to get his KRT works bike back on the podium again at Donington having not managed that feat since round one of the championship.
Target achieved first time out them for Lowes, but Race One was far from easy for him or anybody given the mixed conditions he found.
“Yeah,” agreed Lowes, saying, “the conditions have been obviously tough. The morning was really wet then it dried up a little bit for Superpole. Didn’t feel as good in the… there wasn’t middle conditions, but let’s say less wet conditions.
"In the race I got a terrible start. I think I was eighth in the first corner, when I’ve been good at starts this year. Then with a track like that with such a thin line, I had to just stay calm and try to work out when I could pass. I was quite a bit faster than the guys in front, but I couldn’t get past.
"I tried on the inside at the Melbourne Loop, but there was a patch and I was trying to stop the bike and I had a couple of slides. Jonathan and Toprak had gone, so then it was a case of just trying to win this battle behind, and it was okay. I was spinning quite a lot on the bike. I didn’t feel like I had too much grip, but obviously after the rain it can happen. Happy with a podium. It’s the first one since Aragon. Keeping a nice, consistent run, which is nice.”
Lowes used regular SC0 rear tyre, not the SCX, and maybe, just maybe, he shouldn’t have.
“Yesterday I used the X and I had a lot more grip,” he said. “The second session I did nearly 18 laps or 19 laps and my best lap was near the end of the X. Looking at Toprak’s tire, maybe this would have been a better decision for me because the setup I had was working well yesterday. In these sort of races it’s easy to look back after. We weren't sure.
"It looked like the sun wasn’t going to come out on the grid. I was quite cool. The zero was a safer option, but I just had a lot of spinning and I couldn’t really get comfortable, especially this middle sector. I was sliding the bike a lot. So, I believe maybe I would have been a bit better on the X, but you can’t say you would have made that decision because it’s easy to look back after and say that.
"The bike was working well. I was able to pass quite a few guys, which was good. It was an enjoyable race. So hopefully tomorrow I can be a bit closer to Jonathan and Toprak. Like I said, the target was a podium and I’m happy with that.”
Lowes did not have a good start but even then he was a bit more cautious than most maybe in this first two or three laps, given his experience in warm-up.
“I actually had a big slide on the warm-up lap,” said Lowes. “You’re then instantly just a few percent more cautious. Like I said, with a bad start I was pretty terrible for the first three laps. Then I got into a rhythm and my pace at the end was not too bad. I did a 1’28.6 not too far from the end, the last eight laps. I saw Toprak’s best lap was 28.5. So, I was just far too cautious and too steady at the start of the race. But that doesn’t matter. The podium is good. Looking forward to tomorrow.”
Garret Gerloff passed Lowes for third at one stage, and feel relatively soon afterwards. The question for Lowes was could he have gone with Gerloff had he not fallen then remounted to finish seventh?
“When he passed me I felt like I was going with him, which was quite good to pull me away from the group,” said Lowes. “As he passed me, it was quite a good move. He passed me in the last corner so it sat me up. The next lap I was back right behind him when he crashed. So, this was going to be the battle to the end of the race. He had a bit more grip.
"I’m not sure, but looking from there it looks like maybe he was on the X tire as well because he was trying lots of corners quite well. I’m not sure if he was. It felt like he was. (Gerloff was indeed on the SCX rear) I felt quite good. I was good on the brakes. I was good on the last sector. When you’re in a battle it gives you a chance to pass. It would have been interesting, but luckily we didn’t make any mistakes and got the bike on the podium.”
Lowes was another who said that the first few turns were the most treacherous ones. “Yeah, it got better obviously as the race went on, but the first sector at the start was really bad,” he stated. “From television I guess it looks a lot different, but you approach turn two and three at such speed. It’s slightly downhill and you can’t see the patches. So it’s just sort of a bit of trial and error to start with. Obviously, where Jonny got slightly caught out. You’re a little bit unsighted there. As the race went on, this gap got a little bit bigger. The dry line got a bit bigger. So, the track certainly improved.”
Now Lowes has a second day of racing at home, and two more races to go, at Donington, in what are still expected to be wet at least partially wet conditions come the races themselves.
