Alex Lowes has claimed his second win of the 2024 WorldSBK opening weekend at Phillip Island after executing a stunning final lap overtake on Alvaro Bautista to snatch victory from the defending champion at Phillip Island.

The Englishman left it late to make his attack on Bautista on the last revolution of a shortened 11-lap sprint, getting the move done around the outside of the tricky, blind Lukey Heights left-hander three corners from home.

The pass came just moments after Lowes had only just survived being tripped up in an incident with Andrea Locatelli that sent the Italian down and out of the race when the pair made contact at Turn 4.

His exit - which came just as he was joining Lowes in mounting an offensive against a wilting Bautista - compounded a desperate afternoon for the Pata Yamaha squad after Jonathan Rea crashed heavily at Turn 11, prompting the red flags and the race to be run over just 11 laps.

Danilo Petrucci came through for a surprise third place finish behind Bautista, while Toprak Razgatlioglu was an early retirement when his ROKiT BMW suffered a large technical issue on lap three.

Concern for Jonathan Rea after crash at Turn 11

A breathless two-part encounter that came after a lengthy delay to necessitate a clean-up at Turn 2 following an engine blow during a support race, Race 2 was nonetheless all about a dramatic final lap that saw Lowes come on strong after almost coming off worst in a collision with Locatelli.

Indeed, Lowes - who started originally from pole position - was somewhat fortunate to get a second chance at glory after seeing his hopes during the initial start dealt a literal blow as he caught up in a rival's smokey demise.

Initially it was Locatelli who led from the lights ahead of Lowes and Bautista, but it was the latter defending champion that would make strong gains during the early part of the race, quickly dispatching of the Kawasaki rider before getting a run on Locatelli at the start of lap four to assume the lead.

Behind him, Razgatlioglu had also gotten himself into the mix up to third, but his race came to a dramatic conclusion on lap three when his ROKiT BMW M 1000 RR let go in a big way on the run up to Lukey Heights, putting him out of the race.

With smoke billowing from his bike, the close-following Lowes was caught out in avoidance, shuffling him down the order. Ironically, it was Alex's brother Sam Lowes that would be the big beneficiary from the skirmish as he leapt into third place, even if he'd cede the position to Andrea Iannone - making gains from tenth on the grid - soon afterwards.

It became elementary though when moments later when the red flags were deployed for Rea's crashat Turn 11 coming into the long final turn left-hander.

The Ulsterman had also been a big winner in the kerfuffle of Razgatlioglu's exit, hauling his Yamaha up to fifth place as the six-time WorldSBK Champion went on the attack. However, on what has been dismal debut for Rea at Yamaha this weekend, his crash would spell a sour and painful end.

After initial reports that he was conscious en route to the medical centre, Yamaha has since tweeted a photo of Rea stood and talking with Andrea Dosoli in the pit box, seemingly having avoided serious injury.

Alex Lowes goes on the attack after dodging defence disaster

With the red flags out, the race restarted to a new length of 11 laps with the grid order taken from the moment of the stoppage.

It meant Bautista started on pole position, a bonus he made the most of as by getting the hole-shot and quickly setting about putting air between himself and the opposition.

He didn't have it easy though, the Spaniard finding himself under pressure initially from a fast-starting Michael Ruben Rinaldi on the Motocorsa Ducati before eventually finding his form mid-way through the shortened encounter.

Further back, Lowes was making steady headway, the red flag having stopped the rot of his gradual slide down the order, giving him the chance to take a breather from fifth. It would do the trick, Lowes initially tussling it out with Iannone for fourth, before the Italian got hung out to dry by a lunge from Locatelli for fourth on lap five, losing them both time.

With Lowes given the breathing room to attack Rinaldi ahead, he duly made the pass stick with four laps to go and set about reeling Bautista in.

Indeed, while the sight of Bautista leading a WorldSBK race is one of familiarity, it was notable how difficult he was making it look as he wobbled through the more technical turns, preventing him from escaping away from the pack.

It meant Lowes was on his tail coming into the final two laps, but he too had company from a charging Locatelli, whose choice of a hard rear tyre once again led him to make a slow start, only to come on strong in the final stages.

As such, coming into the last lap, Lowes found himself sandwiched between trying to attack a slowing Bautista and resist an advancing Locatelli behind. It led the Italian to make a lunge for second at Turn 4, but his wide exit would simply invite Lowes to make a retort on the cut-back.

However, Locatelli's attempts to square off the corner and prevent the Kawasaki from slipping back up the inside would instead lead to contact that sent him spiralling off his Yamaha and into a late DNF.

Lowes, however, was unmoved by the brief impact and remained on Bautista's tail through Siberia, giving him the momentum to mount an unorthodox pass around the outside of Lukey Heights, much to Bautista's surprise.

Getting it stopped in time for MG, Lowes held his form around the final corner to resist the slipstreaming Bautista by less than half-a-tenth for victory.

A remarkable success for Lowes, it comes just hours after he ended his four-year wait for another victory in WorldSBK. It also means he leaves Australia with the championship lead having doubled up his career win tally to four.

Bautista held on for second, the defending champion soothing any frustration about not winning by ending a weekend that started badly on a much improved high.

With Locatelli bundled out of third place on the final lap, Danilo Petrucci came through for a stealthy podium - his third in WorldSBK - after winning out in an entertaining tussle with Iannone that went right to the flag.

Behind Iannone, Race 1 winner Nicolo Bulega will go away from the weekend with plenty of homework to do on improving his race starts after a curious front-to-back-to-front race. After struggling to get up to speed in the Superpole Race from pole position, Bulega was again slow off the line in both of the Race 2 starts.

Running as low as 13th at one stage, Bulega made modest headway initially before finding his form in clear air and reeling off a series of fastest laps to recover a respectable fifth at the flag.

After rallying early on, Rinaldi settled for sixth place, while Sam Lowes ended a positive first weekend on the Marc VDS bike to complete a run of six Ducatis inside the top seven.

In eighth, Garrett Gerloff came on strong in Race 2 having barely featured in the upper echelons all weekend, the American sparing some blushes for BMW to collect a fistful of points for the Bonovo Action team, ahead of Dominique Aegerter and Michael van der Mark, who completed the top ten.

Axel Bassani consolidated his Kawasaki team-mate's achievements in a solid 11th, ahead of a frustrated Remy Gardner, who again ran towards the front of Race 2, only to pick up a puncture just prior to it being red flagged.

Though he was allowed to make the restart, he did so from the back of the grid, the Aussie climbing to 12th at the flag.

On a desperately disappointing weekend for Honda with its new CBR1000RR-R package, Xavi Vierge nabbed a handful of points for 13th, ahead of satellite Yamaha riders Philipp Oettl and Brad Ray in the final points' paying positions in 14th and 15th.

2024 WorldSBK Phillip Island | RACE 2 Results

Sunday | Conditions -Dry, Sunny

Phillip Island Grand Prix Circuit | Lap Records - WorldSBK

2024 WorldSBK Phillip Island Schedule & Programme