Alex Lowes has landed his first WorldSBK win in four years after taking his opportunities to sprint clear for victory in a breathless Superpole Race for the opening round of the 2024 WorldSBK season at Phillip Island.

The Kawasaki Racing Team rider capitalised on a curious issue for initial leader Andrea Iannone that dropped him out of contention to strike out in the lead before making the most of skirmishes behind him to put a margin between himself and the opposition.

Victory in the ten lap sprint - which wasn't subject to the mandatory pit-stop of this weekend's two full-length races - is only his second in Kawasaki colours, the first having come right at the beginning of his tenure with the manufacturer at the same circuit in 2020. In all, the win represents only his third in 11 seasons of WorldSBK

Lowes led home Andrea Locatelli for his second podium of the weekend so far, while Toprak Razgatlioglu survived a late assault from Alvaro Bautista to collect his first podium in BMW colours in third.

On a weekend that has seen the Englishman prove one of the quickest contenders around the Australian venue, Lowes always appeared to have a strong shot at returning to the top of the podium in the shorter Sunday morning encounter.

And so it proved, Lowes dicing it out with Andrea Iannone early to briefly nose his way in front prior to the end of the opening lap after the Team Go Eleven Ducati rider got the hole-shot from the front row.

Even so, it was Iannone for much of the race that looked on course to deliver a stunning win on his comeback weekend after slipstreaming by at the start of lap two and comfortably controlling the pace thereafter while battles raged in his shadow.

However, the ex-MotoGP rider's hopes of a fairytale result would come to nought with five laps to go when he wobbled on the exit of Siberia, enough to invite Lowes and the close-following Toprak Razgatlioglu through into first and second.

With an unsettled Iannone haemorrhaging positions in the following corners as the Italian briefly sat up on the run into Turn 12, his victory charge would end with him crossing the line out of the points down in 14th.

With the Ducati man out of the picture, Lowes inherited a lead he'd hold to the finish line, the experienced racer handed the opportunity to break away into a comfortable lead as the chasing pack tripped over one another in the immediate aftermath of Iannone's relegation.

With his lead swelling to more than a second with just over three laps to go, Lowes kept it neat and quick on the Kawasaki ZX-10RR to stream home for victory in a welcome boost for both the rider and team in the wake of losing Jonathan Rea to Yamaha over the winter.

Andrea Locatelli comes on strong as Nicolo Bulega loses his way

Indeed, Lowes would have intensity of the peloton behind him to thank for giving him the breathing room to get his head down with the battle for the final podium positions changing frequently right up to the flag.

With a clear disparity between those quick on the straights - namely the Ducatis and Razgatlioglu's BMW - and those more nimble in the corners - predominantly the Yamahas - the ebb and flow of the Phillip Island circuit would keep things unpredictable.

For a time it seemed Razgatlioglu had the measure of the opposition, the Turk looking threatening down the Gardner straight and wild enough on the brakes to negate an M 1000 RR that still looks a handful in some of the more delicate corners.

In the end though it was a hard-charging Locatelli that would come through for second, the Italian making impressive headway from a low of tenth place after a poor start.

Utilising a harder tyre choice than most, despite the slow first-half of the race, Locatelli picked through the pack quickly but was left with no time to make in-roads on Lowes once he'd finally made it up to second.

Behind him, Razgatlioglu held on for third place for his first BMW podium, which in turn marks a first top three result for the German marque since 2022.

He had close company across the line though with Bautista making up for Saturday's low returns following a crash with a more aggressive showing en route to fourth. Even so, it was not a comprehensive performance from the double defending champion, Bautista - despite looking rapid as ever in a straight line - struggling repeatedly to get the Ducati to stop and turn.

Still, it was enough for him to collect fourth, Bautista finishing ahead of Race 1 winning team-mate Nicolo Bulega, who got a short, sharp shock as to the relentlessness of the Superpole Race in fifth.

The rookie suffered for a modest start from pole before being bullied to as low as seventh at one stage, before steadily working his way into the race, albeit only as far as fifth at the flag.

He did, however, get the better of Remy Gardner across the line, the home favourite giving the home fans a treat with a bolshy performance that had him running as high as third for periods of the race, only to get hung out to dry late on by the advancing pack.

His GYTR GRT Yamaha team-mate Dominique Aegerter chased him across the line in seventh, the Swiss in turn having Sam Lowes on his tail in eighth. The Marc VDS Ducati rider made good headway late on after a mistake dropped him outside of the top ten before clawing his way back into the points, the Briton also the first on the scene to congratulate his twin brother for his success on the warm-down lap.

Completing the points' paying positions was Michael Ruben Rinaldi in ninth, the Italian holding off the advances of Jonathan Rea, the six-time WorldSBK Champion faring better in the shorter Superpole Race than he did in Race 1 but not enough to get him onto the board.

The Lowes' notwithstanding, it was another tough race for the Brits with Scott Redding down in 17th, while Bradley Ray crashed and remounted en route to 21st and Tarran Mackenzie failed to finish.

2024 WorldSBK Phillip Island | SUPERPOLE RACE Results

Sunday | Conditions -Dry, Sunny

Phillip Island Grand Prix Circuit | Lap Records - WorldSBK

2024 WorldSBK Phillip Island Schedule & Programme