Cremona featured a damp track early in the morning after heavy recent rains. Lowes only set one lap in FP1 and Bassani none at all as they waited for the track conditions to improve around the 3.768km long layout.
Lowes was the fastest rider early in FP2, then was displaced from the top of the timesheets for a while, before setting the best lap time of the opening day with a 1’29.685.
Riding at a home round for the second time in 2024, Axel was tenth fastest in the combined Friday sessions. He was exactly half a second from Lowes’ fastest lap time.
No fewer than 17 riders qualified within one second of each other in a field of 25.
Saturday 21 September will provide a final FP3 session, then Tissot Superpole Qualifying and a 23-lap Race One.
Alex Lowes, stated: “A good start to the weekend. We did a test here after the Misano race weekend and it was really, really hot, so in FP2 there was a bit more grip from the track today because of the cooler conditions. We tried both SCX options in the rear and the bike and the settings felt quite good. I enjoyed riding the bike and I enjoyed the track layout. In the end, we were quite fast.”
Axel Bassani, stated: “We did not run on track a lot today because in FP1 the conditions were not so good, so we didn’t go out. In FP2 we tried to work a lot but I missed some feeling with the bike. I feel our potential is higher than our current position so we have to work hard again.”
Tito Rabat (Kawasaki Puccetti Racing) had a remarkably strong start to his first competitive day at Cremona, setting the fourth fastest time of all on his KRT-supplied Ninja ZX-10RR. He was just 0.291 seconds from Lowes’ best time.
2024 KRT Rider WorldSBK Statistics
Alex Lowes:
2024: Races: 24, Wins 2, Podiums 10, Superpoles 1
Career Race Wins: 4 (3 for Kawasaki)
Career Podiums: 44 (24 for Kawasaki)
Career Poles: 2 (1 for Kawasaki)
Axel Bassani:
2024: Races: 24, 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: 552 – second overall
Total Kawasaki Poles: 109 – second overall
#NinjaSpirit
#KRTNewStart2024