Donington Park WorldSBK: Alex Lowes: “Kawasaki’s been so dominant here, it’s a different game now”

“The general characteristic of the weekend was the same. We were quite fast at the start, but when the tyre drops we really, really struggle to keep our pace,” Lowes explained.

“Johnny [Rea] manages it better, obviously, but it was a similar characteristic for him. He was fighting for the win in the first two races, especially the Superpole race, but just runs out of grip.”

While Rea’s weekend went downhill with third-third-fifth results, Lowes made a big change to the damper settings on his shock for the final outing and crossed the line just 0.4s from the Ulsterman.

“I actually felt like the bike was working a little bit better than Johnny’s in the middle of the last race. We made quite a big change whereas obviously he had felt good [in the Superpole race], so I guess he kept the bike the same.”

But the fading grip issue remained.

“I felt quite strong coming back to Johnny, but then 6-7-8 laps to go I was in trouble again,” Lowes confirmed. “Especially Turn 2 when the bike’s on the side just spinning and I was finding it quite hard to hang in there.

“On the back straight I was almost jumping on the back [wheel], trying to get it to grip!”

“Kawasaki’s been so dominant here. But you can't look back”

While Toprak Razgatlioglu broke Alvaro Bautista and Ducati’s win streak in the Superpole race for Yamaha’s second win of the year, Kawasaki’s 2023 victory drought continued at a track where the likes of Rea and Tom Sykes were serial winners in the past.

“Kawasaki’s been so dominant here over the years. But you can't look back at that. It’s a different game now,” Lowes said. “Guys are doing ‘26s. I did ‘27.0 about lap 20 and you are going backwards! I know there's a new surface, but the pace is incredible.

“So we need to understand how to get some more performance from the bike. It's hard to sit here and tell you I rode really well this weekend when you finish sixth three times. But yeah, I rode well!”

Lowes stressed there is no easy answer as to why the Kawasaki consumes rubber more quickly than its rivals, but possible theories include a change to the Pirelli tyres and the ZX-10RR’s relatively stiff chassis.

“It looks like our bike, it's been the same for a long time, especially from the chassis point of view, and I think the tyres have changed a lot over the last three or four years, especially,” said the Englishman, who has re-signed for 2024.

“The way the tyres work, it's a lot softer rubber now, the construction has changed and Pirelli have done a fantastic job, but it looks like the stiffer construction of the tyres, with a softer rubber, we are working too much.

“There's so much that goes in to understanding why, and it's quite a stiff chassis that the Kawasaki has…”

Lowes is currently seventh in the world championship, with one podium this season.