Lowes aims to coax more speed out of his Kawasaki as World Superbike returns to Assen

TT Circuit Assen in the Netherlands will host the third round of the 2023 Superbike World Championship this weekend. Running world class motorcycle races going back to 1955, the 2.831-mile, 18-turn circuit oozes Grand Prix motorcycle racing history and Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK racer Alex Lowes looks to be making some more of his own there.

Lowes comes off a mixed bag of results — at the season-launching Philip Island round in Australia he failed to finish in both main races, yet earned a fourth place position in the sprint race. One week later at the Mandalika circuit in Indonesia, Lowes scored his first podium finish of the year, albeit result offset by a 10th- and 13th-place finishes in the main races. Not precisely the sort of results the Englishman was looking for, but Lowes, who was sixth in the 2022 standings, is optimistic about the near and immediate future.

“Yeah, the start of the season has not been too good,” admits Lowes. “We were at those flyaway races early in the year in February and we were not quite ready with a few small changes on the bike, but we’ve just had two important tests and tracks and I really enjoy this Assen track. I’m really optimistic, actually.

“Obviously in Australia we had a very mixed weekend. The weather played its part. In Indonesia we had a little bit of bad luck with the last race, but the podium in the second race was excellent. That track is one of our tougher tracks because the hot and slippery conditions are not the best for our bike, so the podium was good. It means that we can do it. This track here at Assen should suit us a lot better.”

Recent World Superbike tests have proven to be positive for the Kawasaki effort, Aragon and Barcelona utilized to dial-in the bike and to optimize its settings and performance potential.

“Yeah, we made some major changes at the last tests,” he notes. “The way I look at it is that we are getting a lot out of the bike. The bike has not changed massively for a lot of years and the team do a very good job, so we’re already getting maximum potential from the bike. To try and squeeze a little bit more out of it, sometimes you go the wrong way because anything that we would try that would be, let’s say, an easier fix, the guys have already tried it.

“We’ve gone back to what we know and working hard and maximizing the settings that we have and that gave me some confidence at the last test. Obviously, you are always going forward and trying to improve, but we’ve gone back to our base set that worked so well for us at the end of last year. I felt good at the very last test we did and I’m expecting to feel good here.