Story and photos from worldsbk.com

It’s the first time Alex Lowes has claimed victory in World Superbike since Race 2 at Phillip Island in 2020, while 2021 Champion Toprak Razgatlioglu was on the rostrum with BMW for the first time

Britain’s Alex Lowes (Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK) ended a four-year drought to claim his third MOTUL FIM Superbike World Championship win during the Grand Ridge Brewery Australian Round. After fighting with his rivals, Lowes was able to pull out a one-second margin in the final few laps to claim victory for the first time since he won at Race 2 at the Phillip Island Grand Prix Circuit four years ago, while Toprak Razgatlioglu (ROKiT BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team) claimed his first rostrum for BMW with third.

A RACE TO REMEMBER: Lowes on top, Razgatlioglu’s rostrum, Iannone drops back

In a repeat to Race 1, Andrea Iannone (Team GoEleven) got a superb start as lights went out, leading the race although Alex Lowes (Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK) came past on Lap 2 at Turn 1. Iannone’s race was interrupted by a mechanical issue on Lap 6 which dropped him out of contention, coming home in 14^th. This allowed Lowes to pull out a gap for his first victory in four years by just over a second. Andrea Locatelli (Pata Prometeon Yamaha) took second after dropping as low as tenth, charging through the field in the second half of the 10-lap race with aggressive moves on his rivals at Turn 4 and Turn 10. In just his second race with BMW, Toprak Razgatlioglu claimed his first podium as he battled his way P3 in a run to the line with Alvaro Bautista (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati); the two Champions separated by just 0.074s. Razgatlioglu’s podium was his 116^th, putting him level with Noriyuki Haga at third in the all-time level. Lowes, Locatelli and Razgatlioglu will start Race 2 from the front row.

CHAMPIONS BATTLE IT OUT: Bautista just beaten by Razgatlioglu, Gardner in the podium mix

Bautista narrowly missed on a podium as he bounced back from a difficult Saturday for fourth, finishing just over a second ahead of Race 1 winner and teammate Nicolo Bulega in fifth. ‘Bulegas’ lost out at the start again but was unable to recover as he did in Saturday’s race, coming home in fifth. Remy Gardner (GYTR GRT Yamaha WorldSBK Team) was sixth, but it could’ve been more for the Australian. Gardner had fought his way into podium contention around the halfway mark of the race but was bundled down the order in the closing stages.

FIGHTING BACK: Aegerter drops down and climbs up, Rea battles to P10

Gardner’s teammate, Dominique Aegerter, had a similar story to Race 1. After starting from fourth, the Swiss rider dropped down the order before battling back. He was able to recover to P7, just two tenths behind his teammate. Sam Lowes (ELF Marc VDS Racing Team) secured eighth place in his first Tissot Superpole Race, ahead of Michael Ruben Rinaldi (Team Motocorsa Racing) in ninth with Aegerter, Lowes and Rinaldi on row three for Race 2. Jonathan Rea (Pata Prometeon Yamaha) fought his way to P10 in the Superpole Race after his Saturday disaster, giving the Ulsterman hope for a good result in Race 2 although he will start in his original grid position.

The top nine from the Tissot Superpole Race, full results here:

1. Alex Lowes (Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK)

2. Andrea Locatelli (Pata Prometeon Yamaha) +1.157s

3. Toprak Razgatlioglu (ROKiT BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team) +1.738s

4. Alvaro Bautista (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati) +1.812s

5. Nicolo Bulega (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati) +2.838s

6. Remy Gardner (GYTR GRT Yamaha WorldSBK Team) +2.853s

7. Dominique Aegerter (GYTR GRT Yamaha WorldSBK Team) +3.051s

8. Sam Lowes (ELF Marc VDS Racing Team) +3.341s

9. Michael Ruben Rinaldi (Team Motocorsa Racing) +5.535s

Watch Race 2 from Australia LIVE and UNINTERRUPTED at 16:30 Local Time (UTC+11) using the WorldSBK VideoPass!