As all motorcycle racing enthusiasts the world over are quite aware of, Kawasaki’s official WorldSBK squad, KRT, is a fabulous racing program. You’re now into your second year with the team. Thoughts?
It’s a fantastic team. Obviously last year was, like we said, a strange year and we never thought we’d be going to races where you wear you mask and stay in your little bubble group and you weren’t allowed to mix with or meet with other people in the paddock, but I was able to get to know the team a bit more and I was able to spend a bit of time in Barcelona with the guys. They’re a great group of guys with a lot of experience, so there are a lot of things you can learn from being around them. Yeah, it’s a really fun team to be riding for.
It certainly seems like team leader Jonathan Rea and you get along well. True?
Yeah, we get along good. Obviously, you want to beat your teammate and he’s always winning, so that’s a hard job at the minute, but I’ll tell you one thing: I’m getting a lot closer all of the time and we’re trying to be more similar. That’s my focus: To keep him close and to try and beat him. In general, we have a good relationship and off the bike we definitely get on well and we have a special relationship, but a good relationship, as well.
Perhaps the best of times and the worst of times with your results at the Aragon and Estoril rounds. What do you think thus far? Happy?
Yeah, I’m happy in general. Obviously, we’re racers, we always want to do better. Unless you win every race, you always want to try and improve. I’m happy so far. This year we’ve made a good step with my understanding of the bike and I feel a lot more prepared now for all the different situations. At the opening round at Aragon we had some damp races and we had some wet sessions and I was able to be fast in all of those conditions. That gave me a lot of confidence and obviously there are a lot of different tracks coming up, some new tracks, and I’m very excited to try the bike on these new tracks and to try and get on the podium every weekend. That’s my target now.
Yes, in speaking of the omnipotent Ninja ZX-10RR, do you have a good relationship with motorcycle?
Yes, I like it. Obviously I was riding a different bike for Yamaha for four years and you sort of get stuck in that. You try to ride that bike the way that bike needs to be ridden, so it’s taken me a little bit of time to totally understand the Kawasaki, but it is so strong and it stays on the pace and it is good on acceleration. I’m trying to ride the bike more in that way and it just took a little bit of time. Now, I understand exactly what I need to do. I’m not doing it 100-percent just yet, but it is getting a lot more natural for me to ride the bike how it needs to be ridden and that’s why the results are improving. Yeah, I really like the bike. It’s a great bike.
During every given World Superbike weekend, all of you guys, as competitors, are sent out to race three different times. I wanted to ask you what you thought about that. That’s a lot of racing over 48 hours!
It's good, I think because obviously I speak to my brother (Note: Same Lowes competes for the Elf Marc VDS Racing Team in the Moto2 World Championship) a lot over in Moto2 and they just have one chance at every MotoGP weekend. If you don’t have the best race, you’ve got to wait a long time to try it again. At the same time, if you have a really good race, you have to back it up the next day. I like the schedule. I like how it gives you an opportunity to either fix a mistake or repeat a result. The only thing that has been quite hard and is something that I really need to focus on is that when you arrive at a new circuit with the bike on Frida, you only have two 40-minute sessions. Then on Saturday, you have qualifying and then you are directly into the race. Sometimes you’re only on the bike for a little bit when you don’t have that much experience with a track. Apart from that, racing is the most enjoyable part of riding bikes and that’s what we like to do. Yeah, it’s nice to test and try new stuff and do the practices or do a good lap in qualifying, but racing is the bit you really enjoy. The more races the better for me.
What’s your take on the WSBK competitive landscape thus far in 2021? Jonathan Rea has forged onwards with his winning ways. Scott Redding of the Ducati fold has been quite strong as has Toprak Razgatlioglu of the Pata Yamaha team.
Obviously, Jonathan is winning again at the start of the season, but I think the championship is the strongest it has been in a long time. There are lots of guys that can win. There are a lot of bikes and teams that can win. If you go back seven or eight years, there was maybe Aprilia and Kawasaki that could win and then you had Ducati. Some of the teams were nearly there, but not quite. Now, and with everybody slowly improving, there are a lot of good bikes and a lot of good riders and the teams have upped their levels, as well. I think what you’re seeing is some great racing this year. For me, I think the level is the highest it has been, certainly since I’ve been involved here since 2014. The current level now of the bikes, teams and riders combined, is the best that I have been involved with.
Okay, my friend. Last question: Can you win this thing? Can you be the 2021 WorldSBK World Champion?
Yeah, I can win the World Championship. I think I need to improve in a couple of areas just to get that last little bit and beat the guy on the other side of the garage. It’s a challenge that I’m really excited about and I really believe in myself to get there. I just need to be calm at the start of the year. Like we said, we have three races a weekend and 39 races over the course of the year, so it is about being smart now and building up the confidence and building some momentum. That’s the target.
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