Bimota rider Alex Lowes briefly dreamt of a podium finish – and threw away fifth place

It will be tough to make an impact against the armada of Ducati riders in the 2026 Superbike World Championship. As the season draws to a close, even the less experienced riders, such as rookies Alberto Surra and Tommy Bridewell, are really finding their stride – and this weekend at the Magny-Cours round, Álvaro Bautista, who has otherwise been struggling, also put in a convincing performance.

It was too easy for them to overtake me, and too difficult for me to overtake them.

Alex Lowes on the hopeless struggle of a Bimota rider

Alex Lowes has established himself as the best rider on a different make of bike. It is admirable how the Englishman pushes his Bimota to the limit. Occasionally, however, he goes beyond it – as in the second race at Magny-Cours, when he crashed whilst lying in fifth place.

The 35-year-old had already secured fifth place in the first race and in the Superpole race. “It was too easy for them to overtake me, and too difficult for me to overtake them again,” said Lowes, describing the problem. “I felt I’d ridden well, hadn’t made any mistakes, and I think we’re doing a good job as a team and really giving it our all. We’re doing our best to close the gap on the Ducatis and make small steps forward. I think we’re doing a good job, but at the moment it’s a bit of a frustrating time.”

Willkommen zum Rennen in Magny-Cours

Foto: Gold & Goose

Nicolò Bulega

Foto: Gold & Goose

Axel Bassani

Foto: Gold & Goose

Boxengasse

Foto: Gold & Goose

Garrett Gerloff

Foto: Gold & Goose

Fans

Foto: Gold & Goose

Xavier Vierge

Foto: Gold & Goose

Sam Lowes

Foto: Gold & Goose

Iker Lecuona

Foto: Gold & Goose

Álvaro Bautista

Foto: Gold & Goose

Start des Rennens

Foto: Gold & Goose

Lorenzo Baldassarri

Foto: Gold & Goose

Axel Bassani

Foto: Gold & Goose

Sam Lowes

Foto: Gold & Goose

Nicolò Bulega

Foto: Gold & Goose

Iker Lecuona

Foto: Gold & Goose

Yari Montella

Foto: Gold & Goose

Nicolò Bulega gewinnt beide Läufe in Frankreich

Foto: Gold & Goose

Bulega und Lecuona

Foto: Gold & Goose

Podium Lauf 1 - Iker Lecuona, Nicolò Bulega, Sam Lowes

Foto: Gold & Goose

Podium Lauf 2 - Iker Lecuona, Nicolò Bulega, Yari Montella

Foto: Gold & Goose

Sieger Nicolò Bulega

Foto: Gold & Goose

Willkommen zum Rennen in Magny-Cours

© Gold & Goose

The Bimota rider continued: “Fifth place in the Superpole race was quite decent, but the weekend ended on a disappointing note after all. I pushed the bike to the limit and wanted to try and get past Alberto Surra in the final race – perhaps I was even dreaming of a podium finish. Maybe that was unrealistic, and I may well have given 110 per cent to keep up with the Ducati group. I then nearly hit the back of his bike, so I just moved a bit further out. I didn’t want to mess up the corner because Baldassarri was catching up. I tried to get the bike into the corner and had a minor crash in the process.”

Lowes still managed to bring his bike home in 13th place, securing three World Championship points in the process. “I gave it my all all weekend,” assured the twin brother of Ducati rider Sam Lowes. “When I got back on the bike, it was quite bent and I was missing the right-hand footpeg – but we were still pretty competitive. We’ll give it another go at the next race to see if we can get a bit closer to the podium.”