VENTNOR, Australia – Alex Lowes snapped a two-year winless drought in World Superbike competition with a victory on Sunday at the Phillip Island Grand Prix Circuit.
Lowes bested his Kawasaki teammate Jonathan Rea in a drag race to the finish line, beating Rea by a scant margin of .037 seconds. Scott Redding completed the podium in third for Ducati.
Rea started the race from the pole after winning the Superpole race earlier in the day, but it was Michael van der Mark who led the opening circuit before giving way to Rea on lap two.
Rea would continue to led until lap nine, when Loris Baz briefly moved to the front of the field. Rea snatched the lead away on the next lap, only for Baz to take the position back and led the next two circuits. Rea moved back out front on lap 14, with Baz fading down the order.
It was at this point Lowes made his presence known, challenging Rea for the lead and briefly taking it on lap 15. Rea got the led back one lap later and led the next five laps, only for Lowes to use Rea’s slipstream to overtake him in turn one with two laps left.
The pair battled for supremacy over the final two laps and Rea appeared to be setting up Lowes for a move out of the final corner, a move that had already worked once on Sunday for Rea during the Superpole race.
However, Lowes was able to defend enough to beat Rea to the checkered flag to score the victory. Redding chased the Kawasaki pair home in third, nearly a second behind them. Van der Mark was fourth, with Chaz Davies finishing fifth.