Alex Lowes confessed he “didn’t have the speed” to challenge the leaders i🥂n WorldSBK Race 2 at Portimao, although he finished on the podium.

Lowes finished six seconds adrift of the victory in Race 2, but wꦓas on the podium thanks to a crash for Alvaro 🍒Bautista.

“It’s a track I enjoy, it’s a track the bike goes really well at,” Lowes told WorldSBK.com. Despite that, he added “I can’t tell🥃 you how hard that race was, honestly.” He explained that it was because of the weather.

“The wind changed, and it was so physical,” said the Kawasaki rider. “The bike was ♍moving a lot from the first lap.”

Throughout the weekend, Lowes had felt strong on the bike. Af꧅ter the Superpole Race, Lowes said that “let’s say in the middle part of the lap — turn seven, turn eight, turn 10 — I really felt like [the bike] was turning a lot better thꦇan the other bikes.”

He felt the same after Race 2, despite the windy conditions. “I think I haꦗd some 𝕴strong points on the track like I spoke about all weekend, this was great, so I was able to make some passes.”

However, Lowes said that it was not enough to fight with the riders ahead of him: BMW’s Toprak Razgatlioglꦓu; and the factory 𝓰Ducati riders, Nicolo Bulega and Alvaro Bautista, the latter ultimately crashing out of the lead battle.

“For the two Ducatis and Toprak I didn’t have the speed,” Lowes said𝕴.

Adding to the complications in the race was an inconsistent feeling in braking, c🎀aused by the movement of the bike which was exaggerated by the conditions.

“♏Then, honestly, I made a couple of mistaജkes because the bike was moving about so much, so the brake lever was inconsistent,” said the #22.

Despite the complications, Lowes was happy with his weekend. “I’m not going to complain at all: two podiums today, fantastic fo𒅌r the team, they’ve done a great job, we’re really enjoying it,” he said. “Every weekend, we’re surprising ourselves a little bit. We’ve earned a drink tonight, so thank you to all of them.”

Lowes’ Portimao p🌸odiums, and the aforementioned crash for Bautista in Race 2, moves the Kawasaki rider to within 10 points of Bautista in the championship.

“I try to do the best I can in the standings,” Lowes said, “but the reality is that [Bautista has] been faster than us, he’s just had a few mist꧑akes. I’ve been consistent, I’ve had some mistakes of my own but in general I’ve been♕ consistent.

“I feel like I justও need to improve my speed in the races a little bit more to really fight with those guys inജ front.”

Looking ahead to the next race in France, Lowes was optimistic. “Magny-Cours is a track that I enjoy, I’ve had some good results there, so why not🦩 put up a good fight and see if we can challenge for this top three in the championship?”