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Bassani Achieves Best Bimota Finish at Portimao
The Bimota by Kawasaki Racing Team wrapped up an action-packed final day at Portimao, with Axel Bassani delivering the standout performance by securing seventh place in a red-flagged and restarted Race Two, which ultimately ran for 11 laps.
Sunday’s schedule at the Autodromo Internacional do Algarve featured two WorldSBK races—the ten-lap Superpole Race in the morning, followed by the originally planned 20-lap Race Two. In the Superpole Race, Bassani finished 11th, while his teammate Alex Lowes crossed the line in 13th after battling through the field.
Starting from 14th, Bassani gained ground, whereas Lowes, unable to set a time in Saturday’s Superpole session, had to work his way up from the back of the grid to claim 13th place.
Race Two was red-flagged at half distance due to a crash and concerns over track conditions. The restart saw the race reduced to 11 laps but still awarded full championship points. Bassani and his team found further improvements in his KB998 Rimini machine, allowing him to fight from an eighth-place grid position to secure his best finish yet with Bimota in seventh place.
Lowes, on the other hand, encountered misfortune. After making setup adjustments during the break, he crashed at Turn 12 on the opening lap of the restart and was unable to rejoin, leaving Portugal without adding to his championship tally.
Following two rounds and six races, Bassani’s points-scoring finishes at Portimao place him ninth in the overall standings with 30 points. Lowes sits 13th with 19 points.
The next challenge for WorldSBK’s newest factory team will be the historic Assen round in the Netherlands, taking place from April 11-13. The event comes just days after the customer version of the Bimota KB998 Rimini becomes available at European dealers on April 9.
Alex Lowes, stated: “We tried some changes with the bike today, and I felt quite good. In the last race, I gained positions before the red flag. We had a brief window to adjust the setup again, and at the restart, I was in race mode, making strong passes on Aegerter and Montella. Unfortunately, at Turn 12 on the first lap, while on full power, I lost the front unexpectedly. It’s not a usual place to crash, but maybe I was pushing too hard with the better grid position. Despite no results this weekend, my pace wasn’t bad. We’ll take the lessons from this first European round with Bimota and come back stronger in Assen. Axel did a great job in Race Two, improving all weekend. Congrats to him and his team—his data will be valuable for all of us.”
Axel Bassani, stated: “Today felt pretty good on the bike. In the Superpole Race, once I got near the top ten, it became really tough to make overtakes because the race pace was so similar for everyone. I struggled to take the slipstream on the straight, making it hard to attack. In Race Two, before the red flag, I had some front-end issues, but after the restart, the bike felt much better, and I could push as I wanted. I did make a mistake in Turn 1, losing about a second and a half, but I recovered well. I had a great battle with Petrucci, which I really enjoyed, even though the straight-line fight with him wasn’t easy! Overall, we leave Portimao with a good feeling and valuable insights about the bike. Hopefully, we can carry this momentum into Assen.”
