BbKRT Preparing For An In-Season Test Session

Just over two weeks after the start of the 2026 FIM Superbike World Championship in Australia, the bimota by Kawasaki Racing Team (BbKRT) will take part in a two-day test session at the Autodromo Internacional do Algarve in Portugal, between 9 - 10 March.

After a strong start from BbKRT riders Axel Bassani and Alex Lowes, they will now have the chance to refine their 2026 machine set-ups and take another step into the future with the podium-capable Bimota KB998 Rimini machine. They will be joined on track at Portimao by regular test rider, Xavi Fores.

After a thrilling first round at Phillip Island in Australia, the entire BbKRT effort has been boosted by the podium performances delivered by both KB998 riders, which included the team’s first double podium result in the Superpole Race.

As Axel and Alex prepare for the Portimao test, Bassani sits second in the championship table, with Lowes ninth. Bassani scored two podiums at PI and Lowes a single, with these impressive early high-point scores arriving shortly after an official two-day test at PI, which had also delivered strong results for the official bimota duo.

On-track preparations for the 2026 season were affected by adverse weather during the team’s scheduled winter test programme, which makes this latest outing at Portimao a particularly significant one to confirm both the direction of development for this season’s machine and future technical advances.

The 4.592km-long Portimao circuit will host several of WorldSBK’s top teams for the two days of testing, which will provide an ideal opportunity to measure both relative and pure performance for the BbKRT riders.

After the completion of the Portimao tests, there will be a short wait for the second round of the season to take place, at the same Portuguese venue. The second of 12 championship rounds in 2026 will take place between 27-29 March.

Alex Lowes stated: “It will be nice to get back out, and Portimao is a completely different track to Phillip Island - and also Jerez - which is the only other track we have managed to get some laps at over the winter. From my side, it is a case of working on the base set-up that we found at the end of last year, after the end of the Jerez round. We will have a more normal tyre choice for the European rounds at Portimao, so we will see if we can get that set-up working and give us information on how that bike is going to work going into the start of the European season. I hope the weather will be a bit nicer to us than when we went to Portimao to test in January. It is always a fantastic track to ride, one of everyone’s favourites, so I am looking forward to getting there, working with the guys, having some fun, and getting jobs done before we go back for the race weekend.”

Axel Bassani stated: “This test at Portimao will be important because after that we will have the race itself. The important thing is to find the same kind of feeling that we had in the first round in Australia, as it was a really good weekend in general. We were fast in every practice. We will focus on a set-up for the race weekend, to find a good feeling and good rhythm, and after that we will check something new, for sure. It is important to stay focused and consistent at the level we are at now.”

Guim Roda, BbKRT Team Manager, stated: “We moved to Portimao after making a good start to the first round of the season at Phillip Island. We know PI is a particular kind of track, with not many hard braking points, so we need to continue working at Portimao to understand our real performance, especially compared to the other competitors. The first three rounds of the year - in PI, Portimao, and then Assen - will be important points to understand where we are and define our development direction for 2027. From what we saw in PI, the steps that were made during 2025 to find the bike specification for 2026 have been working well. Let’s continue working in this way and see how Alex, Axel, and Xavi Fores work to make the KB998 even better. At the Portimão test, we will also have FS3 Team from the BSB championship using the KB998 for the first time. We’ll help them learn how the bike works as quickly as possible so that they can arrive at the first BSB round with the best possible preparation.”