Best Finish So Far For bimota KB998 Rimini

In taking fifth place in the second full distance race of the Assen WorldSBK weekend Axel Bassani (bimota by Kawasaki Racing Team) gave himself and the team the best individual race finish so far in the debut season of the bimota KB998 Rimini. Axel’s team-mate Alex Lowes also beat his personal season best race result with sixth place in Race Two.

After basking in two days of consistently sunny weather conditions the TT Circuit Assen was shrouded in rain and low cloud in the early morning on Sunday 13 April. That finally provided a wet, if drying, track surface just in time for the ten-lap Superpole Race, which began on schedule at 11am local time.

The Superpole race was a tricky one for all competitors and delivered an 11th place finish to Alex and 12th to Axel; results which did not add any points to their championship totals. This was, however, their first real experience of the bike in wet race conditions.

A big turnaround in the fortunes of both KB998 Rimini riders saw them fight hard during a dry final race in the afternoon, which was held over 21 laps.

Bassani was eighth at the end of the first lap but made enough progress to pass the reigning World Champion Toprak Razgatlioglu at half race distance. He would pick up another place on the final two laps to finish a lonely but season-best fifth.

Axel was just 7.380 seconds from the race winner Andrea Locatelli after 21-intense laps full of concentration and strong pace.

Lowes pushed hard from the start in Race Two’s dry conditions, picking up places from his early track position of 12th, having been held up by other riders in the early stages. He went on to win a multi-rider fight in the final laps to finish a personal best for the year of sixth - beating his previous best of seventh in the Superpole Race at Phillip Island.

In the championship standings, after three rounds and nine individual races, Bassani is ninth with 41 points and Lowes is 14th with 34. Axel is actually tied on points with the rider who is officially ranked one place above him.

After a short break in the season the WorldSBK riders and teams will reconvene at the relatively new WorldSBK venue of Cremona, in Italy, between 2-4 May.

Alex Lowes, stated: “The second Sunday race was good. Starting further back was not easy. In the first ten laps I got blocked a bit and but I knew that I could go faster than the pace I was showing. By the second half of the race I was trying to manage things, be smooth in my riding and at the end it was not too bad. I managed to pass a couple of guys in the last laps, so that was good. There is still some work to do. Well done to Axel and his guys - and to have both bikes inside the top six after a sometimes difficult weekend is a pretty good way to end. On to the next race now.”

Axel Bassani, stated: “After yesterday, when I made a big mistake on the last laps trying to finish in P5, I thought maybe it was better to accept arriving in P6 or P7 today, especially for the team. Today I tried only to stay with the top guys and the feeling with the bike improved a lot. In wet conditions this morning we were not so good, but it was our first time in the wet in race conditions. But, Race Two was quite good. It was difficult to overtake Toprak so immediately, when he made a little mistake in T9, I overtook him.”