Both BbKRT Riders Finish Insid...

After the first WorldSBK race at the Cremona Circuit for the bimota by Kawasaki Racing Team, Alex Lowes finished in sixth position and Axel Bassani was eighth after 23 laps around the intense 3.768km long layout in northern Italy.

In Superpole qualifying on Saturday morning, Lowes was seventh fastest and Bassani 13th. This meant Alex started from the third row of the Race One grid, and Axel the fifth row.

In the race itself, which went to its full planned 23-lap duration, Alex ended up in a fight with Garett Gerloff that lasted until the final lap. Unwilling to try an unnecessarily risky passing manoeuvre for a possible fifth place, Alex finished the first race in sixth position, scoring ten championship points.

Bassani was in a similar situation as Alex towards the end of the race, as he was right in the wheel tracks of Andrea Locatelli but knew that a last lap attack to pass would require too much risk for not enough potential reward. Axel was eighth, finally, and secured eight championship points in the process.

With two more Cremona WorldSBK races to go, Alex is just three points from overall fourth place and Axel seven points from sixth place.

Sunday will conclude the second Italian-based weekend of the season, with a ten-lap Superpole Race in the morning and a second 23-lap Race Two in the afternoon.

Alex Lowes, stated: “I had a good battle with Garrett Gerloff and I tried in the last couple of laps to come back. We kept the pace really well and I felt like we were both riding well. It would have been risky to try to pass on the last lap. I think it is a shame to be 20 seconds behind the win at the end because I think we probably rode as well as anyone else - if you look at the consistency we had. We will try to improve for tomorrow. We missed some track time in FP2 on Friday, which meant we also missed some track time in the afternoon’s hotter conditions. With the data from Race One, maybe we can make some small improvements for tomorrow, and be a little bit faster.”

Axel Bassani, stated: “We had some bad luck in the Superpole qualifying and we can do nothing about that, but we recovered some position in the race and finished eighth. It was quite a difficult race and I was behind Locatelli. I tried to overtake him quite a lot of times but after some laps I think the temperature and pressure of the front tyre went high. The front was locking and closing a lot so I had to slow down a little bit. After a few laps I retook my pace and I gained on him again but I was not able to overtake. But to finish P8 gave us some more points and that is good for the championship. Tomorrow we have two more chances to try and do a good job. Thank you to the team and we will continue to work.”