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On the final day of race action at the Misano World Circuit ‘Marco Simoncelli’ WorldSBK round, each bimota by Kawasaki Racing Team rider - Axel Bassani and Alex Lowes - took away one fourth-place race finish.

The final day in Italy was the hottest one so far, in a race weekend that was dry and sunny throughout. Air temperatures of 33°C and track temperatures of 52°C were experienced during the final raceday of the Misano weekend, which featured two races for Alex and Axel.

Bassani continued his strong run of home form with a fourth place in the ten-lap Superpole race. Lowes was disappointed with a no-score in the ‘sprint’ race after he started to drop back and then retired from the race at the trackside, due to a technical issue.

The second Sunday WorldSBK race, of 21-lap duration at the 4.226km long circuit, was to provide Lowes with his single best result of the Misano weekend. Fourth place for Alex was partially due to his teammate Axel falling from third place, to eventually no-score.

Bassani has been riding at a high pace and with great confidence in front of his home crowd, despite the very hot asphalt temperatures. On the 17th lap, however, he lost the front at T8 and was unable to restart after the fall.

Axel wrapped up his home round with two fourth-place finishes to his credit, while Alex left bimota’s home venue with a front row start in Superpole Qualifying, plus fifth and fourth place race finishes.

The mixed fortunes for each BbKRT rider on Sunday at Misano mean that Alex is fourth in the championship, with 156 points, while Axel is sixth overall, with 128 points. bimota is a clear second in the Manufacturers’ Championship standings after seven of the 12 rounds have been completed.

Round eight of the WorldSBK championship will take place in the UK, at Donington Park, between 10-12 July, after a short break in the recently busy schedule.

Alex Lowes stated: “Obviously this morning’s result was a shame, because I felt good in that race with an SCQ rear tyre. This weekend it seemed to really help the balance of the bike. It is just one of those things, even if it is a shame to lose fourth place. Race Two was quite good and I had a positive start from tenth place. I had to drop one position, however, because Locatelli had passed Montella at the start and I went past them. I thought it was OK, but then the officials gave me a drop one position signal. I lost quite a lot of time to drop behind them. The second long race was hotter and I was struggling to stop the bike. The changes we made because of the issue this morning meant that the bike was working a bit differently. I also got a track limits warning early in the race so I had to ride quite steadily. Fourth place was a solid result. In these hot and slippery conditions it was not easy, but it was a solid weekend overall. It is a shame for Axel because he deserved a podium in Race Two after how he was riding this weekend, but we are on the limit.”

Axel Bassani stated: “This is racing sometimes, part of the game. It can be good and not good, but I think we have to be really happy about all the work we are doing. All weekend we have been in the top four or so. This morning we had a really good Superpole Race and this afternoon we were doing something special, I think. To stay inside the top three in the middle of all the Ducatis is really hard to do. We were there, but I crashed in T8. I was trying to stay consistent and control the gap between Yari Montella and myself. I lost the front. I struggled all race with the front, and I was trying to control it, but in T8 the bike was just pushing too much in the last part of braking and this happened. But we have to be really proud and happy about the work we did at Misano.”