Work Gets Underway For BbKRT At Estoril

After the first warm and sunny day of action at the penultimate round of the 2026 FIM Superbike World Championship, Axel Bassani placed fifth in the combined timesheets, with his fellow bimota by Kawasaki Racing Team rider Alex Lowes seventh.

The start of the Estoril WorldSBK weekend featured a dry track and warm ambient conditions for each Free Practice session at the 4.182km-long circuit near the capital city of Lisbon. Track temperatures almost reached 40°C in FP2, having been 25°C in FP1. Alex was fourth overall in FP1 and Axel 13th.

The BbKRT duo were able to get down to work on finding an optimum race set-up on their bimota KB998 Rimini machines in FP2. After working out some set-up issues - at the rear for Axel and the front for Alex - both riders improved their lap times in the warmer conditions of the afternoon.

Axel’s best lap was a 1’35.844, which was just 0.412 seconds from the fastest rider - recently crowned WorldSBK champion Nicolo Bulega. Alex was two positions but only 0.029 seconds behind Axel, with a 1’35.873 best lap.

Now the focus for all inside the BbKRT pit box is on finding the correct set-up for one single fast lap in Superpole Qualifying and then for the entire opening 21-lap race of the weekend, on Saturday 10 October. Race One will get underway at 15.30 local time in Portugal.

Alex Lowes, stated: “A positive day one for us, to be honest. I felt good on the bike and we made some steps between FP1 and FP2. The track was a bit hotter, so with a little bit less grip, the bike was moving about a bit more. I enjoyed riding the bike, but I am struggling a little bit more with the front, and after ten laps, the front is sliding quite a lot. This is an area I want to focus on tomorrow. But, in general, I am quite happy, and the pace is quite good. If we can just improve in a couple of areas, and I can improve my riding in a couple of sectors, I think we can be quite strong tomorrow. We had good fun on Friday, and I am looking forward to the race on Saturday.”

Axel Bassani, stated: “This morning we were nearer the back but not so distant in the lap time. We were all bunched together. I did a long run this afternoon, but after some laps, the feeling was not really good, and I had some problems with the rear, especially. I was sliding on the brakes. We made a little change for the last few laps, and the feeling was good. I also made some mistakes during my laps, but in the end, we did a 1’35.8, which I think is a really good lap time for the first day.”