AxelBassani

Italian star Axel Bassani is back on the KB998 Rimini for the second year after some promising signs in 2025. He was closer to Lowes last year when compared to 2024 on the Kawasaki and will be hoping to continue closing that gap as he aims for a return to the WorldSBK rostrum. ‘El Bocia’ has been a podium contender before and has shown incredible race pace in the past, and the goal for him is to get that back in 2026.

Bimota (2025-)

Bimota are the third brand ‘El Bocia’ has ridden for in WorldSBK, after Ducati and Kawasaki. After being quick in testing in 2025, Bassani was aiming to return to the rostrum after missing out in the 2024 season. However, that didn’t transpire, although he did give Bimota their first front row start since 1989. With a year on the bike in the bag, can Bassani make his podium return?

Kawasaki (2024)

Bassani moved from Ducati machinery to the Kawasaki ZX-10RR team in 2024 as he had the perhaps unenviable task of replacing six-time Champion Jonathan Rea following his move to Yamaha. It was his only year in WorldSBK without finishing on the rostrum and finishing outside the top ten in the Championship.

Ducati (2021-2023)

Bassani’s WorldSBK debut came on the Panigale V4 R and he was an instant hit with the Motocorsa Racing outfit. He claimed his first podium in a wet race in Barcelona when Ducati finished 1-2-3, while he was on the rostrum a further three times in 2022 and finished seventh in the standings. He went one better the following year, despite one podium fewer, before his move to Kawasaki.

Before WorldSBK

Prior to becoming a hotshot in WorldSBK, Bassani competed in STK600 in 2015 for two races, scoring one podium at Magny-Cours, before moving into WorldSSP in 2016. He finished 12^th in the standings but didn’t race full-time in WorldSSP again until 2020 when he finished second in the WorldSSP Challenge.