After the first five Races of the season, the leader of the FIM Europe Supersport Cup is San Carlo Team Italia rider Axel Bassani, who leads his teammate Alessandro Zaccone in the points standings and is currently P14 in the overall WorldSSP points standings. Bassani was the winner in the ESS at Misano World Circuit Marco Simoncelli – the last WorldSSP Race ahead of the summer break – and with only 3 races remaining on the ESS calendar the Italian rider spoke to WorldSBK.com about his first experiences in world level Supersport competition.

“Everything started out great with the sixth position at MotorLand Aragón,” says Bassani. “But then after Assen we started to have some more negative results. Then in Misano we’ve got back to the kind of results that we know we can achieve. We weren’t happy with everything, but this result lifts moral again.”

The Italian rider finished his second home Round of the year in P8, and with it took the lead in the ESS back from teammate and compatriot Zaccone – by three points.

“I feel very happy with my Kawasaki,” continued the young Italian. “There are still some things to refine in the setup, but we’re getting there. I feel comfortable.”

The last three Rounds of the ESS season should be setup for a good showdown between the two San Carlo Team Italia riders, and Bassani also has his eye on the bigger picture.

“I want to continue doing a good job, try to improve the results and maybe in the last three Races try and get on the WorldSSP podium.”

That target won’t be easy, with the WorldSSP grid a full one with stars and category heavyweights to navigate on your way to the front, but Bassani has experience of the podium in STK600 in 2015 when the Italian got on the rostrum at Magny-Cours. Before the grid returns to France however, the Pirelli German Round awaits at Lausitzring from the 16^th-18^th September.