The top Independent Team and Rider in Race 2 of the Pirelli Aragon Round went to Motocorsa Racing and Axel Bassani after the Italian rider claimed sixth place after a stunning start to the race, as he looks to build on his impressive rookie MOTUL FIM Superbike World Championship campaign in 2021. Last season, Bassani claimed a single podium finish and finished 24 of his 37 races inside the top ten.

After a difficult three Free Practice sessions, where Bassani could only manage 15^th in the combined classification with a best time of 1’50.856s, the Italian youngster responded in style in Tissot Superpole to claim a third row start with ninth place. In Race 1, Bassani finished in 16^th place after he took a trip through the gravel at the left-hander of Turn 15 in the early stages of the race.

In the 10-lap Tissot Superpole Race, Bassani moved up two places for seventh place, finishing as the top Independent Rider in that race before sixth place in Race 2 after a lightning start to once again claim Independent honours for Motocorsa Racing, finishing eight seconds clear of Loris Baz (Bonovo Action BMW) in the Independent battle. The results leave Bassani 11^th in the Riders’ Championship although his Race 1 non-score means he sits in third in the Independent Riders’ standings, one point behind Baz and Garrett Gerloff (GYTR GRT Yamaha WorldSBK Team) who occupy the top two spots.

Looking back on his Sunday showing, where he claimed top Independent in Race 2, Bassani said: “It went well, we had a good Superpole Race with a great pace. In Race 2 we had a good start, we stayed there and for us sixth place is a great result. We finished as the first Independent Team. I am happy as we didn't have a lot of time for work, in the little time we managed to find a good base. We still have lots of work to do but I think we are on the right path. I am looking forward to going to Assen to improve our results, but we are there.”

In the 2021 Aragon Round, where Bassani made his debut in WorldSBK, he finished 20^th in Superpole before fighting his way up the grid to claim 12^th in Race 1, 17^th in the Superpole Race and 14^th in Race 2. A year on and Bassani was taking a top-ten grid spot in his 13^th round in WorldSBK, and he will be looking to build on that in Assen. In 2021 at the Dutch venue, Bassani was 12^th in Superpole before taking a best result of ninth in Race 2. Will he be able to improve on that when WorldSBK hits the Netherlands next time out?

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