Axel Bassani (bimota by Kawasaki Racing Team) had a fast opening day at the Misano World Circuit “Marco Simoncelli” as he and the rest of the MOTUL FIM Superbike World Championship field began their first of two days of testing ahead of the Pirelli Emilia Romagna Round, which will be held from June 13th-15th. Bassani finished Day 1 second-fastest behind only defending Champion Toprak Razgatlioglu

Despite riding a new bike for the second time in two seasons -and this season’s bike being an all-new model on a team that hasn’t been involved in WorldSBK competition for more than ten years- Bassani’s P5 was his best result after five rounds since 2023. While strong timesheet placements such as Day 1’s P2 are no novelty to Bassani this season, he understands that what is most important is doing it on the day that counts, not just in Free Practices.

“Its ben quite an interesting day, we tried some new items and improved my feeling on the bike so I’m happy about that.” said Bassani “We finished in a good position but its’s only a test; this year we are usually in good positions in the test but during the race weekend we struggle a little bit more. I hope to improve a bit more tomorrow, but I think conditions for the race weekend will be different from what we see now. I think it will be much hotter by the time of the race weekend. I’m happy with the work we’re doing, we're using the bike at its full potential, even riding it at 110%-120%. So I’m happy with our progress.”

Apart from his P4-earning time in Assen’s Tissot Superpole session, Superpole sessions have been a thorn in the #47’s side this season. At the season’s first two rounds, he earned a pair of P14’s first at Phillip Island, then at Portimao. Then came his breakout round at Assen, where he earned his P4 and a subsequent P5 at Race two before Cremona and Most seeing Bassani finish Cremona’s and Most’s Superpoles both in P12. While his Race 2 fifth-place earning effort saw him charge up the grid from a P12 start, showing he can make up for a bad Superpole, he will make his life easier if he can consistently start farther forward up the grid.

On if he was testing any new parts and where he wants to improve most at this test, Bassani said, “We were testing new components on the bike, nothing I can talk about a but nothing special, we were focusing on my feeling with the bike. We used a SCQ tire because I want to work on my Superpole. We are fast, but not fast enough at the moment. I have to focus on the Superpole because last weekend, that was my problem; when you start at the back, it can be really hard to come back. The Superpole is like 65% of the race weekend, so for sure I need to work on that area.” Catch Bassani at his home round coming up next! Tune in June 13^th-15^th for the Pirelli Emilia-Romagna Round via the WorldSBK VideoPass! Now 30% off!