As the 2025 MOTUL FIM Superbike World Championship season approaches its halfway point, few teams stood to benefit more from the pair of testing days than Bimota as they continue to adapt their KB998 Rimini in its maiden WorldSBK season. Riders Axel Bassani (bimota by Kawasaki Racing Team) and teammate Alex Lowes have performed admirably so far in the manufacturers’ first season back; the pair currently sit at 10^th and 11^th, led by Bassani in the Riders’ Championship.

GOOD TEST FOR BASSAI. “We tried some items and tried to understand how we should have the bike setup at the round…”

At the test, the #47 notched P2 and P3 finishes after each day, a testament to the progress ‘El Bocia’ has made with his Superpole pace as he logged the time with SCQ tyres. He however, was more focused on the races to come rather than fixating on the results of a test. As the KB998 continues to develop, the Italian rider would like to see their race space and flat-out speed improve.

“It’s been quite a good two days of testing at Misano, we tried some items and tried to understand how we should have the bike setup at the round,” said Bassani. “It’s been good as well because it was hot, so it was good to prepare for how it will be here in Misano, usually when it’s hot it is more difficult for us. The race pace was not bad this afternoon, we also tried to focus on the time attack, that’s usually my problem, and the feeling wasn’t bad. We aren’t really really fast, but we aren’t slow either. I think we have a good base setup to work from for next weekend. Sure, it’s important to try to stay at the front, but testing is testing, and a race weekend is a race weekend.”

LOWES HARD AT WORK: “It was an important test, though, I think I did 110 laps, so we’re working hard to test parts and get ourselves ready”

Alex Lowes opened his season strong with a trio of top-eight finishes at Phillip Island, a pace that he has struggled to consistently replicate since. While his worst finishing result of the season has still been within the points at P15, his pair of DNFs at Portimao hurt his Championship standings early on. Individual performances like his Race 1 P4 at Most or his Race 2 P6 at Assen are steps in the right direction that, while they have not come as frequently as they did last season in green, remind spectators of Lowes’ pace.

On his team’s takeaways from the test, Lowes said: “It was a good test, we’ve needed some track time away from the race weekend to try some more extreme things, a lot of laps, a lot of testing, some things are good, some not as good and now we have a few weeks to piece everything together and find the best setup we can for the race weekend. It was an important test, though. I think I did 110 laps, so we’re working hard to test parts and get ourselves ready for the race weekend.”

Bimota’s next time out on track will be at Misano for the Pirelli Emilia-Romagna Round, tune in with the WorldSBK VideoPass! Now 30% off!