The Pirelli Emilia-Romagna Round’s opening MOTUL FIM Superbike World Championship race was a proud result for Axel Bassani and his bimota by Kawasaki Racing Team. In both Bassani took P4 to the delight of the Italian fans in what is both his and his Rimini-based manufacturer’s home round. His fourth-place result is a promising omen as the point-scoring events in Emilia-Romagna open, and the #47 will hope that his best result since his double podium at Phillip Island can spur further success this weekend.
"It’s always hot and quite physical, but we did our job”
Having outgunned his teammate to finish as top Bimota in P4 in the round’s opening Race, Bassani’s 2026 campaign is already one of his best. Standing in P6 in the Championship, his P2 double to open the season alone ties 2023 for his second-most podiums in a season. Quite the day of milestones for the 24-year-old; his 200th WorldSBK race brought with it his best result on Italian soil since his Race 2 podium here at Misano back in 2023.
On his Race 1 home result, Montella said: “It’s been a really good race, quite long, but here in Misano it’s always quite difficult. It’s always hot and quite physical, but we did our job. We tried to stay as close as possible to the Ducatis. I feel quite good on the bike, there’s still some work to do on the front, but I think we did a good job and I’m happy.”
“We were both on the limit… it was difficult for me to defend”
Saturday morning’s Tissot Superpole session landed Bassani a P7 start, leading the third row on the back of a 1’32.409s time, clocking in just over a second off of Bulega’s best time in P1, and just under seven seconds slower than his teammate Alex Lowes's P3-earning time. At lights out in the afternoon’s Race 1, Bassani snagged P6 early on from Alberto Surra (Motocorsa Racing) on the opening lap. The Italian rookie tried to exact his revenge on his compatriot, cutting past Bassani on Turn 14, before Bassani weaved past the #67 and retook the sixth spot. Pressing onwards, the #47 closed the gap to his teammate to two tenths by Lap 2, before gaining a position on Lap 4, after Lorenzo Baldassarri (Team GoEleven) lost the front on Turn 5. Bassani closed to ride within a tenth of his teammate by Lap 5, and on Lap 7, Bassani showed no mercy to the fellow Bimota rider, conducting an incisive Turn 10 move on the Brit to snag P4 for himself. Bassani’s superior pace continued from there on out, leading the #22 by more than a second by the eighth Lap, a margin which would stagnate around that distance, before Bassani put the hammer down and finished the race more than three seconds clear.
On his Race 1 and the battle with his teammate, Bassani said: “I enjoyed my battle with Alex in the first laps. Riding against him, there’s always a lot of respect, and he finished in the top five, so both bikes in the top five is a good result for Bimota. We were both on the limit. Our pace is quite similar; we are both always pushing 120% and use everything on the bike, and I think we’re doing a great job.”
From the other side of the garage, on their fight, Alex Lowes said: “I had fun! We were both on the limit, he passed me a few times, he just went a bit wide, and I managed to pass him back, but he was faster than me in the race, he had more speed, so it was difficult for me to defend too much. I tried to stay with him and pull away from the other guys, but not today. We’ll see tomorrow what we can improve and my feeling with the bike, especially on the front, but the confidence is high.”
Catch the #47 and #22 on Sunday as he and Bimota hope to close their home round on a high note with action kicking off at 9:15 local time (UTC +2). Watch Live, OnDemand and much, much more with the WorldSBK VideoPass! Now 50% off!