The Bimota by Kawasaki Racing Team were one of a handful of teams to stay out in Portugal last week in search of valuable dry running time. Alex Lowes and Axel Bassani were able to get some important mileage under their belts on Friday, 13^th March after initial plans earlier in the week were scuppered by rain. Lowes finished the day in third place while Bassani was in seventh, as the team focused on set up and test items rather than pushing for a lap time.

LOWES OPTIMISTIC FOR THE ROUND: “I think it is going to put us in a good position when we return for the Portimao race weekend”

After poor weather interrupted both January tests, including at Portimao, teams ventured to Portugal for two days last week but again found the weather not on their side. On Friday, however, teams who opted to stay out were able to complete an extra day, with Lowes finishing his test programme with a long run. His best time was a 1’40.614s, only 0.141s slower than brother Sam Lowes (ELF Marc VDS Racing Team) who topped the times. His longest run was 19 laps, one lap short of the scheduled race distance, and all but one of his times were in the 1’41s bracket. In the race simulation, his best time was a 1’41.149s while his slowest, the opening lap of the run, was a 1’42.132s.

Discussing his test, the #22 stated: “The test went well and I am happy to have got our work done in sunny conditions. We tried some quite big changes on the bike that we have been wanting to try recently. We rode for just over half a day and did nearly 80 laps in a short space of time, so it was hard work. We finished with a long run, and we have plenty of information now on where we need to improve for race weekend. My confidence on the bike felt good, I enjoyed it, and I was happy to get plenty of laps in. A big thank you to the guys for staying out this week. We have been unlucky with the weather all winter, so there has been a lot of effort from everybody to stay out in Portugal and test again. I really appreciate it. I think it is going to put us in a good position when we return for the Portimao race weekend.”

NEW ITEMS FOR BASSANI: “We missed some speed in terms of lap times, but I am happy about the work we did with the team”

Bassani will head to Portimao full of confidence after his double podium in Australia, and he’ll be hoping the test helps to keep his form going. ‘El Bocia’ finished seventh on the timesheets with a 1’41.126s as he racked up 74 laps in total. His longest stint was eight laps in length, with Bassani’s times ranging from a 1’41.136s to a 1’41.806s across the eight laps.

Reflecting on the test, the Italian stated: “We did some laps in really dry conditions at Portimao, with nice weather and sunshine all day. We tested a lot of items and we did not really work on set-up for the race. We tried some new things on the bike, and we understood some things and also where we need to work. We missed some speed in terms of lap times, but I am happy about the work we did with the team. For the race weekend we will work again, and we will be back in Portimao soon.”

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