In their 13^th round since returning to the MOTUL FIM Superbike World Championship, could it be lucky for Bimota? Alex Lowes (bimota by Kawasaki Racing Team) and teammate Axel Bassani have shown strong pace in the Australian Round week and that’s continued on Friday at the Phillip Island Grand Prix Circuit. The #22 was second in the combined classification with Bassani in fourth, but their race pace also created intrigue with consistency on display in abundance.

STRONG OUTRIGHT PACE: Both riders in the top four

Lowes finished as the faster of the two Bimota riders but there wasn’t much between them in terms of their fastest lap time. The #22 set a 1’29.354s as he claimed second on the combined classification, finishing 0.496s down on Nicolo Bulega's (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati) best time. Bassani was fourth overall as he posted a 1’29.468s, with just over a tenth between them – although that tenth did allow Sam Lowes (ELF Marc VDS Racing Team) to split them as he slotted into third place.

CONSISTENT RACE SIMULATIONS: “Axel’s been doing a fantastic job… I’m pleased to see him confident, enjoying himself and riding fast”

However, the long run pace also tells a story. In FP2, Lowes did a 14-lap run, which is around two-thirds of a full race distance at Phillip Island. These laps times varied from a 1’32.685 as the slowest on the second lap to a 1’29.705s on the 12^th lap, with the #22 keeping his pace going until the very end of the run. This gave him an average lap time of 1’30.391s, although taking out the two anomaly lap times (a 1’32.685s and a 1’31.642s), the average is a 1’30.096s.

Although this average is slightly slower than Bulega’s from the same session, with the #11 posting 15 laps in the 1’29s out of his 20 hot laps in total, it puts Lowes in a strong position to fight for a podium or even potentially a victory. The Lincoln-born rider has won four races in his WorldSBK career and three have come at Phillip Island. Should he take victory for Bimota, it would be their first since returning to WorldSBK last season and their first since the late Anthony Gobert won at this circuit in 2000.

Discussing whether he could get a podium or win this weekend, the #22 said: “The long run was good. We did one today and one on Tuesday. We tried something on the bike, which I wasn’t too comfortable with, so I tried to keep riding to understand that. I think our pace could be a bit better. Of course, everybody will improve and be fast. It’s a good start. Getting in the groove and it’s going to be a long 22 laps. Axel’s been doing a fantastic job. He has a new crew again this year and the team are working hard support him, and I’m pleased to see him confident, enjoying himself and riding fast every session; he’s been riding faster than me throughout testing. No pressure on him, but I guess he should be trying for his first podium with this team!”

BASSANI CONSISTENTLY IN THE 1’29S: “The lap time was quite consistent, but we are missing some tenths”

Like his teammate, Bassani did a 14-lap run of consecutive timed laps in FP2, and ‘El Bocia’ showed impressive consistency throughout. 13 of the 14 laps were in the 1’29s bracket, and the only one that wasn’t was when yellow flags were out at Turn 1, meaning his time was cancelled and he had to slow down. Of the 13 representative lap times, his average came out at 1’29.749s.

Bassani stated about his long run pace: “The long run was good. I was happy because I had a good feeling in the heat, this is more important to me, to be good physically. The lap time was quite consistent, but we are missing some tenths, but we’ll try to fight. The podium can be realistic. We need to be realistic and say we can be in the top five. The level is quite high so never say never, we’ll try to push 100% from the beginning and see what we can do.”

Can Lowes or Bassani put Bimota on the rostrum in Australia? Find out using the WorldSBK VideoPass!