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Top 4 Places On Sunday For BbKRT Riders
On the final day of race action at the Misano World Circuit ‘Marco Simoncelli’ WorldSBK round, each bimota by Kawasaki Racing Team rider, Axel Bassani and Alex Lowes, took away one fourth-place race finish.
The final day in Italy was the hottest one so far, in a race weekend that was dry and sunny throughout. Air temperatures of 91°F and track temperatures of 125°F were experienced during the final raceday of the Misano weekend, which featured two races for Bassani and Lowes.
Bassani continued his strong run of home form with a fourth place in the 10-lap Superpole race. Lowes was disappointed with a no-score in the ‘sprint’ race after he started to drop back, and then retired from the race at the trackside due to a technical issue.
The second Sunday WorldSBK race, of 21-lap duration at the 2.62mi long circuit, was to provide Lowes with his single best result of the Misano weekend. Fourth place for Lowes was partially due to his teammate Bassani falling from third place, to eventually no-score.
Bassani has been riding at a high pace and with great confidence in front of his home crowd, despite the very hot asphalt temperatures. On the 17th lap, however, he lost the front at Turn 8 and was unable to restart after the fall.
Bassani wrapped up his home round with two fourth-place finishes to his credit, while Lowes left bimota’s home venue with a front row start in Superpole Qualifying, plus fifth and fourth place race finishes.
The mixed fortunes for each BbKRT rider on Sunday at Misano means that Lowes is fourth in the championship, with 156 points, while Bassani is sixth overall, with 128 points. bimota is a clear second in the Manufacturers’ Championship standings after seven of the 12 rounds have been completed.
Round 8 of the WorldSBK Championship will take place in the UK at Donington Park, between July 10-12, after a short break in the recently busy schedule.
“Obviously, this morning’s result was a shame, because I felt good in that race with an SCQ rear tire. This weekend, it seemed to really help the balance of the bike. It’s just one of those things, even if it’s a shame to lose fourth place. Race 2 was quite good and I had a positive start from tenth place. I had to drop one position, however, because Locatelli had passed Yari [Montella] at the start and I went past them. I thought it was okay, but then the officials gave me a drop one position signal. I lost quite a lot of time to drop behind them. Race 2 was hotter and I was struggling to stop the bike. The changes we made because of the issue this morning meant that the bike was working a bit differently. I also got a track limits warning early in the race, so I had to ride quite steadily. Fourth place was a solid result. In these hot and slippery conditions, it was not easy, but it was a solid weekend overall. It is a shame for Axel [Bassani] because he deserved a podium in Race 2 after how he was riding this weekend, but we are on the limit.”
- Alex Lowes
“This is racing sometimes, part of the game. It can be good and not good, but I think we have to be really happy about all the work we are doing. All weekend, we have been in the Top 5 or so. This morning, we had a really good Superpole Race, and this afternoon we were doing something special, I think. To stay inside the Top 3 in the middle of all the Ducatis is really hard to do. We were there, but I crashed in T8. I was trying to stay consistent and control the gap between Yari [Montella] and myself, but I lost the front. I struggled all race with the front, and I was trying to control it, but in T8 the bike was just pushing too much in the last part of braking and this happened. But we have to be really proud and happy about the work we did at Misano.”
- Axel Bassani