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Fighting Final Day For BbKRT Riders At Jerez
The 2026 FIM Superbike World Championship reached its conclusion after two Sunday races at the Circuito de Jerez - Ángel Nieto on October 18, with bimota by Kawasaki Racing Team riders Alex Lowes and Axel Bassani putting in more than solid performances to round out the season.
After a short morning warm-up session, the competitive action began for Lowes and Bassani with the 10-lap Superpole Race at 11:10 a.m. local time. Despite lightning strikes all around in the morning, and a very humid atmosphere that held the potential for rain all day long, the first race itself was run in fundamentally dry conditions.
Lowes started well and defended his track position in a strong fashion, finishing the race in fifth place. Bassani had a more challenging time from his 10th place grid spot and placed 12th.
Just before Race 2 was started, a special black, gold and red Nero livery - for both the bimota KB998 Rimini machines and the riders’ leathers - was unveiled in public for the first time, and then used in the final Jerez race.
In the last race of the entire competitive WorldSBK season, over 20 laps of the 2.75-mile-long circuit, the rain finally showed up, if only in a light fashion in the final few laps. Despite this new set of unwanted circumstances adding a little jeopardy right at the end, the riders continued on their full dry race set-ups.
Lowes battled hard in the second race, ending up seventh, with Bassani finding more from his bike set-up than he did in the earlier Superpole Race to finish up eighth.
In the final championship points table, Lowes leaves the 12th and final round of the year in overall fifth position with a total of 259 points. Bassani ended his latest BbKRT season in seventh position, with 222 points in all.
“We had a little bit of rain at the end of Race 2. I felt more competitive than on Saturday, and I was able to fight until the last few laps. I think the steps we made with the bike were better, so I was quite happy. We are a little bit too far away, but it has been a fantastic year. Fifth in the world; we can be proud of ourselves. A massive thank you to the team; I really appreciate their work and can’t wait to try and get a bit better over the winter.”
- Alex Lowes
“In the end, we finished the year in a good way, and we improved a lot in respect of yesterday. Even with a little bit of rain, we went nine or 10 seconds faster than Race 1, which was a really big improvement, also with respect to last year. We fought until the end and tried to finish inside the Top 6 in the championship. We finished P7, which I think is really good. Alex [Lowes] was P5 in the championship, so both bimotas were inside the Top 10. I think we did the maximum we could, and the team did everything that was in our hands to do. I think all of us - the riders, the team, and everyone - did an incredible job. We were fighting with the top guys until the end. Now we need a little bit of rest, and we will keep working for next year. Thank you to everyone, and see you soon."
- Axel Bassani
