Bimota shows signs of addressing key Kawasaki WorldSBK weakness

The Emilia-Romagna WorldSBK presented the first opportunity for the factory Bimota team to race the KB998 in hot conditions, with Alex Lowes able to see some potential in the new package despite a crash in Race 2.

Hot conditions tended to cause problems for the Kawasaki ZX-10RR in WorldSBK, the bike from the Akashi manufacturer struggling when track conditions got greasy.

The races at Misano were the first races of the 2025 season to take place in ambient temperatures around the 30C mark and with track temperatures exceeding 40C and approaching 50C.

It therefore made a decent test for the KB998 to see how it works in conditions that tended not to suit the bike it has replaced for 2025.

“It was very hot in the last race,” Alex Lowes told WorldSBK.com after Race 2 at Misano.

“I started from the front, got a good start, immediately Danilo [Petrucci] passed me – I got stuck behind him [in Race 1] and I struggled to pass him.

“[In Race 2], I tried in the first two or three laps, when I had grip, to pass him and get track position because I felt quite strong.

“After, I realised I was just losing time trying to battle him, I sat behind for 10 laps, felt pretty good to be honest – Alvaro [Bautista] came by, he had a bit more speed – but between Loka [Andrea Locatelli] and Danilo I felt like we could race with those guys.”

Lowes’ race for the top-five ended in a crash at turn eight, but, remounting afterwards, the British rider was pleased with the performance in hot conditions despite some damage to his KB998.

“A shame,” Lowes said of the crash, “but again we showed we have pace, even in those hot conditions.

“I jumped back on the bike, it was quite bent, and I still managed to do 1:34s at the end which is similar pace to what the guys were doing.

“It’s a shame, but it’s the first really hot race on the Bimota, we can take a lot of data, a lot of confidence.

“It was a fantastic weekend, so a shame to end like that, but a couple of points in all the races.”

Superpole Race podium “like a dream”

Lowes’ Race 2 crash came after starting from the front row, a position that was earned during the Superpole Race in which he took the KB998’s first World Superbike podium.

“Really happy,” Lowes said, reflecting on the Superpole Race.

“The whole team deserves it. It’s a new project, it’s not been the easiest start to the year, but it’s almost like a dream to have the first podium of the year at Bimota’s home race here in Misano – it’s so close to the factory.

“The race went well, obviously it was unfortunate for Axel [Bassani] and Bulega; I had good track position and I was able to put a good rhythm behind Toprak [Razgatlioglu].

“Our bike this weekend seems to be working really well; if we can use the lines we want we’ve been really fast, really competitive, in all conditions.

“I enjoyed it, I’m happy to get that first podium, hopefully we’ll keep getting more now, but I’m going to enjoy this one because it means a lot to us all.”

Staying with Razgatlioglu in the early laps was one of the keys to Lowes’ result, the British rider able to latch onto the reigning champion and get dragged away from the rest of the pack.

“It [sticking with Razgatlioglu] was really important,” Lowes said.

“As we saw in the second race, when you’re stuck in a group – apart from Toprak and Nicolo [Bulega] who manage to be a step ahead – there’s another 10 or 12 guys that can do a similar pace.

“It’s so important to be there, it fell well with Toprak [Razgatlioglu], but I was able to do five or six really good laps, really fast laps, and this got us the podium.

“I was a bit nervous in the last two laps, I had a little gap to manage and I started to think about all sorts of things, so that wasn’t very good, but managed to get the podium.

“The second race was obviously a bit disappointing but overall the weekend has been good.”