Axel Bassani “not putting too much pressure on me” at UK WorldSBK

Six rounds in to its time in WorldSBK and the Bimota KB998 has a podium and a front row in the production derivative championship, and Axel Bassani says there is cause for optimism in the bike’s performance at new circuits ahead of this weekend’s UK WorldSBK.

It was Bassani who earned the KB998’s front row at Misano around one month ago, but the Italian says he is unsure what to expect from the seventh round of the 2025 World Superbike Championship at Donington.

“Usually, all the tracks that we went to with Bimota, that we went for the first time with the Bimota there, we went good,” Axel Bassani told Crash.net ahead of the UK WorldSBK.

“So, we’ll see.

“I don’t know what to expect. I’m not putting too much pressure on me.

“I only want to go on-track and we’ll see where I can be. If I will be 10th I will be 10th, if I can be P3 it will be P3, but we’ll see.”

It is, at least, a track Bassani likes, despite a negative opinion of the final sector.

“It’s a really good track,” Bassani said.

“I like especially the first part. I don’t like the last two corners, they’re too small.

“But the first part and the back of the circuit is really good, really fast and difficult for the body because you have to do a lot of changes of direction with high speed.

“So, it will be important to focus to save some energy. But, in general, I like the track.”

Lowes: “You have to be careful not to expect too much”

For Bassani’s Bimota teammate, Alex Lowes, the weekend will be about managing expectations at his home race.

“It’s a home race for me, living very close to the track, so that’s always nice; a few more family and friends coming to support us,” he said, speaking to WorldSBK.com.

“The last weekends have been, more or less, our best of the year from a competitiveness point of view.

“You have to be careful not to expect too much, but if we have the feeling we had in the last races, I think we can do a good job.”

Having been on the podium at Misano last time out, Lowes added that he feels the Bimota project, only six-rounds-old, is progressing well.

“You always hope, as part of a new project, that you can improve as the season goes on,” he said.

“Seeing that, in effect, we are getting better is nice.

“I’ll try to be on the podium every weekend; that’s my target.

“I don’t see a reason why we can’t be strong this weekend. Last year was strong, but the temperatures were a lot cooler.

“I think the KB998 is better in hot conditions, in my opinion, so I don’t think that’ll go against us.”