Bimota loses two hours of Navarra WorldSBK test to weather

A one-day test for Bimota at Navarra ahead of the resumption of the WorldSBK season in September was hit by rain.

Alex Lowes had described the single day of running at the Spanish circuit which last featured on the WorldSBK calendar before Bimota returned to the championship was “not really a test” ahead of it, but afterwards he felt it had been useful to get back on the bike after almost two months off since Donington, even if rain cost him two hours of running

“It was good to get a few laps on the bike before we get to Magny-Cours for the next round,” said Lowes.

“We had some drops of rain at midday, so we missed two hours of track time. But it was good to be back out with the guys in the team. 

“We had a positive day. Improvements have been made at Navarra compared to the last time we were here [with Kawasaki], which is really good. 

“It was nice to get back to work and I am excited for next week.”

Axel Bassani had a similar assessment of the test to his team-mate: “We had a quite a good test and it has been great to jump onto the bike again after six weeks of not touching our WorldSBK bike. 

“I was happy to get back to working with the team and everyone. The feeling with the bike was quite good, similar to the last time we used it. 

“We did a lot of laps, not trying anything unusual, as this test was only to try and find the feeling we had the last time we were on track.”

Bassan’s crew chief, Oriol Pallares, added that the test was also useful for the team to get back up to speed with the way of working at the track ahead of the French Round.

“This test was good not just for [Bassani], but for all the crew, including myself, to get the feeling of being at the racetrack again, and remembering the procedures that we will put into effect at Magny-Cours next week,” Pallares said.

“We will go there with a positive feeling and good expectations.”