Axel Bassani reveals encouraging signs after Cremona WorldSBK test

Axel Bassani enjoyed his best round of the 2024 WorldSBK season at Misano before last week’s two-day test at Cremona.

11th in the standings, Bassani’s recent form has been a big improvement over the beginning of the season where he struggled to match team-mate Alex Lowes.

“We finished two days of testing in Cremona and they were two really positive days,” said Bassani after the test. 

“We tried a lot of things. This morning we did a really good single lap and in the afternoon we worked on the set-up of the bike.

“I think we improved a lot and we were really near to the first. I am happy with the feeling of the bike.

“It was the first time I have felt this good with the bike. I think in Misano we made a step and here we made one more. The Cremona Circuit is nice, a little bit small and you do not have time to rest as there are a lot of corners.

“But I think it is really good. It will be difficult to overtake, I think, but we will see when we get here for race weekend. I feel good and now we wait for the next round at Donington.”

“We had to go away from our base setting” 

While Bassani felt like he made big steps forward with the ZX-10RR, Lowes admitted his base setting had to be changed at the Italian circuit.

“This was a good test. I didn’t know the track - and it is a special track - quite short and with lots of small corners, so we needed to use a lot of lean angle,” began Lowes.

“Some of the corners are a bit bumpy too, so we had to go away a bit from our base setting. But we worked quite well and we chipped away.

“We improved the electronics a little bit as it is also a new track for the bike, not just the riders. There was some room to improve the electronics and we improved over the final day.

“We tried some qualifying tyres at the end of the day, when the track was still quite hot, and I was quite happy with our pace on the Q tyres.

“We also did a race distance on a rear tyre this afternoon, but I don’t think it will be a track that is massively aggressive on tyres.

“Overall, we had a positive day, I enjoyed riding the bike and the circuit is interesting. It was fun to ride alone on but I think it is going to be a tough one in race conditions. But, at least we know where we are going now.”