Alex Lowes: “The biggest thing Bimota needs is time”

Jerez will host a two-day WorldSBK test this week, on 26-27 November, and in attendance will be the new Bimota KB998 for its second test of the 2025 preseason.

It’s been over a month since the first test — also at Jerez, held in the week after the final round of the 2024 season in October — and for Alex Lowes it will be two days spent not only working on the bike, but also his own riding style.

“I’m excited to get back to work on our new project,” Lowes said.

“Of course the biggest thing we need now is time on the bike, so I hope we have two dry days to get plenty of information.

“The initial feeling from the bike has been really positive so I’m keen to keep exploring our potential.

“There are also a few riding things I want to work on to be as ready as we can be for the 2025 season, and this Jerez test is the perfect time for that.”

Lowes’ Bimota by Kawasaki Racing Team (BbKRT) teammate, Axel Bassani, added: “The last test of 2024 is a really important one because we will have to understand which direction we have to take in the winter break, and to understand in which areas we have to improve the bike.

“So I think these will be two really important days in Jerez. It is not important to go out and find a fast lap, because for me it is more important to understand what we need to do in the winter break.

“We have to be very focused. For sure the first test was good in October, and my feeling with the bike was also good, so I hope to find that feeling again.”

For Guim Roda, BbKRT Team Manager, the test is an opportunity to evaluate developments made to the KB998 since the previous test.

“Since the last test we had in October, after the last round of the season, we have been working so hard to update areas of the bike — and especially to build the necessary parts and complete bikes to make a good test possible,” Roda said.

“Now each rider has two bikes in the garage so we will be able to work back-to-back, which allows quick comparisons between different set-ups to help us understand the bike a bit more.

“We started with a promising test session last time at Jerez so now we need to continue working hard.”