Axel Bassani finds progress for key Bimota issue at Portimao WorldSBK test

Axel Bassani was able to use the rain-affected Portimao WorldSBK test to improve one area of the Bimota KB998 that he felt had been lacking in Jerez.

The Portuguese test came just a few days after that in southern Spain, where Bassani had been lacking confidence in the rear end of the bike which will make its race debut at Phillip Island later this month at World Superbike’s opening round of 2025.

“On the rear, I don’t have the feeling that I want,” Bassani said after the Jerez test, adding that “at the moment, we’re struggling too much to go fast.”

The Italian appeared to find the progress he was hoping for in Portimao, despite running being limited due to poor weather.

“We did some laps in dry conditions on Tuesday, even if the track was not completely dry,” Bassani said.

“We did some laps and checked some things on the bike. We worked on the rear, especially on the rear shock with Showa.

“We tried something new on the rear with Bimota and it has been quite good. We improved in some areas.

“The final day at this Portimao test was not so good because it was raining, so we preserved one day of testing and did not go out.

“We had also ran a little bit in the wet conditions on day one. Now we are excited to go to Australia for the official test and the first round of 2025.”

Bassani’s crew chief, Marcel Duinker, added: “We had a very good first day. Initially it was a bit wet but straight after lunchtime we were able to continue the final part of our test programme.

“We used these four hours very efficiently and once again we ticked the boxes on our list of test items.

“Axel [Bassani] was very fast, very consistent and a very happy man.

“You can keep on testing for as long as you want but there is always a time to face the truth and we can say with confidence that the time is right to move to Phillip Island and start our first race weekend.”