Alex Lowes, Axel Bassani explain Bimota shortcomings after KB998 WorldSBK debut

Bimota finally made its World Superbike return last weekend at Phillip Island, with the three races at the Australian Round seeing the KB998 solidly in the top 10.

The best result for Bimota came in the Superpole Race, when Alex Lowes finished seventh. The British rider was eighth in both long races, but felt on Sunday he lacked front end confidence.

“It was good on Sunday and I think we improved the bike a little bit as the weekend went on,” said Lowes.

“The races were solid. We finished in the positions we thought we might finish in – seventh and eighth today – but I did not have the confidence in the bike to really fight and was missing the ability to pass.

“I was stuck for the whole second race behind Andrea Locatelli. Respect to him because he made no mistakes, but I was in the position that if he went quicker [then] I went quicker, but I couldn’t get past him.

“If I step back and assess the whole week of official testing and then the first race weekend, it was a good week. We got a lot of information, this was our first time trying the bike in hotter conditions, the first time ever trying the bike with an SC1 tyre in the back, and there are only two Bimota KB998 Rimini race bikes in the world – Axel’s [Bassani] and mine.

“We finished all three races and we will take a lot of information back to Europe. We have to be happy with the solid job we did.”

Lowes’ teammate, Axel Bassani, added that the KB998 was struggling in the straight at Phillip Island.

“Race 2 was a hard one as we are struggling on the straight against some other riders,” Bassani said.

“The start was not really good but afterwards I gained some positions and after a few laps we also recovered track position towards Alex [Lowes] and Andrea Locatelli, who were riding in front.

“The pace was not bad and I was feeling better than yesterday on the bike. We improved a lot. We were always there, nearly ready to make an overtake but never from a ‘safe’ position.

“We were always top-10 in Australia, and both Bimota KB998 Rimini bikes were together, near each other at the end of the races, so we have to be happy.

“But, at the same time, we have to understand that we have a lot of work to do.”