A podium finish for Bassani "not impossible… never say never!"
The Italian rookie continued his strong form with fifth in Race 1 in Argentina but is aiming for more during Sunday’s racing
It was a strong race day for Italian rookie Axel Bassani (Motocorsa Racing) after he claimed his best-ever MOTUL FIM Superbike World Championship starting position with third place on the Circuito San Juan Villicum grid for Race 1 of the Motul Argentinean Round before claiming fifth place in the opening race of the weekend and finishing as the second-highest Ducati rider.
The 22-year-old has been on an incredible run of form since Race 1 at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya, the scene of his first podium in WorldSBK, with nine consecutive top-ten finishes on his Ducati Panigale V4 R and that form continued on Friday at San Juan with strong pace, before translating that into his best-ever Superpole result with third.
Bassani’s lap time was a 1’37.838s, around two tenths away from Scott Redding (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati) who claimed pole position and just 0.038s away from Championship leader Toprak Razgatlioglu (Pata Yamaha with Brixx WorldSBK). Bassani was able to convert that third place on the grid into fifth place for Race 1, fighting with Alex Lowes (Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK) and Michael Ruben Rinaldi (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati) throughout the 21-lap race before finishing in fifth; taking his joint-best result in dry weather conditions.
Discussing his Saturday in Argentina, Bassani said: “I’m happy about the race but I’m not totally happy because I had a lot of problems with the front tyre from the first lap. I had a very difficult race. I want to try to do some better things tomorrow. It’s not simple but we are here for this and we are really, really focused on our job.”
The Italian rookie also outlined his goals for the remainder of the weekend, which features the Tissot Superpole Race and Race 2. Bassani added: “We started to look towards some data, and we will try to find the problem. It’s not simple because. I never felt this problem yesterday or Saturday morning, so I tried to do my best. If it’s possible, I want to finish in third or second place. We have a good pace, it’s not impossible. Never say never!”
Watch all the action from Argentina including Sunday’s Superpole Race and Race 2 using the WorldSBK VideoPass!
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