The vast majority of the MOTUL FIM Superbike World Championship field descended on the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya for two days of testing ahead of the Dutch Round in April, with some teams trying new components on their bike. Axel Bassani (Motocorsa Racing) was one of these as he tried some new parts on the rear of his Ducati Panigale V4 R machine as he looks to maintain his position, and improve it, when racing action resumes.

Bassani’s best lap time came on Day 2 when he posted a 1’42.434s on his third lap while he racked up 61 in total on Day 2. Bassani was a tenth slower on Day 1 but added 70 laps bringing his total for the two days to 131. Although he had the new parts on the first day, the team and Bassani opted to only try them on the second day. There was a particular focus on the Catalunya Round but there was some element of working for the 2023 campaign.

Bassani wanted to try and find some improvements on softer tyres as well as solving some problems with electronics he encountered when in Australia and Indonesia, before they switched to the new parts on Day 2. These parts were aimed at helping find stability to improve the feeling on corner entry. Pirelli did bring some new tyres to the test for teams to try but Bassani did not have these so did not test the front and rear tyres from Pirelli.

Reflecting on Day 2, Bassani said: “On Day 2, we continued like on Day 1. We used the SC0 tyre so we didn’t find a fast lap, but we are really good with the race pace. We tried new parts on the rear, and we are feeling good for Assen. I really like Assen, it’s a really good track and in the test, not always, but we are slow. In the race weekends, it’s another story.”

Bassani has started the season strongly with two fourth-place finishes and two fifth-place finishes in six races. The Italian leads the Independent Championship standings with 51 points to his name, leading compatriot Danilo Petrucci (Barni Spark Racing Team) by 15 points, while his strong start to his campaign leaves him fourth in the standings. He is 19 points behind Andrea Locatelli (Pata Yamaha Prometeon WorldSBK) in the standings and four points clear of Michael Ruben Rinaldi (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati).

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