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BASSANI REMAINS IN PLACE: Italian star’s seat at Bimota by Kawasaki Racing Team confirmed

Saturday, 15 June 2024 10:10 GMT

    • The #47 initially signed a multi-year deal when joining KRT and the team have announced he’ll race alongside Lowes in 2025

    Two pieces of the MOTUL FIM Superbike World Championship 2025 grid have fallen in as many days. After the news that Alex Lowes (Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK) would spearhead the Bimota by Kawasaki Racing Team project in 2025, it’s now been announced who his teammate will be: Axel Bassani. The Italian joined KRT for 2024 and will remain with the Provec Racing-run team into their new project.

    CONSISTENCY IS KEY: new project, same line-up

    As Kawasaki and Bimota prepare for their new era in 2025, they’ve decided that keeping the same rider line-up is the best option. Lowes will head into his sixth season with the Provec Racing squad, while it will only be Bassani’s second. He joined the team for this season following Jonathan Rea's (Pata Prometeon Yamaha) departure to Yamaha, completing his dream to race for a factory team. It’s been a challenging campaign on the ZX-10RR as he adapts from the Panigale V4 R, with a best result of ninth so far.

    BASSANI'S JOURNEY: rising through the WorldSBK ranks

    The #47’s journey inside the WorldSBK paddock started in 2015 when he debuted in STK600, racing at Jerez and Magny-Cours, scoring a podium in the latter as he showed his potential. A move to WorldSSP followed in 2016 as he finished 12th in the standings, claiming a best result of fourth; again, at Magny-Cours. He made a one-off appearance in STK1000 in 2018 on BMW machinery, finishing sixth at Misano, before returning to WorldSSP in 2020 on a Yamaha R6. He secured only one top-ten finish – eighth at Estoril – and narrowly missed out on the WorldSSP Challenge.

    A MOVE TO WORLD SUPERBIKE: an instant impact with Motocorsa Ducati

    Bassani’s potential was on show throughout his career, and it earned him a move to WorldSBK for 2021, linking up with Team Motocorsa Racing. ‘El Bocia’ claimed a podium in his first season when he finished second in a wet Race 1 at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya, before claiming three more rostrums in 2022: two at Magny-Cours and one at the Circuito San Juan Villicum. Sixth in the Championship came in 2023 – his best finish yet – with two podiums on home soil, at Misano and Imola.

    BASSANI SAYS: “As part of my personal racing journey this will help me learn more and develop as a rider”

    Reacting to his signature being secured, Bassani said: “What better venue than Misano to announce my continuation with the team and involvement with a project that combines skill and commitment from Japan and Italy! As part of my personal racing journey this will help me learn more and develop as a rider. It for sure feels like a logical step by step process for my career path. I am super happy for this opportunity and in terms of confidence and focus for the remainder of 2024 it allows me to invest all my time and energy into the task of points and podiums on the KRT Ninja ZX-10RR.”

    FROM THE TEAM: “he has 100% covered the expectations we had of him…”

    Providing the Provec Racing view was Team Manager Guim Roda, who said: Guim Roda, KRT Team Manager, stated: “We extended the long-term agreement with Axel as he has 100% covered the expectations we had of him. His potential is shown in details of quality during the first races of 2024 season. We are so committed to give him the necessary tools to consolidate his potential. At the same time, he will polish himself to understand how to ride such different bike compared to the one he used in past. Everybody in team is very happy with this continuity and we expect amazing 2025 with him”.

    KAWASAKI’S VIEW: “Kawasaki and Bimota have two fundamental parts of the jigsaw in place”

    Shigemi Tanaka, General Manager, Marketing & Sales Division, Kawasaki Motors, Ltd. concluded: “This weekend we witness the next step in the evolution of the Bimota by Kawasaki Racing Team project. By securing the talents of Axel and Alex both Kawasaki and Bimota have two fundamental parts of the jigsaw in place and we can move on with the complex development of the new machine. Equally it quells speculation allowing everyone involved with the project to concentrate on a successful 2025 WorldSBK season on the Ninja ZX-10RR.”

    Race Planning Manager for Kawasaki Motors Europe, Steve Gutteridge, added: “These are complex times and continuity is fundamentally important. To add Axel’s commitment to the realisation that Alex is investing his experience into the new project is a giant step forward”. 

    Watch Bassani’s journey with the team unfold in style using the WorldSBK VideoPass!