Despite a wet track to start the day, Axel Bassani and his bimota by Kawasaki Racing Team have seen steady improvement and are ironing out more and more of the bike’s sticking points as the 2025 MOTUL FIM World Superbike World Championship season draws closer. One particular issue Bassani had commented on recently was discomfort with the bike’s back end, an issue which Bimota seems to be having success in rectifying from Bassani’s recent performances.

Bassani recorded 62 laps at Portimao’s Day 1 across two different setups for his KB998. His fastest lap was his 1’40.679 recorded in his 61^st lap of the session, earning him P2, and a mere .029 behind Toprak Razgatlioglu in P1.

Reflecting on the opening day of action, the #47 said: “It’s been a strange day because we started in wet conditions. We did some laps to try to see how the bike was in this circuit. We waited and it started to dry, but the track was quite difficult out from Turn 4 and Turn 10;  there was a lot of water. We tried something. The feeling with this bike on this track was good. It was the first time for us here. I’m feeling quite good. We improved a little bit with the rear. With Showa, we worked hard. I think we’re going in the correct way and we need to continue with this.”

Despite Bassani and his team’s emphasis on working out issues with the bike, and not particularly focusing on time attacks, the strong results Bassani is likely putting air under the wings of the returning manufacturer’s team. The Italian has spoken before about his struggles with the softer tyre, but his best time at Jerez came on the SCQ tyre.

Discussing the SCQ tyre, he said:: “We ran all day with the hard compound like everyone, I think. It’s hard to understand which tyres the rest of the riders are using. We continued with the race tyre, and, in the end, we put on only one soft tyre to check where we are with it. We did quite a good lap. I think BMW and Ducati with Toprak and Bulega have some margin, but we are there. We have to be happy; this is the most important thing. The team did a good job.”

Follow Axel Bassani and Bimota’s return 2025 campaign from lights out to the checkered flag in Jerez with full session videos, inside-the-paddock videos and more with the WorldSBK VideoPass!