The MOTUL FIM Superbike World Championship welcomes back Bimota to competition in 2025 after their collaboration with Kawasaki was announced, following the takeover by the Japanese company in 2019. It’s been a work in progress project for a while just to get to this point but now it is reality for Bimota, teaming up with Provec Racing who successfully ran the Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK outfit to multiple titles and race wins. Despite all the changes with the team and bike, two riders remain in place: Alex Lowes (bimota by Kawasaki Racing Team) and teammate Axel Bassani will lead Bimota’s charge on their return.

STAYING THE SAME: Lowes and Bassani to lead the Bimota effort

Not much has stayed the same between 2024 and 2025 for Provec Racing, although the riders have. It means keeping some continuity in place despite the big changes to the bike. Lowes has been with Kawasaki since 2020 while Bassani joined the team for the 2024 season. While the #22 had one of his best seasons in 2024, it was a challenging campaign for ‘El Bocia’ as he adapted to the ZX-10RR. However, both have looked quick in testing despite different focuses, with Lowes looking at race pace and Bassani aiming to find gains on the SCQ tyre.

BIG CHANGES: introducing the KB998 Rimini

Bimota’s return means the introduction of a new bike with the KB998 being used by Lowes and Bassani in 2025 as they look for podiums and race wins. Named after the two manufacturers involved in the project – Kawasaki and Bimota – the capacity of the engine and Bimota’s base town in Italy, the bike has looked quick so far in testing at Jerez and Portimao. With such a successful team running the operation and two riders who have shown they can fight for wins and podiums in WorldSBK previously, what success will the KB998 Rimini have?

THE HISTORY OF BIMOTA: first-ever WorldSBK race winners

Bimota have a lot of history in World Superbike despite not competing in the Championship for long periods. They will always be down as the first-ever race winners in WorldSBK after Davide Tardozzi won the first race at Donington Park back in 1988. In total, they have 11 wins – the last of which came at Phillip Island in 2000 with Anthony Gobert – 22 podiums and four pole positions. What will be added to Bimota’s numbers in 2025?

FROM BIMOTA: “2025 can be a good season for us…”

The team launch for Bimota took place recently in Italy, at the team’s factory in Rimini, where key figures from both Kawasaki and Bimota gave their thoughts on the upcoming campaign. One of these was Bimota Chief Operating Officer Pierluigi Marconi, who provided more details about the project and what he believes a successful season would be for the Italian company ahead of their first year back in WorldSBK since 2014. Marconi also explained how the two manufacturers are working together, with chassis development in Europe and engine and electronic development in Japan.

Marconi said: “It seems unbelievable, but it’s become very easy to work. We’re both really professional. We know that we need the help of Kawasaki for many things, like engine, electronics, and suspension. They know we can do frame, body, aerodynamics… so we work together, without any discussion, really smoothly. This is unbelievable for everybody, but I need to say, it’s so easy to work together. 2025 for us is the first season and we have two beautiful riders, in Alex and Axel, they are really different, but both are really fast. I think 2025 can be a good season for us.”

THE TEAM’S VIEW: “if we can be a really important part of the show in our first year, I think this is the target”

Bimota by KRT Team Manager Guim Roda also spoke at the launch about his goals for the upcoming season, and the reason for continuity in the rider line-up, saying: “It was one of the first mandatories when considering this project. When you change a lot of variables, you never know which is the one failing. We considered that we already had a good working environment that was performing quite well. We knew with Bassani that 2024 was the year to learn, not only how the bike works, but also how the team worked. When we introduced the bike in the system, we were able to focus on the main point which is the bike, and this is our task this year. I think a successful year is mainly to be part of the show. Not to enjoy the show the others are giving, but be part of it, and make WorldSBK bigger. It means we need to stay there, fighting, be the actors of the podium. The final result is always difficult because there’s high level in the Championship with the riders, but if we can be a really important part of the show in our first year, I think this is the target.”

CAN IT GET ANY CLOSER? Follow Bimota’s comeback year throughout 2025 using the WorldSBK VideoPass!