Racing News |
More Points For BbKRT In Cremona
The tight and compact stadium-style circuit at Cremona hostedtwo WorldSBK races on Sunday, 4 May, with bimota by Kawasaki Racing Team ridersAlex Lowes and Axel Bassani each scoring more championship points in the fulldistance Race Two.
The ten-lap Superpole Race on Sunday morning saw Alex post thebest result for the BbKRT team, in 12th place. The ‘sprint’ race was an overlyintense one for Bassani as he dropped from a lap one ranking of 13th to 20thplace at the midpoint, before recovering to finish 18th.
Race Two was again held in dry conditions at the 3.768km longcircuit in the north of Italy, albeit under a small layer of cloud cover. Loweswould take the best bimota KB998 Rimini result of the day for the BbKRT squadwith an 11th place finish. Bassani was 15th, scoring a point in the processdespite finding grip issues at the front and rear from early in the race.
This was the first visit to Cremona for the new bimota KB998machine, as there had been no pre or midseason test for BbKRT at this circuitbefore the fourth round of the season began on Friday, May 2.
In the championship rankings, after one third of the 2025 seasonhas been completed, Axel is 12th overall with 49 points and Alex is 14th, with45 points.
Next up for the BbKRT pairing will be the unique Autodrom Mostcircuit. Round five of WorldSBK is scheduled to be held in the Czech Republicbetween 16-18 May.
Alex Lowes stated: “It was fantastic to race the bimota KB998Rimini for the first time in front of the Italian fans. Obviously, we wouldhave liked to have finished a bit further up, but the final race of the weekendwas pretty good. Starting from 16th place, you have to have a bit of luck inthe first laps to get a good track position. But, I rode the whole race thebest I could. I was feeling strong and I managed to gain four or five places.My best lap was actually the last lap. The feeling on the front was a good stepcompared to yesterday. I keep saying this, but it is so tight in WorldSBK nowthat you need a perfect weekend to qualify well, start in that position andfight for the top five. On the first weekend here with the new bike, we were onthe back foot a little bit. Hopefully, in the next races we can start FridayFree Practice a bit stronger. But, we made progress all weekend here and thatis all that you can do.”
Axel Bassani stated: “Sunday in Cremona has been a reallydifficult day, which can happen. Starting in warm-up this morning, I did quitea good lap, but the feeling with the bike set-up was not really good. In theSuperpole race, I had big problems to stop the bike, so I started to lose a lotof positions. In the short races, when you are not OK, you are all together, soit is really easy to lose positions. In Race Two, I started to have problemswith the rear and the front. I tried to control it and rode to the end, but thefeeling was not really good. I think it was not a good day, which can happen inlife. For sure, one day does not define who you are, but it is part of thegame. See you at the next race.”
