The bimota by Kawasaki Racing Team (BbKRT) has now completed its second off-season test at the Circuito de Jerez Angel Nieto, setting the leading pace in the final period of track action before the start of the traditional winter break.
The BbKRT squad was on site at Jerez for both days of the Jerez test but regular riders Axel Bassani and Alex Lowes rode the new KB998 bimota on the second day only. Team test rider Florian Marino set laps on the first day, in preparation for the BbKRT riders to take to the 4.423km long circuit in Andalusia.
Bassani and Lowes found warm and sunny conditions on track on Wednesday, with both putting in an impressive lap count and working through their test plans in a methodical fashion. Alex recorded 83 laps on the final day and Axel 86.
With a 1’38.355 best single lap time Lowes was the quickest rider on track across both days of action, with Axel only just behind with his 1’38.358 – just a few thousandths of a second away.
A wide variety of machines shared the track with the BbKRT squad, including WorldSBK and EWC Superbike machines, WorldSSP bikes, BSB spec Superbike and Supersport machinery and even some MotoGP/Moto2 prototypes.
A winter break begins now for the team and riders, but the work on improving the performance of the already impressive KB998 will continue behind the scenes to be ready for the next test – once more at Jerez – which is scheduled to take place between 22-23 January 2025.
Alex Lowes, stated: “It was a good day of testing, and a busy day. I spent a lot of years on the Kawasaki so there were two main targets for me. To be on the bike a bit more, and understand how to ride the bike in the best way. This is something I need to think about during the winter break. It was important to see if I have to change my style a bit. We did a long run and tried to work on used tyres to get a feeling with the bike. I started to work a bit on my confidence with the front. I had a little crash in T6, pushing the front to understand a bit more. We used one qualifying tyre only and we made a good step with that. Even if that was not our main target, it was nice to be fast. With all the information we have, I am sure we can improve quite a lot. We have an understanding of the bike but I know also where I need to work to just refine my style to get the most out of it.”
Axel Bassani, stated: “We worked a lot on race pace and I am quite happy. It was really good and I am also quite happy about doing a fast lap. I am not the best of all but we ran the same pace of Alex and he is one of the best riders in the world over one lap. We did more or less the same lap time, so that is really good. I think we understand which way we have to take during the winter break. Now, I think everyone needs to relax a little bit, to enjoy home and family. For sure we will think about the bike but it is also important to stop and relax and we will see everyone again next year. Thank you to everybody.”
Pere Riba, Crew Chief for Alex Lowes, stated: “This is the second test we have done with Alex, after we were here in Jerez one month ago. The bike is similar but we have some different items to let the rider be more comfortable on the bike, with the riding position and these kind of things. You can imagine how early in the project we are. This bike has a different character from the Kawasaki we raced in the past, in terms of riding. So the approach from the rider has to be a little bit different. We are working to understand how to create a base bike for Alex to be comfortable, to understand it and get the feeling. We have been testing quite linear changes in terms of set-up, not big up and down changes, as I want to give time for the rider to really understand the new bike. We made some changes in terms of balance to understand the direction we want to go in. We are still at the beginning, but even like this the lap times are quite promising. Alex used only one Q tyre to set a good lap time. It was a very positive test.”
Marcel Duinker, Crew Chief for Axel Bassani, stated: “First of all I would like to thank everybody for the big effort that they have all put into the project. Everybody has done an incredible job from the start until now. I think everybody can be happy and satisfied now that we are going into the holiday period. Axel feels very comfortable on the bike and is riding with a lot of confidence. He put on a good show and on both race tyres and Q tyres he was one of the fastest guys. His pace on a race tyre was honestly very impressive. We also did a long run and tested some small items. This was only our second day of testing with this machine. We made some small changes to the bike where we knew we needed to improve, and we got some positive results.”
