Six WorldSBK podiums, a top six finish in the title race in 2023 and claiming Best Independent honours in the last two years: that’s why Axel Bassani (Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK) finally got his dream of becoming a factory World Superbike rider. Now, that journey is well underway as he’s in his second test with Kawasaki during the off-season, with the adaptation continuing during his second test at the Circuito de Jerez – Angel Nieto. 

“We worked a lot on the setup of the bike, especially the front, because I need to find a good feeling with the front and we made a really good step,” began Bassani, speaking at the end of day one. “Now, I’ve started to feel good with the bike; it’s not easy because it’s completely different compared to the Ducati but step-by-step, test-by-test, we’re starting to feel good.”

There’s plenty of things to learn for ‘El Bocia’ in his first season in green, perhaps the biggest being his transition from a V4 engine configuration at Ducati to the inline four of Kawasaki’s ZX-10RR. Often, the transition has proven difficult when moving from V4 to inline four, with Scott Redding struggling in 2022 and 2023 in comparison to his 2020 and 2021 results with Ducati. The same was seen for Alvaro Bautista (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati) who, after 16 wins in 2019, achieved just two podiums in his two years at Team HRC in 2020 and 2021. 

Elsewhere, Bassani will also have a teammate for the first time in his WorldSBK career. Since joining Motocorsa Racing in 2021, he was the team’s only rider and the team, who continue with Michael Ruben Rinaldi in 2024, despite wanting to expand, will remain with just one bike. In fact, the last time Bassani had a teammate was back in 2016 when he won the FIM Europe Cup, a sub-class within WorldSSP, when he was partnered with Alessandro Zaccone at the San Carlo Team Italia Kawasaki team. Five top ten finishes and a best of fourth in the overall WorldSSP class showed the potential of Bassani from the start and now, coming full circle with Kawasaki, he’s keen to show what he can do.

Talking about having a teammate for the first time in nearly eight years in the WorldSBK paddock, Bassani stated: “Having a teammate is good because you can work with them and learn about their riding. It’s nice and they’re always your first opponent! We’re slowly arriving to Alex. We only need to enjoy and find a good way to follow during this winter for next year.”

Get your must-have tool for all things WorldSBK related with the WorldSBK VideoPass!

Source: WorldSBK.com