With only two rounds of the 2024 WorldSBK Championship remaining KRT kept up its push for the highest possible degree of success with its Ninja ZX-10RR machine and official rider Bassani.
Jerez offered up very hot conditions for Bassani and his crew to work in, with air temperatures around 35°C and track temperatures peaking at 50°C on the final day.
Due to the conditions Axel was limited to 120 laps by his team, but still set a strong race and single-lap pace. He was even faster in these high temperatures than he had been in winter testing at this same venue in the south of Spain.
Jerez will host the final round of this season, between 18-20 October, but the next round of the championship will take place at Autodromo do Estoril, near Lisbon, between 11-13 October.
Axel Bassani, stated: “We have now finished two days of hard testing, which we started very soon after the previous round in Motorland Aragon. Physically, it has not been so easy because we had a race weekend so recently. But they worked a lot and worked well to try to improve the bike in these hot conditions. We improved in some areas and I am happy at what we did together in the team. I have to thank all the guys for the big effort they put in over these two days. I think we went in a good direction and now we can relax a bit before we head to the next round in Estoril.”
Marcel Duinker, Crew Chief for Axel Bassani, stated: “It was an interesting test because, especially today, it was hot. Really hot. That made it very suitable to help us work towards race weekend, but at the same time it helped us understand the other areas we needed to improve in. That’s what we did and it was also interesting because Axel was faster in the 50°C track temperatures than he had been in winter testing at Jerez. Axel was riding with a lot of confidence on both race and Q tyres, and he was really on top of his job. We did what we needed to do, so we will be ready not just for the Jerez race weekend, but also the next round at Estoril.”
2024 KRT Rider WorldSBK Statistics
Alex Lowes:
2024: Races: 29, Wins 2, Podiums 11, Superpoles 1
Career Race Wins: 4 (3 for Kawasaki)
Career Podiums: 45 (25 for Kawasaki)
Career Poles: 2 (1 for Kawasaki)
Axel Bassani:
2024: Races: 30, Wins 0, Podiums 0, Superpoles 0
Career Race Wins: 0 (0 for Kawasaki)
Career Podiums: 6 (0 for Kawasaki)
Career Poles: 0 (0 for Kawasaki)
8 x Riders’ Championships (Scott Russell 1993, Tom Sykes 2013, Jonathan Rea 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019 & 2020), 1 x EVO Riders’ Championship (David Salom 2014)
6 x Manufacturers’ Championships (Ninja ZX-10R 2015 & 2016, Ninja ZX-10RR 2017, 2018, 2019 and 2020)
5 x Teams’ Championships (KRT/Provec Racing 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018 & 2019)
Kawasaki FIM Superbike World Championship Statistics
Total Kawasaki Race Wins: 180 – second overall
Total Kawasaki Podiums: 553 – second overall
Total Kawasaki Poles: 109 – second overall
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