The two day test at Jerez, the same venue as the final round of the 2024 season, was an important first step for the BbKRT venture alongside some of its 2025 season rivals.
Alex Lowes and Axel Bassani rode only on the second available day of the test, 23 October, while test rider Florian Marino was the first to introduce the new machine’s track package and overall image, on Tuesday 22 October.
Despite the project being at an early stage Bassani set the fastest lap time of the second day, with a 1’38.478. Lowes continued the positive early trend with a 1’38.679, to go second quickest on day two. Only one rider, on day one of the tests, posted a faster lap time than Axel or Alex over the whole test.
In contrast to the many new parts on the machine itself, the team comprises the great majority of the staff that operated the official Kawasaki Racing Team over the years.
The next test for the BbKRT project will be at the Motorland Aragon Circuit in northern Spain, between 29-30 October.
Alex Lowes, stated: “We started to try a few things on the bike to see how the changes affected it and the feeling from the bike. These are all the things that will be different when we start the races. We have to start the learning process all over again. We started quite well so we decided to try quite a lot of things, which took some time and some energy, but it was pretty positive. In the hot part of the day we tried to keep the same pace to try all the different parts. It was not too important to go fast today but it is always nice to show that the bike is quick. The pace was OK but we have a lot of work to do to understand the bike. This is where our focus needs to be.”
Axel Bassani, stated: “We took part in our first day of testing with the new bike at Jerez and we had to discover everything at the beginning. I think the team did a very good and the bike was nice. I felt good on it, so I am happy. We have a lot of work to do but for the moment we are doing a really good job. My best lap was half a second better than my Superpole last week in the Jerez race so this means my feeling with the bike is good and I can push. This is only the start of a new era with bimota by Kawasaki Racing Team, but when you start well, it is always nice.”
Pere Riba, Crew Chief for Alex Lowes, stated: “We finished our test with the bimota bike and it feels positive. On the first day we made all the checks with Florian the test rider, to prepare for the second day of testing with the riders. In terms of lap time I feel very positive already because we have been reaching the same level as we did before. To be already on this level is very positive. On the other hand we need more time to give the rider the best feeling with the bike. We have to study and work a lot during the winter to arrive in the best shape possible in Australia for the first round of the 2025 season. But the starting point is very good, promising, and we are very happy. Alex was fast, Axel was fast so this is the moment to be calm and work hard to take the next steps.”
Marcel Duinker, Crew Chief for Axel Bassani, stated: “We got a good impression of the bike from the first lap and we made some minor adjustments. We played a bit with the position of the rider and we also got familiar with some adjustments and general balance of the bike. With very minor adjustment we able to give Axel a good feeling. We used two Q tyres and Axel went four tenths faster on the second one than the first. A very positive first day. It was not our target to be that fast on our first day, but it is nice to get such lap times. We will continue testing in a few days time.”