Bassani proved to be the top Ninja ZX-10RR rider on Friday in what is only his second round inside the KRT set-up. He was 13th in the combined times after the first and second WorldSBK Free practice sessions, just 1.11 seconds from the fastest lap time.
 
Double race winner in the opening round of the season, Alex Lowes, was 14th quickest on the combined times and 0.024 seconds from his new team-mate.

Both KRT riders were inside the top ten in FP2, but when the FP1 times were also taken into account they finished 13th and 14th on the day.

Warm springtime weather conditions and a dry track surface were in evidence throughout day one at a circuit which recently hosted two days of Supported Tests for the entire WorldSBK paddock.

Superpole Qualifying and a 20-lap Race One will now take place on Saturday 23 March. Sunday 24 March will feature two races - the 10-lap Superpole Race and then a full distance 20-lap Race Two.

Alex Lowes, stated: “We did not have quite the same feeling today as we had at the recent test. The grip is low here and you spend a lot of time trying to set the bike up to look after the tyres. Even though we have been trying hard we still have work to do. My pace in the afternoon session was quite good but we are just missing a little bit of feeling. We can have a good look at everything tonight and see how we will approach tomorrow. It will be a long Race One for everyone and we will try our best again.”

Axel Bassani, stated: “We have finished the first two free practice sessions and in the first one the feeling was good from the beginning. We did not have a lot of rear grip so in the second session we tried to find something more and we still have to work a lot. After some laps I had some problems under braking and on the rear, so we have to find something more for the race tomorrow. In the afternoon session we were inside the top ten, which is good for us. To get data for the top five positions, we need something.”

Tito Rabat (Kawasaki Puccetti Racing) was 20th in the opening day’s combined timesheets at what is his local round. He was just 1.740 seconds behind the fastest lap time of the opening day.

2024 KRT Rider WorldSBK Statistics

Alex Lowes:
2024: Races: 3, Wins 2, Podiums 2, Superpoles 0
Career Race Wins: 4 (3 for Kawasaki)
Career Podiums: 36 (16 for Kawasaki)
Career Poles: 1 (0 for Kawasaki)

Axel Bassani:
2024: Races: 3, 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: 544 – second overall
Total Kawasaki Poles: 108 – second overall

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