Bimota second-strongest in SBK in Australia: Bassani dreams of his first podium with the KB998 Rimini

Ducati on top with Bulega in Australia, but Bimota appears to be in the group that can fight for the podium in the first SBK 2026 round.

Pre-season testing is in the books and now the Superbike teams are focused on the races they will face this weekend at Phillip Island. It goes without saying that Nicolò Bulega will be the favorite to win all the races, given that on Monday and Tuesday he showed a fairly clear superiority over his rivals. The battle for the other two steps of the podium could be more interesting, with the Bimota riders aiming to get there. Axel Bassani and Alex Lowes finished the test in fifth and sixth place, respectively. Ahead of them were four Ducati Panigale V4 Rs; Bimota seems to be the second-best manufacturer on the grid, at least in Australia.

Bassani feels he has a good technical package at Phillip Island, but he also emphasized that there’s something not entirely convincing that will require work with a view to the race weekend: "In the sessions we’re always among the top three or four and we’ve been consistent. We tried different solutions. We also did a 21-lap long run and the results weren’t bad. I’m not completely satisfied, becausein the first 7–8 laps I struggled a bit to keep a good pace, so we need to understand that. Overall, the feeling is quite good. Every time I go out on track, I have a good pace and I feel good in the box. We’ll check some data, there’s a lot of work to do, but we’re going well. We know where we can be and I think we can improve a bit for the first race weekend of the year. Overall, we’re pretty much ready".

The Venetian rider is in his second year with the KB998 Rimini and is working with a new crew chief, Uri Pallares. He will certainly want to seize the chance to fight for the podium if the opportunity arises in the first Superbike round in Australia. Unlike Lowes, who already made the podium with Bimota in 2025, he has yet to finish a race in the top three since riding for the Rimini brand. He has been off the podium since 2023, when he raced with the Motocorsa team’s Ducati Panigale V4 R. We’ll see if Phillip Island will be the right place to see him up there again.