Bimota stays in Portimão with BMW and Yamaha: another test to build its return to victory in Superbike

A Portimão Superbike test ruined by rain, but still valuable information for the Bimota team from the laps Lowes and Bassani managed on a dry track.

In the opening round at Phillip Island, Bimota was the second-best manufacturer on track, behind Ducati and with a margin over the other rivals. The podiums achieved by Axel Bassani and Alex Lowes were excellent signs of the KB998 Rimini’s growth, but the team was looking forward to the Portimão test to further improve the technical package and be even stronger at the upcoming rounds of the 2026 Superbike calendar.

Unfortunately, only on the first day were the riders able to lap for a few hours on a dry track, then the rain arrived, and on day 2 no one went out due to adverse conditions. The final timesheet shows Lowes on top with over half a second on Nicolò Bulega, a figure that shouldn’t be misleading, since the Ducati rider crashed and couldn’t improve his lap time afterward. What was done on Monday should be taken with a grain of salt, and the Bimota by Kawasaki Racing Team has also decided to return to the Autodromo Internacional do Algarve on Friday, March 13, as the weather forecast looks more favorable and there should be a chance to complete a normal day of testing. Yamaha and BMW have also confirmed their presence, as they too need to work with their riders.

Lowes is pleased with the feeling and speed he had on Monday, although he would clearly have preferred to work more, piling up more miles and useful data for developing the Bimota KB998 Rimini: "I felt good from the very first day on the bike. It was nice to be back on track in Europe after the opening round in Australia. We were pretty strong and fast in the dry there, and here at Portimão too from the very first laps. We continued the work from the winter tests and it was positive. We had just started trying some new parts on the bike and then it rained, so we didn’t really get the chance to test things. We hadn’t had the chance to ride at Portimão since last year’s race, so it was good to see the evolution of the KB998 Rimini. We have a lot of things to try to prepare for the race weekend at Portimão".

Bassani set the eighth-fastest time, 0.932 off Lowes, though that clearly isn’t his real gap to his teammate at Portimão: "On the first day we did about 29–30 laps," he explains, "and we tried some solutions in the dry. We worked a bit on the race setup and a lot on the electronics. Then we had some bad weather: this year we’ve been really unlucky with the conditions and only the two days in Australia were really good. It was the same for everyone, but overall it’s not ideal for the riders. We need more time to work on the bike and feel good. We have to keep working, stay positive, and we’ll see how it goes in the next few days."

The bad weather is hindering the work of all manufacturers, but Bimota could be the surprise of the 2026 Superbike World Championship. In part, it already was in 2025, because with a brand-new project it still finished with both riders in the top 10 and with 4 podiums scored by Lowes. That wasn’t a given. Clearly, this year the goal is to grow, be a constant presence at the front, increase the number of podiums, and also go for wins.

Lowes and Bassani are two good teammates, but they’re also rivals, and each of them clearly wants to be the first to bring the Bimota brand back to winning ways in WorldSBK. The last victory came thanks to Anthony Gobert at the 2000 Australian round with the Suzuki-powered SB8 K. Today the KB998 Rimini is powered by Kawasaki, and the ambition to return to the top step of the podium is strong.