SBK Assen, Bimota: Lowes' strange late slump and Bassani's difficulties

Two positive races for Alex Lowes at Assen, then a very bitter ending. Bimota also needs to analyze what happened to Bassani.

The Superbike round at the TT Circuit confirmed Ducati’s dominance. In Race 1 and the Superpole Race there were four Panigale V4 R bikes in front, with Alex Lowes’ Bimota closing out the top 5. In Race 2, however, there were six in the top six positions. Seventh was Xavi Vierge on a Yamaha. The English rider’s KB998 Rimini suffered a sudden drop-off, finishing eleventh at the line.

It went worse for Axel Bassani, on the podium at Phillip Island and then fading in the subsequent SBK events at Portimao and Assen. His results in the three races last weekend were as follows: twelfth, eighteenth and thirteenth. Very disappointing. There are a few things to analyze within the Bimota by Kawasaki Racing Team.

Lowes has reasons to salvage the weekend in the Netherlands, but at the same time he doesn’t know why in the last race he suddenly went into crisis, losing many positions: "Overall it was a positive weekend. Race 2 started well like the other races, but then we encountered a problem: I was really struggling with the rear of the bike and with leaning, I kept getting big slides. This had a big impact on my pace and in the end we slipped back. I’m not really sure why it happened. We need to analyze the situation better."

A drop in rear traction on corner entry prevented him from leaning the bike as he wanted and made both attacking and defending difficult. The English rider explained that he felt vibrations and rear-end slip after about 5 laps. He tried to finish Race 2 as best as possible, given that difficult situation. In the overall standings he is fifth with 69 points, the same as Miguel Oliveira. His brother Sam, third, is +13. After three fourth places in the Superbike round at Portimao, Alex confirmed solid form at Assen as well. The issue from the last race still needs to be analyzed to prevent it from recurring elsewhere.

If Lowes can avoid being disappointed with his weekend at the TT Circuit, it’s a different story for Bassani. Three eighth places at Portimao, always outside the top 10 at Assen. This is the analysis from the Veneto rider, who also had to deal with an illness on Sunday: "It was a tough weekend and being sick was certainly not the best solution! We finished the Superpole Race in a rather complicated way. The feeling with the setup wasn’t good and then I received a long lap penalty. In Race 2 I felt pretty good with the bike and I also had the sensation that I had more pace than the riders in front of me, but it was really difficult to overtake. I tried a few times, but every time I ran too wide. I had to adapt to the pace set by those ahead of me. Now we need to work for Balaton and come back a bit stronger."

Starting from the seventeenth slot on the Superbike grid definitely complicated Axel’s plans, and in the next round in Hungary he will need to be faster in qualifying to avoid starting too far back. Also worth noting is that the Bimota KB998 Rimini had its fuel flow cut by 0.5 kg/h from Assen as a result of the current, much-debated technical regulations. A measure that surprised many, especially considering that the engine is not exactly the bike’s strong point; reducing its fuel flow creates further problems.