The Portuguese track - often simply referred to as Portimao - will host round two of the exciting WorldSBK series between 28-30 March but in reality that means a return to a recent testing venue for the entire BbKRT squad and its bimota KB998 Rimini machinery.

After the first round of the championship took place in Australia, between 21-23 February, there was a well-attended private two-day test session at Portimao, between 14-15 March. Although affected by some bouts of poor weather the test was a valuable one for both Alex and Axel, especially as they now return to take on the unique challenge of the heavily undulating 4.592km long hillside circuit in race conditions.

Lowes will be hoping to replicate his competitive testing pace at Portimao in any and all of the three points scoring races that make up a contemporary WorldSBK weekend. Alex was third fastest after the recent Portimao tests, having made progress with the front end of his machine set-up in particular.

Bassani’s test was also highly valuable to him and his crew, even if concentrating on many areas except setting a single fast lap time saw Axel finish tenth in the overall timesheets.

Now that the Portimao tests are complete the entire team is now back in full-race mode. At the opening round in Australia the bimota KB998 Rimini took part in its first competitive races, securing points in every race for each of the two BbKRT riders. Lowes’ personal best of seventh place in the Superpole ‘sprint’ race was the highlight of round one, making it the target to beat at round two.

The race weekend in Portimao starts on Friday 28 March, with two periods of free practice. Free Practice Three, Superpole qualifying and a 20-lap Race One all take place on Saturday 29 March. The weekend completes with morning warm up, a ten-lap Superpole Race and then a full-distance Race Two on Sunday 30 March. 

Alex Lowes, stated: “I am excited to get back into action. It was important to get the first round in our new colours out of the way at Phillip Island. Since then we have had the Portimao test, which was quite affected by the weather. But, even in the limited running that we had in dry conditions, we made some steps forward with my feeling on the front of the bike. This was really positive and one of the key areas to improve on after the first round. I just wanted to have a bit more confidence to be able to race a little bit better, as I found it difficult to pass other riders in Australia. Our Portimao test was positive and all of the guys in Team 22 worked really well. Of course, this is a new project and we are learning every day. We need to keep working hard on Friday in Portugal to try and improve on our race results from the first weekend. That is our target, to be fighting in the top six. Any more than that will be a bonus but we will be doing our best. I am excited for the weekend. I have been training hard, working hard and enjoying some time with the family. I am certainly ready to get back into race action.”

Axel Bassani, stated: “Our start to the season in Australia was really quite good, with every result inside the top ten. On a new circuit for the first time with this bike, I think we have to be positive and happy about that. For the Portimao race weekend, I don’t know after we had the test there. I finished with not a really good feeling and I did not feel really fast, so I am not sure what we can expect from the Portimao race weekend. But, for sure we have some data to try to improve the bike set-up. Now the team and I have to work to try to put on track the best solution. Like always, we will try our best.”