Axel Bassani (Motocorsa Racing) was rapid throughout his home Prometeon Italian Round, leading two of the three races at the Autodromo Internazionale Enzo e Dino Ferrari di Imola and securing a front row start in Superpole. He converted his strong pace into a MOTUL FIM Superbike World Championship rostrum in Race 2 from sixth on the grid as he fought with his rivals in the Championship for a second podium of 2023.
Bassani’s Sunday started with 12th in Warm Up before he battled to sixth in the Tissot Superpole Race to secure a second row start for Race 2 – down on where he had started Race 1 and the ten-lap Superpole Race. In the Sunday morning encounter, Bassani had to fight with his adversary, Michael Ruben Rinaldi (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati) with the factory Ducati rider coming out on top on this occasion.
The Feltre-born star benefitted from Alvaro Bautista’s (Aruba.it Racing – Ducati) opening lap spill in Race 2 as he moved into fourth, before a stunning two-for-one overtake on Andrea Locatelli (Pata Yamaha Prometeon WorldSBK) and Jonathan Rea (Kawasaki Racing Team WorldSBK) moved him into second. Locatelli had been wide through the Variante Bassa which delayed both him and the six-time Champion. Sensing an opportunity to fight with Toprak Razgatlioglu (Pata Yamaha Prometeon WorldSBK), Bassani went up the inside of both at Turn 1 and outbraked the pair into the Variante Tamburello to claim second.
From there, he set his target on Razgatlioglu and made what he hoped would be the race-winning move at Tosa on Lap 8. However, on Lap 12 of the shortened 15-lap race, Razgatlioglu fought back. He went up the inside of Bassani at Rivazza 1 and the Italian tried to use the cutback into Rivazza 2 but the 2021 Champion got a better exit out of the corner and took the lead. From there, Bassani had to settle for second place.
Reacting to his Race 2 podium, Bassani said: I’m really happy with my second place. I finished behind Toprak, one of the best riders in the world. It’s an honour to battle with him. I tried to do my race and stay in front to do my pace. Here it’s really hot. You need some clear air. I finished second, and the first Ducati, so I’m happy for my team. They did an incredible job. We need to grow up. We are very close and today we did a good job. We’ll look at the data to see if we can make a step. We will see at Most.”
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Source: WorldSBK.com