The BbKRT squad shared track time with many of their 2026 rivals, although opportunities were limited for all due to often inclement weather and a frequently damp track surface.
Regular team riders Alex Lowes and Axel Bassani, plus test rider Xavi Fores, all rode at various times in Jerez. Fores was on track for a day before the first of the regular riders, in what proved to be dry conditions on Tuesday, to evaluate some items before Alex and Axel became actively involved. Bassani rode for a time on each main day, while Lowes went out on track on the final day only, gaining useful information.
The track conditions became wet again in the afternoon, but not quite wet enough to allow a full rain set-up to be evaluated. This effectively blocked any more meaningful testing opportunities on the final day of pre-season action at this particular circuit in Andalusia.
The best lap times over the two days never approached the previous leading pace set during October and November tests at Jerez, but Lowes ended up second quickest on the final day, with a 1’39.450, set on the 14th lap of his 16 in total. Axel’s best pace on the final day was a 1’40.069, placing him seventh overall.
The Autodromo Internacional do Algarve will host the next track test sessions for the BbKRT riders, between 28-29 January.
The FIM Superbike World Championship season itself will begin at Phillip Island in Australia, between 20-22 February. There will be one final pre-season test at the same Australian venue, between 16-17 February.
Alex Lowes, stated: “I was happy to get slick tyres on the KB998 Rimini and get out on track. To be honest, I loved it. It has been a relatively short winter, but I was really happy to get out on track. It wasn’t a day to learn too much as there were quite a few damp patches on the track. We did manage to back-to-back some front fork things from Showa, and I had started on a longer run until it started to rain quite heavily, and that ended our tests. After 16 laps, it was difficult to have any clear conclusion, but electronics in WorldSBK is a constant evolution now, and some of the things that the guys have been working on felt positive. So, from a technical side, we did not learn too much, but the things we tried were positive. From a personal side, I was just really happy to get back on the bike and get the year started.”
Axel Bassani, stated: “On day one, I was riding in wet conditions. This was still good because we had some new items to try on the bike to have a better feeling in wet conditions. On day two, we were able to do some laps in dry conditions and started to have a nice feeling again. It was nice to do some good laps. I hope we will have better weather in Portimao next week because we need some more laps in dry conditions, and we will try again to do our best there.”
Pere Riba, Crew Chief for Alex Lowes, stated: “We have finished the test here at Jerez. We have been here for three days because we made some laps under dry conditions in the first day with Xavi Fores, our test rider. We did this with him again on Wednesday in wet conditions. We got to try some things about electronics and new items that we wanted to test to collect the first info. Alex made some laps in the afternoon of the final day in the dry, and straight away he was into a really strong speed and a good feeling with the package. In the November tests, Alex was already happy, but there is not so much to say because the weather has not been very helpful. But anyway, we move to Portimao, and the base bike we have is ‘talking’ quite well with Alex. Then, we just need more time to understand the points to improve.”
Uri Pallares, Crew Chief for Axel Bassani, stated: “We did a half day with Axel in wet weather conditions on day one, but unfortunately, from around 12.30, the wind conditions increased a lot. This made the job more difficult, but we took some information to allow us to improve the wet set-up with Axel. On the second day, we had some dry time, and we were working to find the best balance. We have some good information, but unluckily we did not have very much time in dry conditions. We decided to keep testing something, even after the rain came back, but there was not enough rain to give us any conclusion on wet tyres, so we decided to stop. Now, we move on to Portimao.”