P1racenews AI automatic summary:
Alex Lowes took positivity from the performance of the Bimota KB998 at a hot Misano WorldSBK.
The Emilia-Romagna WorldSBK presented the first opportunity for the factory Bimota team to race the KB998 in hot conditions, with Alex Lowes able to see some potential in the new package despite a crash in Race 2. Hot conditions tended to cause problems for the Kawasaki ZX-10RR in WorldSBK, the bike from the Akashi manufacturer struggling when track conditions got greasy. The races at Misano were the first races of the 2025 season to take place in ambient temperatures around the 30C mark and with track temperatures exceeding 40C and approaching 50C. It therefore made a decent test for the KB998 to see how it works in conditions that tended not to suit the bike it has replaced for 2025. “It was very hot in the last race,” Alex Lowes told WorldSBK.com after Race 2 at Misano. “I started from the front, got a good start, immediately Danilo [Petrucci] passed me – I got stuck behind him [in Race 1] and I struggled to pass him. “ [In Race 2], I tried in the first two or three laps, when I had grip, to pass him and get track position because I felt quite strong. “After, I realised I was just losing time trying to battle him, I sat behind for 10 laps, felt pretty good to be honest – Alvaro [Bautista] came by, he had a bit more speed – but between Loka [Andrea Locatelli] and Danilo I felt like we could race with those guys.”
