Sleeping beauty awakened: Bimota warms up for the Superbike restart

The 2026 Superbike World Championship summer break lasts almost two months, and many riders haven’t been on their motorbikes since Donington Park on 12 July. Shortly before the start of the final third of the season, Bimota is therefore sending Alex Lowes and Axel Bassani out onto the track at Navarra.

Navarra seems a strange choice as a venue for a test – during the summer break, Honda and BMW took to the tracks at Magny-Cours and Estoril, both of which are set to host a race weekend later this year. Bimota, however, deliberately chose the Spanish circuit, which made a brief appearance on the World Championship calendar in 2021.

“Alex and Axel have been training at home, doing a bit of motocross and supermoto, and using Supersport bikes to stay fit. But we wanted to give them a bit of time on the track with their Superbikes so they can get a feel for them again ahead of the race in France,” explained team manager Guim Roda. “We chose Navarra to resist the temptation to work exclusively on a specific bike set-up. The idea is to use test bikes and give the riders the laps they need so they can enjoy the experience and explore the limits without it becoming too complex.”

The message has got through to the riders.

“I’m looking forward to getting back on the KB998. It won’t really be a test; it’s more about getting back into the swing of things before we return to racing at Magny-Cours,” said Lowes. “So I’m really looking forward to being back with the lads, enjoying the riding and then focusing fully on Magny-Cours from next week onwards. I’ve missed it.”

“It was a lovely summer break, but it was quite a long one. It was almost like a winter break between two seasons,” added his Italian team-mate. “We’ll be back on the bike to recapture the good feeling we’ve had this season. So just do a few practice laps and get the body ready for the next race weekend in France.”