Just two days after the end of the 2023 WorldSBK championship at the Jerez circuit in Spain, the official Kawasaki Racing Team will begin intense preparations for a new 31 season from October 1 to November 2024.
The 2024 driver team will be made up ofalex lowes, a long-time colleague, andAxel Bassani, a new recruit.
Alex is a proven race winner and podium finisher heading into his fifth season as a KRT driver, while Axel has been the independent team driver champion for the past two seasons. The 2024 season will be Axel's first year with an official WorldSBK team.
KRT's tradition of unveiling a special livery for winter testing will continue at this test, with the team's unique off-season branding to be used during all testing before the start of the 2024 season itself .
With a new KRT driver line-up and a wide range of new technical rules to follow in 2024, KRT has been planning the shape and scale of the 2024 team for some time. The new personnel structure will work together for the first time at the upcoming Jerez test, as will some of the technical changes required to accommodate the new rules covering the combined weight of the bike and rider, the mass of the crankshaft and l balance shaft, fuel load restrictions, rev limits and much more.
For 2024, alex lowes hate Riba pears as team leader, whileAxel Bassani will work with Marcel Duinker, longtime KRT crew chief. Other internal changes are also underway to meet the challenge of an immediate future which promises to be exciting, full of new ambitions and opportunities.
For the riders, this test is important for many reasons, even if in a slightly different way, given their contrasting experiences of the Ninja ZX-10RR to date.
alex lowes will build on all the information he has acquired so far and is determined to lay the groundwork to win races in 2024.
Axel Bassani will obviously need time to get used to his new environment, his team and his machine. He is naturally very excited about this new opportunity, but he will arrive with a professional approach to make as much progress as possible as quickly as possible.
alex lowes (Kawasaki Racing team rider): “We are already focused on 2024. We know the areas we want to improve with our package and now we need to work hard to get the data we need to make progress in these areas. I'm changing some of the staff in the garage, so I'm looking forward to working on the new relationships, with the aim of bringing out more of our potential next year. »
Axel Bassani (Kawasaki Racing team rider): “I am happy to start this new adventure with Kawasaki. It's a dream for me because it's a very good team with a lot of history. It's important for me to start with a relaxed mood, try to understand the bike, my new team and then we'll see what happens. »
Riba pears (Alex Lowes team leader): “We completed an era, nine years with Johnny and now we start a new chapter with Alex. At first there will be some differences because they are two human beings, two pilots, two different characters, so it is certain that I will need time to understand how to adapt to Alex. But I am very motivated by this new challenge. We know Alex has good speed and I'm going to do my best with my guys to get the best out of him and improve the package. He knows the bike and the team and I will try to focus more on him to get the best out of him. We now start winter testing and the aim of these two days is to get to know each other, step by step, to build the package. »
Marcel Duinker (Axel Bassani’s team leader): “It's a shame that the season ended this way, because Alex was very competitive. It was a pleasure working with him all these years and we have a good relationship. Even though he has moved away, I am sure that this good relationship will continue. We are now starting a new chapter with Axel. I met him for the first time the other day and we immediately had a good conversation. He is young but already experienced, very competitive and incredibly motivated. I am sure he will help us raise KRT to an even higher level. For now we will take it step by step, but I am already looking forward to starting the 2024 season.”
Guim Roda (KRT team director): “We start the new season with the great motivation to learn from our past experience and with the goal of continuing to improve our Ninja ZX-10RR in different ways. We have worked hard with the FIM, Dorna and MSMA to balance the show a little more for the fans. Our current package still has potential to work better, but the rules need to allow us to be more flexible within the strict rules of Stock and be more geared towards the spirit of racing. Let's see if the new rules give us some of that help. This won't be the only change needed, and we'll need to work on the right way to implement any changes, but it's the right direction. We're also making some changes internally at KRT, and the most obvious will be Alex's collaboration with Pere Riba, while Marcel Duinker will be tasked with developing Axel's speed and understanding on our Ninja ZX-10RR. In addition, Pau, one of Alex's mechanics, goes to work with Arturo, while Uri leaves to follow Johnny on his blue adventure. Mattia will move back to the front row and further changes will be introduced to the team for next season, with the aim of remaining competitive in the face of innovations from other manufacturers – nothing is set in stone in WorldSBK. We are all very motivated, and changes like this are always good, to try new things, so let's go for it, and defend the green colors in 2024 even louder and prouder than ever. »
