Jerez WorldSBK: Bassani: I’m starting to understand the category, the tires, the bike | Superbikes of the world

Axel Bassani’s recent breakthrough continued at Jerez World Superbike as he placed sixth after a long battle against Jonathan Rea in race two.

The Motocorsa Ducati rider finished race one in eighth place before taking a “small step” in the second full race of the afternoon to initially fight for fourth place.

The pace Bassani showed might even have been worthy of a podium, however, the youngest driver in the series found it impossible to overtake Rea.

The two made contact at the start of turn six when Bassani cut the rear of Rea’s Kawasaki, before throwing several more glances to pass turns one and 10.

But, Bassani failed to shake things up due to Rea’s “brake” prowess and instead settled for sixth place after passing a struggling Michael Rinaldi late.

“Yes, it was a very good race. I tried to overtake Johnny [Rea] but he was very strong on the brakes, so I tried to stay calm, concentrate and try to get on the podium, but today that was not possible, “said Bassani.

“I really enjoyed the second race. The first one, it was not very good with the front tire. I had a lot of problems.

“In the second race we took a small step and I’m happy with the job we did. I’m starting to understand the category, the tires, the bike and race by race, I’m starting to learn a lot from my team and the other pilots.

“Now is the time (on the bike), so little by little we are trying to get on the podium, also in the dry.”