Axel Bassani to stay at Motocorsa Ducati

The Italian rider will remain on board the team’s solo Ducati V4 R Panigale for a third campaign next year, having established himself as one of the category’s top independent riders.

With four rounds remaining this season, including this weekend’s Portimao event, Bassani sits sixth in the standings with two podium finishes to his name, both of which were achieved last month at Magny-Cours.

“I’m really happy to continue with Motocorsa and we’ll see what happens!” said Bassani. “This year, we did a really good job and we continued in a good way and grew up a lot.

“I’m happy to stay with the mechanics and with all the team. I hope to compete for the top three but it’s really difficult with Toprak [Razgatlioglu], Jonny [Rea] and Alvaro [Bautista] are on another level right now.

“We’ll aim for this and try to do the best possible. I hope to be on the podium every weekend! I want to enjoy the moment and this season, and after, during the winter break, I’ll start to focus on 2023.

“The negotiation was normal, like speaking with a friend. Me and Lorenzo Mauri have a really good friendship; I ask for some things but nothing special, it was very normal. I’m really happy to continue with this team because I arrive in WorldSBK with them.”

Bassani missed out on the chance to join Alvaro Bautista at the factory Ducati team for 2023 when the Borgo Panigale marque made the decision to retain Michael Ruben Rinaldi for another year.

However, Rinaldi is only 35 points clear of Bassani in the standings, and the latter has publicly stated on multiple occasions that beating his factory counterpart will be key to proving himself worthy of a future works ride.

“It’s special that if I don’t have a space on a factory bike, then I’m happy to stay here because I think it’s the best place to race with an Independent team,” continued Bassani.

“After 2023, we’ll see if we have the possibility to go on a factory bike and compete for the championship.”