Axel Bassani has confirmed he is in negotiations with the Kawasaki Racing Team over a deal to replace Jonathan Rea for the 2024 WorldSBK Championship.

The Italian has been installed as the hot favourite to land the vacant seat following the bombshell news that Rea will defect to Yamaha next year to replace the BMW-bound Toprak Razgatlioglu.

It comes after Bassani was overlooked for a move to Aruba Ducati in favour of Nicolo Bulega, despite an impressive run of form in 2023 aboard the privateer Motocorsa Ducati that has him classified inside the overall top five.

Though Bassani refused to be drawn on how advanced the talk is, he says he hopes to have something to announce in the next week or so.

“I can’t say a lot. We are speaking with some teams, and we are trying to find a good solution for next year. For the moment, I can’t speak. This is the reality. I hope, this week or next week, I can say something.” 

“We are speaking [with Kawasaki]. For sure, we want a factory team, and we want to find a good solution for me and for them. We will see what happens in the next few days.”