Sam Lowes (Ducati) falls behind: third place in the World Championship now a distant prospect

When Sam Lowes delivered his best Superbike weekend of the season at Aragon – where the first half of the season drew to a close at MotorLand – securing three third-place finishes and reclaiming third place in the World Championship standings, it seemed the Englishman had rediscovered the consistency he needed. But immediately afterwards at Misano, two crashes brought him back down to earth and saw him drop to fifth place.

During a test at Magny-Cours, the MarcVDS rider aimed to lay the foundations for a strong season finale, but instead of reducing the gap, the Ducati privateer – after finishing third, crashing once and coming eleventh over the race weekend – now trails his brand-mate Yari Montella by 49 points, with Montella having established himself as the third force behind the dominant Aruba.Ducati factory riders Nicolò Bulega and Iker Lecuona.

The crash was a rookie mistake

The crash in the sprint race was as unnecessary as a goitre! Lowes went into the final lap in third place, 1.2 seconds ahead of Montella, but crashed unchallenged at Turn 3 – a rookie mistake. “After such a long break, it was great to qualify for the front row and then finish on the podium,” said Lowes, highlighting the positives from the ninth round of the season. “Sunday was disappointing, though, because I’d had a really good Superpole race and the podium was within my grasp. I’d worked hard to build up a lead and was feeling strong, but unfortunately I lost control on the final lap and crashed. That was a real shame, because up until that point I’d put in an outstanding performance, and a podium finish would have been a great reward for our efforts.”

In the crash, Lowes sustained a number of bruises, which made the second race a real ordeal. “The team did a brilliant job of getting the bike ready for the second race – but physically, I just wasn’t able to perform at my best,” admitted the 35-year-old. “I just didn’t have the same feeling, so I’m still quite happy to have picked up some important points. It wasn’t our day, but the weekend still had plenty of positives given our pace on Friday and Saturday. After this tough day, all eyes are now on Cremona, and on putting in a decent performance there.”

With three races still to go, Lowes can focus on a familiar rival: his twin brother Alex. The Bimota rider is fourth in the World Championship with 198 points and is five points ahead of Sam.

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