Sam Lowes 'enjoyed' the first round in 2025 after losing confidence last year

02/24/2025 03:51 AM

Phillip Island saw Sam Lowes return to the sharp end as he battled for top-five finishes at the season opener.

The 2025 World Superbike season is Sam Lowes' second year in the series after making his debut last season.

The British rider struggled in 2024 due to injuries and low confidence. However, the start of 2025 has brought back Lowes' enjoyment of riding his Panigale V4 R.

Lowes finished 10th in Race One on Saturday before following up with fifth and sixth-place finishes on Sunday.

"It was a lot better, I did a nice ride in the Superpole Race," Lowes told WorldSBK.com.

"In the first laps, I was back in 10th or 11th place, but in a 10-lap race when you make up many positions it goes very fast and it is very enjoyable.

"In the last race, I expected it to be a tiny bit closer because my pace was good this morning. But we lost a bit of time at the beginning with me [Danilo] Petrucci and Toprak [Razgatlioglu] battling a bit.

"After the pits, me and Petrucci had a great battle I was trying to get away from him but he got me back in the end, so I settled for sixth.

"It is nice for me to start the year like this, I finished last year so bad. My confidence was down, my shoulder was bad, and everything was bad. To come here for the first race and enjoy it a lot, ride well, make no mistakes, have three finishes and have two top-six finishes is really nice.

"Phillip Island is a unique track, obviously Ducati was so strong this weekend, the conditions and everything suited the bike. So, that helped, but there were many times last year when it suited it and I didn't perform."

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