Sam Lowes felt 'stronger and better than last year' in preseason despite adverse conditions
Today at 01:51 AM
"But once the track was dry it turned out to be a positive test." - Sam Lowes.
The 2025 World Superbike season will be Sam Lowes' second year in the series with the ELF Marc VDS Racing Team.
After a difficult rookie season due to injuries, the British rider is ready to return to racing in Australia. Lowes and the Marc VDS squad had been in Jerez and Portimao for two preseason tests, which were impacted by poor weather conditions.
Despite the difficult weather conditions Lowes believes that the Portimao Test was positive once the track dried out.
"Winter testing in January in Europe is a bit of a gamble but we've certainly been unlucky to have tricky conditions in both Jerez and Portimao.
"Day one here in Portugal was tough. I need the experience of riding the bike in the rain but when it is wet and windy, it isn't worth taking the risk. It's hard to compare things on the bike and work on the settings in windy conditions and easy to go in the wrong direction.
"But once the track was dry it turned out to be a positive test. We tried some front fork settings which I felt was a good step and we will continue in that direction. My race pace was solid, but the conditions meant the lap times were slower than normal for everybody. I only tried one soft tyre at the end and had decent pace but on used tyres, I felt strong and better than last year in that area with some steps we've made with the electronics.
"Unfortunately, the rain came on day two and stopped us from riding. Going to Australia with only two half days of testing completed is not ideal but it's the same for everybody. And we have two days testing at Phillip Island before the race weekend which is going to be very important. I'm looking forward to it and despite the bad weather in Jerez and Portimao we've done some positive work."
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