Sam Lowes gets a taste of the top, apologises throwing Catalunya WorldSBK lead away

26/03/2024 12:26

Sam Lowes has apologised to his Marc VDS Racing team after throwing away a 'great opportunity' by crashing out of a race lead during the Catalunya WorldSBK round.

The former Moto2 rider provided one of the standout moments at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya by enjoying stints out front of both Race 1 and the Superpole Race.

Capitalising on a strong start from fifth on the grid in the opening encounter, Lowes worked his way to the front on lap three but just as he was beginning to put air between himself and Toprak Razgatlioglu and Nicolo Buelga, he slid off at Turn 10 on lap five.

It was a feat he repeated in the Superpole Race after hustling his way through to the front on the opening lap, but would ultimately fade in the closing stages to slip outside of the top nine points' scoring positions.

Starting further back for Race 2, Lowes again made strong gains early on but suffered in the closing stages with tyre preservation on the high-degradation circuit.

"Firstly, I want to say sorry to the team for the mistake because this was a great opportunity for us," he said. 

"It felt really nice to be fighting at the front and battling with the best in WorldSBK. I got an amazing start and felt confident in the early laps, and it was such a great feeling to be leading for the first time.

"Obviously it was a disappointing Race 2. P12 was not what we wanted. It was a bit of a baptism of fire for me as the drop of the tyre was really big. It was difficult for me to manage the last four or five laps.

"I guess it's a bit of a lack of experience as the crash in Race 1 meant I missed the full race distance. I didn't have that knowledge to improve today. In the end it was difficult, but I learnt a lot. I just wanted to finish the race.

"At least now we have some things we can improve for Assen. I want to say thank you to the team for the continued hard work but it was a difficult day for me. 

"We'll try to improve from here as it's clear the speed is there. But the tyre life is something I need to work on and understand a lot better. I think it's normal after coming here from Moto2 on a different bike and a different make of tyre. Step by step we'll manage it and keep working hard."

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