That is what you call a swift and ruthless response. After a brutal weekend at Estoril where he could not buy a top-ten session result, Sam Lowes (ELF Marc VDS Racing Team) blasted right back to form on Friday at the Circuito de Jerez - Angel Nieto, Andalucia. The British rider planted his machine in second place in both Free Practice 1 and Free Practice 2 as the Pirelli Spanish Round got underway, sitting right behind 2026 Champion Nicolo Bulega (Aruba.it Racing - Ducati) with around a quarter of a second separating them.
During the morning session, Lowes posted a best time of a 1’38.407s to take that runner-up spot. His longest run stretched to seven laps, featuring mostly 1’39s bracket laps alongside a couple of unrepresentative 1’44s. When the afternoon rolled around for FP2, he found improvement at the end of his third run with a 1’38.459s, while also completing a nine-lap run consisting of a 1’43s, a 1’40s, and six laps sitting comfortably in the 1’39s bracket.
Reflecting on his opening day, the 14-time podium finisher in WorldSBK explained: “It was really good. It’s nice to come to this track, one I know well and have had nice experiences at. On my first lap, I felt good. I had some issues today with the brakes, I was struggling a little bit. It’s not something that’s happened before. It changed our rhythm a little bit and I didn’t show my real pace. Overall, it’s been a positive day and it’s a pleasure to ride this track.”
That speed is a massive relief considering how miserable life was just a week prior in Portugal. The #14 spent the entire Estoril weekend fighting uphill after landing P7 in FP1, P13 in FP2 and FP3, and P10 in Superpole. That left him stranded on the grid, resulting in an 11th place finish in Race 1, 10th in the Superpole Race, and 15th in Race 2. Those results slammed the door on his mathematical chances of fighting for third in the standings and handed the Best Independent Rider crown to Yari Montella (Barni Spark Racing Team).
Explaining the sudden shift in performance, Lowes admitted: “At Estoril, I had a small issue, but I wasn’t fast anyway all weekend. I don’t think I was in the top ten in any session, maybe I was ninth in one. I didn’t feel good. I didn’t get the feeling with the front of the bike, I felt like I was on the limit even though I was going slow and just couldn’t get it going. We haven’t changed so much, just gone to our Jerez base setting. I was quite relieved on the first lap when I checked the dash, and it was quite a fast lap. I’ve made some mistakes, and not got the results, but I’ve been fast at every track. It was a strange one to be so slow at Estoril. I’ll try to improve that for next year.”
Even with third place overall out of reach, there is still family honor on the line. The Brit sits 12 points behind his brother Alex Lowes (bimota by Kawasaki Racing Team) in the battle to be the top Lowes brother of the season, and Sam has drawn first blood by starting the weekend ahead of the #22. Ahead of the action, Alex joked it would be a “long winter” if Sam finished ahead, while Sam suggested a last-lap showdown on Sunday would be “funny”.
