Sam Lowes “wasn’t sure I was going to be able to race” before double Cremona top 5

Illness meant Sam Lowes was unsure of his capacity to race at the Italian WorldSBK before taking two top-fives.

05 May 2025

Sam Lowes, 2025 Italian WorldSBK, grid. Credit: Gold and Goose.
© Gold & Goose

Despite showing strong pace throughout practice and qualifying on the front row there were no podiums for Sam Lowes at the Italian WorldSBK, as the British rider was left battling illness.

Lowes had pace in the 1:29s in FP2 that he was unable to execute in Race 1 as a result of a gear selection issue.

That was on top of an illness the Marc VDS Ducati rider had been battling during the weekend, which was still present on Sunday even if the technical problem had been resolved.

A poor start in the Superpole Race left Lowes fifth after lap one. Although he was able to recover to fourth by the end of the race, it was a two-place grid drop for Race 2 compared to the first two races of the weekend, meaning that another poor start from Lowes left him down in eighth by the end of the first lap.

A strong recovery, though, brought Lowes back into contention for the top-five and a last lap battle with the Hondas of Iker Lecuona and Xavi Vierge – one he ultimately came out on top of with a final corner pass on Lecuona on the last lap.

“It feels great for myself and the whole team to come away from today with a double top five considering some of the issues we’ve had to deal with this weekend,” Lowes said after Race 2 in Cremona.

“I wasn’t sure this morning that I was even going to be able to race [on Sunday], so to come away with a fourth and fifth feels absolutely mega.

“It hasn’t been easy with me not feeling well yesterday and today but I felt I showed good pace in both the Superpole race and Race 2 and that’s all because of the great job the team did in giving me a very strong package.

“I really enjoyed riding today and it is another solid weekend for us where we finished all the races and had good pace even feeling like I did. It’s something for us to build on moving forward and I’m sure we can be in the mix again in Most.”

Lowes’ strong Sunday results helped him move past Andrea Iannone and into sixth place in the World Superbike riders’ standings as the second-placed satellite Ducati rider.