Sam Lowes confident of podium potential at Aragon WorldSBK in all-Ducati battle

Sam Lowes says he expects to be in a podium battle with two other Ducati riders at the Aragon WorldSBK, although he admits the top-two riders “have something extra”.

Lowes was third-fastest in FP2 at MotorLand, a track he’s been victorious at in Moto2 in the past, but where he has only raced once in World Superbike due to a crash in Race 1 in last year’s edition of the Aragon Round.

The dominance of Toprak Razgatlioglu and Nicolo Bulega – who were in the top-two once again on Friday at Aragon – in 2025 has generally forced the rest to settle for a battle for third place.

Lowes thinks that will be the case again this weekend, and he expects to be in that podium battle along with two other Ducati riders, namely Danilo Petrucci and Alvaro Bautista, the latter racing at the circuit where he last won in WorldSBK.

“Today was positive, I’m missing a little bit in the last sector compared to Bulega,” Sam Lowes told WorldSBK.com.

“They have something extra in that final sector of track. 

“He and Toprak [Razgatlioglu] are a little bit stronger, but not so far away from us. 

“I think we will be able to battle for the podium. 

“Alvaro [Bautista] will be strong in the last sector and good on the tyres, so this will be the battle: me, Petrucci and Alvaro.

“Maybe in the race we’ll have a bit more, but I’m happy with day one.”

A podium for Lowes in Aragon would be his first since Balaton. The Marc VDS rider was in podium contention in Race 1 and the Superpole Race at the previous round in France, but crashed on both occasions.