Sam Lowes "missing a bit” to factory Ducatis at Czech WorldSBK

Sam Lowes is confident of mounting a serious challenge to both Nicolo Bulega and Iker Lecuona at the Czech WorldSBK. 

This all comes after Lowes put together one of the more impressive long-run stints of any rider during FP2 at Most. 

Consistently setting lap times in the 1m31s, Lowes completed the top three in FP2 behind Kawasaki’s Garrett Gerloff and Bulega, who crashed early on and missed the remainder of the session. 

“It’s been a good day overall, Lowes told WorldSBK.com. “We had a couple of small issues in FP1 but the afternoon session was positive. 

“I completed an 18-lap run, with a couple of slower laps in there, but generally the pace was decent. 

“Obviously it’s difficult to compare too much with Nicolo [Bulega] because he had the crash, but he still looked very fast, especially on the short runs. 

“We did a good job today and I still feel there are areas where I can improve my riding tomorrow. I think we’re definitely in the fight for the podium and the top five, which is where we’ve been consistently."

The issue Lowes was referring to in FP1 was a technical problem that saw smoke coming from the rear of his Marc VDS machine. 

But Lowes was able to head back out on track after 15 minutes in pit lane, although some of that was spent under red flag condition due to a crash for his brother, Alex, at turn 20.

Lowes, who is yet to win a WorldSBK race, has already shown in 2026 that he’s firmly in the battle podiums, however, he still believes that the factory Aruba.it Racing duo have a slight edge on him.

Speaking about a potential battle with Bulega and Lercuona, Lowes added: “I do think I’m missing a bit to them, but maybe not as much as at Balaton. 

“I can definitely improve my riding so that’s what I’m focused on. It’s mega the job they’re doing and I’m just trying to catch them up.”