Sam Lowes bounces back “from first lap” at Jerez WorldSBK after “strange” Estoril

A week on from his worst weekend of the season at Estoril, Sam Lowes was back inside the top-three at the Jerez WorldSBK.

Lowes trailed Nicolo Bulega but was ahead of Iker Lecuona in both WorldSBK practices on Friday, only a week on from a weekend in Portugal where he was inexplicably slow, and uncharacteristically so for the standards he has set in 2026.

The British rider struggled with brake issues in FP2 in Andalusia, but nonetheless felt it had been a strong day one at the final round.

“From the first lap I felt quite good,” Sam Lowes told WorldSBK.com after FP2 in Jerez.

“I actually had some issues today with the bike, with the brakes we were struggling a little bit which is something we’ve not had before. 

“It changed our rhythm a little bit, I couldn’t show my real pace, but overall it’s been a positive day. 

“It’s a pleasure to ride ride this track, it’s a track I do go fast at, so this is always a nice thing.”

Looking back to Jerez, Lowes admitted that he didn’t really understand what was preventing him from having more performance in Estoril, where his only top-10 came in the Superpole Race and therefore scored him no points.

“I think I was not in the top-10 in any session [at Estoril]; I might’ve been ninth maybe in one session,” he said.

“But just didn’t feel good. I couldn’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 going. 

“We haven’t changed so much [at Jerez], just gone to our Jerez base setting, let’s say.

“I was quite relieved on the first lap to check the dash and it was quite a fast lap time straight away.

“Out of all the races this year, I’ve made some mistakes and I’ve not got the results I’ve wanted. But I’ve been fast at every track, so it was a strange one to be so slow at Estoril, but I’ll try and improve that for next year.”