Ahead of the second round of the WorldSBK Championship at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya next weekend, the Elf Marc VDS Racing Team completed important preparation work at the Catalan venue during an official two-day test.

•  Following his impressive WorldSBK debut in Phillip Island last month, Sam Lowes was keen to jump back on Ducati’s Panigale V4 R to explore a range of set-up options and assess a new front and rear tyre spec from Pirelli.
• Lowes stood out on day one during a marathon 84-lap stint and the 33-year-old finished fourth quickest and top Ducati Independent rider with a time of 1:41.056.
• Lowes was able to set fast and competitive times during a busy day two and he completed another 78 laps, with an improved lap time of 1:40.944 placing him eighth overall on the final timesheets.

/// SAM LOWES: 8^th, 1:40.944,162 laps

 “I’m really happy with our performance at this test”

“This whole test has been really positive. I did a lot of very good laps and I’m really happy with our performance. The team did a great job over the two days because our main focus was preparing as much as possible for the race here next weekend. We’ve got a lot of data to analyse that will help us understand where we can be even stronger, but I feel we are going to be competitive. I did a time attack on a soft tyre, and we can improve in that area. I need to gain more experience in terms of how much you can push with the fresh rubber in qualifying. Everything is still very new for me in WorldSBK, but I feel we can improve and take another step next weekend in the races.”