A career best WorldSBK result of fifth in the Superpole race and stunning sixth place in Race 2 capped off a brilliant main race day for Sam Lowes and the Elf Marc VDS Racing Team in Australia today

Lowes was in sparkling form in sunny but windy conditions at Phillip Island to claim his first Sunday double top six in the WorldSBK Championship.

Having set the second fastest lap of yesterday’s Race 1 in scorching heat, expectations were high that Lowes could emerge as a main protagonist today and the 34-year-old certainly delivered on his potential with two brilliant performances.

Lowes leaves Australia sitting seventh in the early standings on 21 points before the action resumes at the Algarve International Circuit in Portugal in late March.

/// Superpole Race: 5^th

///  Race 2: 6^th

Starting 11^th on the grid for the 10-lap Superpole clash, Lowes delivered a five-star performance to fight his way through to fifth position and finish just half-a-second away from what would have been a sensational first WorldSBK podium.

Lowes set the third fastest lap of the Superpole encounter and he thrilled fans in Race 2 by starring in another enthralling battle over 20 laps that once again featured a mandatory pit stop.

The Briton found himself in intense wheel to wheel combat with reigning World Champion Toprak Razgatlioglu and Danilo Petrucci when he pitted on lap nine for the mandatory rear tyre change.

The second half of the race pitched Lowes into a nail-biting tussle for fifth with Petrucci, which the Italian won on a dramatic final lap by less than 0.1s.

 “It felt great to battling close to the front again”

“That was a really good Sunday for me and the team. I said we had the potential to perform better than Race 1 yesterday and that’s exactly what we did and today showed how much we have improved throughout the weekend. I really enjoyed the Superpole race with some good overtakes and it just felt good to be battling close to the front again. It would have been nice to hold off Petrucci in Race 2, but a double top six is a strong way to kick off the new season. I feel we’ve already made a massive step forward compared to last year with my feeling on the bike. The whole team is working better with more experience together and these results give us a strong platform to build on as the season moves on. It’s always good to leave the opening round with solid points and especially at a track like Phillip Island where it is never easy. Now we need to make sure we continue this momentum in Portimao.”