Sam Lowes just missed a place on the podium in Sunday’s two WorldSBK races in the Czech Republic as he pushed Danilo Petrucci all the way for 3rd in both outings. 

Sam Lowes produced a pair of exceptional performances on Sunday to finish 4^th in both the Superpole Race and Race 2.

Added to the 6^th he achieved in Race 1, the 34-year old consolidated his 6^th place in the overall standings thanks to his strongest WorldSBK weekend to date.

^{/// SAM LOWES:
SUPERPOLE RACE: 4TH
RACE 2: 4TH}

Weather conditions were unpredictable at Most in the Czech Republic on Sunday. The morning Warm-Up session was held in wet conditions, but the 4.2km track dried up for both the Superpole Race and Race 2.

In tricky conditions in Warm-Up, Sam decided against any unnecessary risk and used the outing to bed himself in for the day as he set the 15^th fastest time.

In the Superpole Race, Sam enjoyed a brilliant getaway from 9^th on the grid and was aggressive through the Turn 1-2 chicane to sit 5^th early on. The Briton was then involved in a fun 4-rider fight for 3^rd place.

After making his way past brother Alex for 4^th on lap 5, Sam pushed Danilo Petrucci hard in the 5 laps that followed. He just missed out on the final podium spot by 0.09s at the chequered flag.

In the 22-lap Race 2, Sam made another excellent getaway from 4^th on the grid. After showing excellent special awareness through the 1^st chicane, he gained one place to sit 3^rd.

The Briton was then quickly into his rhythm as he stretched the fight for 3^rd down to 2 names. Despite losing 3^rd to Petrucci at Turn 15 with 9 laps to go, he continued to harry the Italian until the final lap. He came home in 4^th, just 0.2s back of 3^rd.

The 4^th place capped another fine weekend for the ever-improving Lowes. The 29 points scored over this round is the most he has managed over a single weekend in his WorldSBK career to date.

This weekend’s strong performance consolidated Sam’s 6^th place in the overall standings. He now has 102 points before heading to Misano for Round 6 in the middle of June.

“I’m happy. I was right there, fighting for the podium and just missed out”

“Obviously I’m happy. Yesterday I was struggling a bit in the long race in terms of rhythm in the second half. I was happy to get a good start in the Superpole race. I was right there, fighting for the podium and just missed out. But I felt like I made a step as I was able to be consistent. In the long race I got another really good start and was able to do ten strong laps with Petrucci just behind. I tried to keep him there but he overtook me. At first, I struggled to stay with him but then I relaxed and was right there again. I tried to get by on the last lap but missed it by 0.1s at the line, or something like that. Overall, it was a good Sunday with two fourth places. I knew this would be a difficult weekend as it’s a track where I really struggled last year. It’s a place which really requires a Superbike riding style and showed a few areas where I still need to work on. But the team did a great job and improved the bike over the weekend – it was better today than yesterday. It was a positive weekend and I got my biggest points haul of the year. We’re going in the right direction so let’s keep working!”