Sam Lowes and the Elf Marc VDS Racing Team head into their third season together in the WorldSBK Championship this weekend brimming with confidence after completing pre-season testing at Phillip Island in stunning fashion.

Round one in 2026 kicks off this weekend in Australia and Lowes proved he is going to be a leading podium contender after impressing during a two-day Phillip Island test that ended with the British star setting the second fastest time.

The spectacular Phillip Island track is the first venue of a 12-round WorldSBK campaign this year and the action Down Under gets underway at 11:20am local time on Friday morning,

/// SAM LOWES: 2nd, 1:29.296, 136 LAPS

Hopes that Lowes can add to his five WorldSBK podiums in the opening race action of 2026 this weekend got a massive boost after he finished inside the top three on both days of official testing at the 4.4km Phillip Island track.

After rain-hit European test outings in Jerez and Portimão, Lowes capitalised on two full dry days at Phillip Island to carry out extensive set-up work on board his Ducati Panigale V4R machine.

Concentrating on geometry settings and a range of handlebar and seat position modifications, Lowes was third quickest on day one with a best lap of 1:29.907.

Gaining more confidence with his race pace and feeling more comfortable on the V4R, Lowes made significant progress on the second and final day and he was able to improve by almost 0.7s.

Such an impressive final day improvement ensured Lowes finished top Independent Team rider and he was only beaten by factory Ducati star Nicolo Bulega to give himself the perfect confidence boost heading into the season opener.

“I feel we can fight for some important results this weekend”

“Finishing second overall and to be in the top three on both days here in Phillip Island makes me happy with the work we’ve done at the test. It was super nice to get back up to speed in good conditions and cool to be able to properly start working on the new bike. I felt good with the hard compound rear tyre which is going to be the race option, and we improved the bike in the last session and made a decent step. The team have done a fantastic job to improve the bike over these couple of days. I’m super grateful for the massive work they have done and I really appreciate the support we are getting from Ducati. I feel competitive and am confident that I can fight for some important results this weekend and get our 2026 campaign off to a strong start.”