Round two in the 2026 WorldSBK Championship brings Elf Marc VDS Racing Team star Sam Lowes to the breathtaking challenge of Portimão’s rollercoaster Algarve International Circuit in Portugal

Lowes is looking forward to being back in competitive action again after left hand and wrist fractures overshadowed a strong weekend performance during the opening round at Phillip Island in Australia last month.

The action in Portugal commences at 1020am local time with FP1 on Friday morning run over 45 minutes.

An intense period of recovery and rehabilitation comes to an end this week for the British rider, who has been working non-stop to gain strength and mobility back in the left hand and wrist fractures suffered in a fall out of podium contention in Race 2 in Australia.

Lowes has made excellent progress since he was back on board his Ducati Panigale V4R machine just over two weeks ago at a rain-hit two-day test at the 4.59km Portimão venue.

The 35-year-old powered to the front row of the grid in Phillip Island and scored fifth place finishes in Race 1 and the Superpole Race and he is hoping to pose a strong challenge once again this weekend in Portugal now he’s closing on full fitness.

One of the 16 impressive top six finishes that Lowes claimed in 2025 came in Portugal after he was unfortunately ruled out of action at the Algarve International Circuit in his rookie campaign through injury.

Lowes has an impressive CV at Portimão, which includes a WorldSSP victory back in 2013 and two podium finishes in Moto2 in 2020 and 2021.

“I’m positive about how the recovery has gone”

“I’m looking forward to getting back to racing after the long break since the first race weekend in Phillip Island. I’m feeling positive about how the recovery has gone with the injuries I picked up in round one and the only doubts I have are about the full race distances. I know I am probably going to struggle towards the end of the races, but I have been working round-the-clock in the gym and undergoing a lot of physiotherapy and other treatments to get myself in the best shape possible. I’ll do the best I can to get some positive results at a track I really like so I can’t wait to get going.”