Sam Lowes and the Elf Marc VDS Racing Team will look to end their third season together in the WorldSBK Championship with a flourish when the curtain comes down on the 2026 campaign this weekend at the Circuito de Jerez-Angel Nieto in Spain 

The British star is highly motivated and determined to put on a show on board his Ducati Panigale to end his most successful season in WorldSBK in style at Jerez’s iconic 4.4km track in Spain’s beautiful Andalucia region.

Free Practice 1 as always will get the action underway on Friday morning at 1035am local time.

Lowes lands in Jerez with plenty still to fight for in the final round of 2026, including fourth place overall in the World Championship standings and bragging rights over twin brother Alex.

The pair head into the final showdown split by just 12 points in favour of Alex, but with 62 points still left to battle for this weekend, the Lowes family duel will be one to watch throughout the Spanish round.

Lowes is eager to draw 2026 to a successful conclusion after a tough weekend last time out in Estoril where he found it difficult to perform at his usual high level due to a lack of confidence and feeling with his Ducati Panigale V4R package.

Jerez is certainly an ideal place to look for a rapid rebound as Lowes won his first Moto2 race on European soil at Jerez in 2016 and the last of his 10 intermediate class World Championship wins came at the track named after late Spanish legend Angel Nieto in 2023.

There is plenty of reason to be optimistic this weekend after Lowes showed incredible speed at Jerez last season, despite being way below his peak physical best.

The 36-year-old produced a truly heroic effort to qualify on the front row of the grid while riding in considerable pain and discomfort from a damaged left rib suffered in a training accident leading up to last year’s Jerez clash.

The injury ultimately forced him to withdraw ahead of the race action one year ago, which has only served to strengthen his desire to put on a strong performance this weekend.

“It will be great to finish the season on a high” 

“I can’t believe we are already at the last round of the season. It’s good this final weekend is in Jerez because it is a track that I love riding at and in the past I’ve enjoyed some great moments there. And it’s also a good place to go after a frustrating weekend in Estoril. Not only were the results not what we expected but I just didn’t have the speed and that is something I need to put right this weekend in Jerez. FP1 is going to be all about pushing hard and getting back on the pace and hopefully that will enable us to be in the fight for the podium like I have done at a lot of races this year. Looking back on this season, we have been very strong and competitive for most of it apart from a couple of rounds. I feel we took a step this year and got a few podium finishes. And hopefully there’s more coming this weekend because it will be great to end the season on a high and head into the winter break in a positive frame of mind.”