Elf Marc VDS Racing Team rider Sam Lowes showed incredible potential in Race 1 at the Algarve International Circuit today to fight for a maiden WorldSBK podium

Boosted by top five finishes in FP3 and Superpole earlier in the day, Lowes was in the heart of an intense battle for third position when he unfortunately slid out of contention on his Ducati Panigale V4R.

Despite the crash, Lowes is determined to bounce back in style and hunt for the podium again tomorrow in the Superpole and Race 2 double header.

The Superpole race is scheduled to start at 11am local time and Race 2 is due to get underway at 2pm.

^{/// SAM LOWES: DNF}

Day two action in round two in Portugal got off to a flying start for Lowes, whose fastest lap in this morning’s FP3 session of 1:40.122 was 0.7s faster than his best Friday pace to finish less than two-tenths away from the top three.

Lowes then starred in a record-breaking and nail-biting Superpole session and a brilliant weekend best lap of 1.39.663 was once again less than 0.2s away from the top three as he started Race 1 from the middle of the second row in fifth position.

The 34-year wasted no time in advancing forward into the podium battle and was quickly into third spot on the opening lap that thrust into an exciting tussle with Andrea Locatelli.

Lowes was only 0.5s behind the Italian in a strong fourth place when his challenge ended with a crash at turn 11 on lap eight

“To be that competitive straight away is something we can build on”

“Honestly, qualifying was quite good. I made a bit of a mess on my first lap on my second tyre so I knew I could go a bit quicker. I didn’t get the maximum I could have, but was still on the second row. But it was still a good qualifying session, and we know how important that is in Superbike now. Also, we’ll be starting toward the front tomorrow, too, which is nice. In the race, the temperature was up and the track was quite greasy. I made a small mistake. There was a slight difference in how I approached Turn 11, it was really small. And I lost the front. It wasn’t a massive error. I’m just disappointed because I was in fourth. I had (Danilo) Petrucci behind me and had strong pace. We know our bike’s good at the end of the race. It didn’t quite fall for us, which is unfortunate. I want to say sorry to the team. We’ll do a better job tomorrow and get a good result in the Superpole race so we’re starting toward the front again in the main race. Compared to where we finished last year, the signs are positive. That was my first race in Portimão with a Superbike as I missed last year. To be that competitive straight away is something we can build on. The positive way the guys have reacted to this result is mega, so a big thanks to them. We’ve still got another race day to go as we’ll be starting Superpole in fifth.”