Elf Marc VDS Racing Team rider Sam Lowes had to battle mixed weather conditions on day one of the penultimate round of the WorldSBK Championship at the Estoril track in Portugal

•  Lowes finished 17^th this morning in an FP1 staged in torrential rain and track conditions became so treacherous the session was briefly red flagged on safety grounds.
• This afternoon’s FP2 started on a dry track to allow Lowes to focus on set-up work on Pirelli’s slick tyres before rain unfortunately returned at the halfway point.
• The 34-year-old was limited to just 11 laps on a dry surface and a best time of 1:39.396 placed him 16^th ahead of Superpole at 11am local time tomorrow before Race 1 gets underway three hours later.

/// SAM LOWES: 16^th, 1:39.396, 25 laps

“There is more to come from me and the bike”

“Today was quite complicated with the weather playing such a big part. This morning was just about managing the risks and trying to get a feel for the bike in the wet conditions. I was hoping we would get a full dry FP2 to really test the shoulder I injured in Aragon but unfortunately the rain returned. I did manage to complete 11 laps in the full dry and I’m happy with how the shoulder felt. But there was not much to be gained today in such mixed conditions. The forecasts for tomorrow do look better and I’m sure there is plenty more to come from me and the bike.”