Tricky race 1 for Lowes in Italy after brilliant qualifying
Another exceptional Superpole performance for Sam Lowes didn’t equate to success in WorldSBK Race 1 at Cremona as a technical issue limited him to a 12th place finish.
Friday’s red-hot temperatures in northern Italy were not a one off. Conditions were hot and sunny once again in Cremona on Saturday with track temperatures hitting 45 degrees during WorldSBK Race 1.
Despite not feeling 100%, Sam continued his good form from Friday on Saturday morning, as he ended FP3 with the 3rd fastest time, just 0.16s off Alvaro Bautista in P1.
The 34-year old was then in showstopping form when Superpole rolled around. Sam was quick out of the blocks, going fastest with his first flying lap – a 1’28.081. At one point it seemed good enough for pole, only for Nicolo Bulega to demote him to 2nd in the closing minutes.
// SAM LOWES: Superpole: 2nd, Race 1: 12th
The Briton enjoyed a solid getaway in Race 1, and ended the 1st lap just back of the podium positions in 5th.
Yet Sam soon became aware of an issue with his gear shifter and he was unable to shift down gears as he wanted. He lost significant time on laps 6 and 10 when braking for Turn 11.
That dropped him to 13th at the back of a 10-rider fight for 4th. And while he could only gain 1 place in the closing laps, Sam fought on to pick up 4 important points for 12th.
“We had pace good enough for fourth place today”
“Race 1 didn’t go to plan. It’s a shame as I had a problem with the gear shifter, which meant I couldn’t shift comfortably and that made me a lose a load of time. Without that issue, we had pace good enough for fourth place today. That would have been an acceptable result considering how I’m feeling. I think I lost three seconds on two different laps by just not being able to downshift properly into Turn 11. But it could be worse. We get to start from 2nd again tomorrow and my pace is good. Hopefully I’ll get a good night’s sleep tonight and I’ll feel a bit better. And I look forward to having a positive Sunday here in Cremona. I’m happy I finished the race, scored some points and got to the end. We’ll analyse everything well this evening and improve for race day.”