Sam Lowes names which other WorldSBK rider should be “closer to third place”

Level on 245 points with his brother Alex Lowes, Marc VDS rider Sam Lowes believes he holds the advantage heading into the final WorldSBK race day of 2026. 

However, finishing ahead of his brother in the championship is not at the forefront of Sam Lowes’ mind, with the ex-Moto2 star admitting both riders should be closer to Yari Montella, who will finish this season in third. 

Lowes says that too many points were left on the table this season by both riders, which has contributed to them being 56 points behind the Barni Ducati rider.

But when asked which rider holds the upper hand heading into Sunday’s final WorldSBK races of the year, Sam Lowes said: “I think at this track I have a bit of an advantage on him. Machinery-wise and coming from grand prix, we ride a lot here.

“I don’t know, we’ve both given away a lot of points this year. We can still be happy with the season we’ve done, but we’ve given a lot away. 

“We should have been closer to third place, but this is the game. Hopefully the wet conditions will make it more of a fair battle.”

Speaking of Sunday’s forecast at Jerez, rain is expected to fall which could give Alex Lowes a more realistic chance of battling with Sam, who is on the preferred Panigale V4 R.

But if the anticipated wet weather fails to arrive, then Sam Lowes will certainly be the favourite after the British rider split the two factory Aruba.it Ducati riders in Race 1.

Speaking after his second-place finish behind world champion Nicolo Bulega, Lowes said: “It was a solid day. I enjoyed it. 

“I really like this track, it’s one that suits my style and I have great memories from Moto2 and in my short time in WorldSBK, I’ve been quite fast. 

“I know that Nicolo is strong around here; I say around here, it’s every track, and in qualifying he did a good lap, but I was really happy to get into the [1m] 36’s. 

“That was a big target. In the race I was not struggling, I felt okay, but to go quicker was difficult. 

“I saw him controlling it a bit and then I had Iker [Lecuona] coming towards me in the end. I was really struggling a lot with the front tyre. 

“I’m not the smoothest rider, so [with] the SC1 it started to move a lot, but I managed it quite well. I had a couple of near moments in turn nine and 11, but everybody was struggling. 

“I think it’s obvious that our bike is working well at this track. To be in front and fighting with Iker and be competitive; I’m really happy.”