Sam Lowes

Samuel Deane Lowes (born 14 September 1990)^[1] is a British motorcycle racer who competed in the Moto2 World Championship with ELF Marc VDS Racing Team aboard a Kalex since 2019. From 2024, Lowes remains with the same team ownership which moves into a new class of racing, World Superbikes, using a Ducati Panigale V4 R.^[2]

Sam Lowes
Sam Lowes, Donington World Superbike 2024
Nationality	British
Born	(1990-09-14) 14 September 1990 (age 34) Lincoln, Lincolnshire, England
Current team	Marc VDS Racing
Bike number	14
Motorcycle racing career statistics MotoGP World Championship Active years 2017 Manufacturers Aprilia Championships 0 2017 championship position 25th (5 pts) Starts Wins Podiums Poles F. laps Points 18 0 0 0 0 5 Moto2 World Championship Active years 2014–2016, 2018–2023 Manufacturers Speed Up (2014–2015) Kalex (2016, 2019–2023) KTM (2018) Championships 0 2023 championship position 12th (104 pts) Starts Wins Podiums Poles F. laps Points 155 10 26 20 12 1090 Supersport World Championship Active years 2009–2013 Manufacturers Honda, Yamaha Championships 1 (2013) 2013 championship position 1st (250 pts) Starts Wins Podiums Poles F. laps Points 43 8 23 13 9 557

Sam is the identical twin brother of World Superbike rider Alex Lowes, and 2024 will be the first time they have competed against one another on an international stage.^[3]

Career

He won the Supersport World Championship 2013 riding a Yamaha YZF-R6^[4] for Russian team Yakhnich Motorsport in the championship, as well as the 2010 British Supersport champion riding a Honda CBR600RR.

During his championship year in the British championship he scored five wins, including three consecutive wins and three pole positions, winning at Brands Hatch, Knockhill, Cadwell Park, Croft and Silverstone, along with five podium finishes. Afterward he moved to the Supersport World Championship full-time in 2011 signing for the Parkalgar Honda team.^[5] In his first complete year he scored six podiums, finishing 6th overall with 129 points. In 2012, he moved to Bogdanka PTR Honda,^[6] a sister team of the Parkalgar Honda, and earned two wins at the Donington Park and Aragón rounds. In 2013 he moved to Yakhnich Motorsport^[7] riding a semi-works Yamaha.

Lowes at the Nürburgring in 2013

Lowes claimed the World Supersport championship in 2013 with one round remaining at Magny-Cours, finishing 2nd in the race.^[8] He was scheduled to race in the World Superbike Championship in 2014 with Yakhnich, however, these plans fell through as the team decided to jump to the championship without Yamaha.

Moto2 World Championship

Speed Up Racing (2014–2015)

Instead, he opted to join the Moto2 World Championship riding with the Speed Up team,^[9] signing a two-year deal with the team.

Federal Oil Gresini Moto2 (2016)

For 2016 onwards, Lowes signed a three-year contract backed by Aprilia, enabling him to continue in Moto2 for 2016 with the Gresini team and a change from Speed Up to Kalex chassis.

MotoGP World Championship

As well as this, Lowes had the added benefit of being Aprilia's official MotoGP test rider, but an anticipated move to compete for Aprilia in the premier MotoGP class for the 2017 and 2018 seasons was cut short by Aprilia exercising an early-release option announced half-way through the 2017 season, replacing him with Scott Redding for 2018.^{[10][11][12][13][14]}

Return to Moto2

Swiss Innovative Investors (2018)

Lowes returned to Moto2 for the 2018 season, riding a KTM bike for the Swiss Innovative Investors team, partnering Iker Lecuona. He replaced Thomas Lüthi, who moved up to MotoGP with the EG 0,0 Marc VDS team. Lowes finished 16th in the riders' championship, scoring 49 points, and he failed to score a single fastest lap, podium, win, or pole position for the first time since he made his Moto2 début in 2014.

Return to Federal Oil Gresini Moto2 (2019)

On 21 August 2018, it was announced that Lowes would rejoin Gresini Racing for the 2019 season, replacing Jorge Navarro who will move to Speed Up.

Marc VDS Racing Team (2020–2023)

On 6 September 2019, it was announced Lowes would join Team Estrella Galicia 0,0 Marc VDS for 2020, where he would be partnering Alex Marquez.^[15] Alex Marquez eventually moved up to the MotoGP class and was replaced by Augusto Fernández.^[16]

Lowes suffered a significant shoulder injury at the British GP practice in August 2022, and was unable to race in October at the season penultimate event in Malaysia. He and his team decided to withdraw at the Sepang racetrack, and seek further advice from surgeon Lennard Funk, based in Manchester, England.^[17][18][19] It was confirmed in early November that Lowes would not compete at the last event of the 2022 season in Valencia, Spain.^[20]

Superbike World Championship

Marc VDS Racing Team (2024)

Lowes, along with Marc VDS, will compete in the Superbike World Championship in 2024 using a Ducati Panigale V4 R.^[21]

Career statistics

British Supersport Championship

Races by year

(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position, races in italics indicate fastest lap)

Year	Bike	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	Pos	Pts
2009	Honda	BHI 10	OUL Ret	DON 13	THR 19	SNE 13	KNO 10	MAL 9	BHGP 7	CAD 6	CRO DSQ	SIL	OUL 10	14th	50
2010	Honda	BHI 1	THR Ret	OUL 2	CAD 3	MAL 2	KNO 1	SNE 2	BHGP 2	CAD 1	CRO 1	SIL 1	OUL 8	1st	229

Supersport World Championship

Races by year

(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position, races in italics indicate fastest lap)

Year	Bike	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	Pos	Pts
2009	Honda	AUS	QAT	SPA	NED	ITA	RSA	USA	SMR	GBR	CZE 18	GER 16	ITA Ret	FRA Ret	POR Ret	NC	0
2010	Honda	AUS	POR	SPA	NED	ITA	RSA	USA	SMR	CZE	GBR 10	GER	ITA	FRA		25th	6
2011	Honda	AUS 3	EUR Ret	NED Ret	ITA 5	SMR 3	SPA 2	CZE 6	GBR Ret	GER 3	ITA 2	FRA 2	POR Ret			6th	129
2012	Honda	AUS 5	ITA 2	NED Ret	ITA 2	EUR 1	SMR 18	SPA 1	CZE 4	GBR 2	RUS 12	GER 13	POR 5	FRA 2		3rd	172
2013	Yamaha	AUS 2	SPA Ret	NED 1	ITA 1	GBR 1	POR 1	ITA 2	RUS C	GBR 2	GER 1	TUR 2	FRA 2	SPA 1		1st	250

Superbike World Championship

Races by year

(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position; races in italics indicate fastest lap)

Year	Bike	1			2			3			4			5			6			7			8			9			10			11			12			Pos	Pts
R1	SR	R2	R1	SR	R2	R1	SR	R2	R1	SR	R2	R1	SR	R2	R1	SR	R2	R1	SR	R2	R1	SR	R2	R1	SR	R2	R1	SR	R2	R1	SR	R2	R1	SR	R2
2024	Ducati	AUS 13	AUS 8	AUS 7	SPA Ret	SPA 11	SPA 12	NED 19	NED 7	NED 6	ITA Ret	ITA Ret	ITA 13	GBR Ret	GBR Ret	GBR 13	CZE 12	CZE Ret	CZE DNS	POR	POR	POR	FRA Ret	FRA 16	FRA Ret	ITA Ret	ITA 14	ITA 11	SPA Ret	SPA DNS	SPA DNS	POR 13	POR 15	POR Ret	SPA 13	SPA 17	SPA 14	18th	53

Grand Prix motorcycle racing

By season

Season	Class	Motorcycle	Team	Race	Win	Podium	Pole	FLap	Pts	Plcd
2014	Moto2	Speed Up	Speed Up Racing	18	0	0	0	0	69	13th
2015	Moto2	Speed Up	Speed Up Racing	18	1	5	3	1	186	4th
2016	Moto2	Kalex	Federal Oil Gresini Moto2	18	2	6	5	2	175	5th
2017	MotoGP	Aprilia	Aprilia Racing Team Gresini	18	0	0	0	0	5	25th
2018	Moto2	KTM	Swiss Innovative Investors	18	0	0	0	0	49	16th
2019	Moto2	Kalex	Federal Oil Gresini Moto2	19	0	0	0	0	66	16th
2020	Moto2	Kalex	EG 0,0 Marc VDS	14	3	7	3	3	196	3rd
2021	Moto2	Kalex	Elf Marc VDS Racing Team	18	3	5	6	3	190	4th
2022	Moto2	Kalex	Elf Marc VDS Racing Team	12	0	2	1	1	55	19th
2023	Moto2	Kalex	Elf Marc VDS Racing Team	20	1	1	2	2	104	12th
Total				173	10	26	20	12	1095

By class

Class	Seasons	1st GP	1st Pod	1st Win	Race	Win	Podiums	Pole	FLap	Pts	WChmp
Moto2	2014–2016, 2018–2023	2014 Qatar	2015 Americas	2015 Americas	155	10	26	20	12	1090	0
MotoGP	2017	2017 Qatar			18	0	0	0	0	5	0
Total	2014–2023				173	10	26	20	12	1095	0

Races by year

(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position; races in italics indicate fastest lap)

Year	Class	Bike	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	20	Pos	Pts
2014	Moto2	Speed Up	QAT 6	AME 16	ARG 8	SPA Ret	FRA 9	ITA 8	CAT Ret	NED Ret	GER 20	INP 24	CZE Ret	GBR 7	RSM 18	ARA 9	JPN Ret	AUS 5	MAL Ret	VAL 7			13th	69
2015	Moto2	Speed Up	QAT Ret	AME 1	ARG 3	SPA 20	FRA 4	ITA 4	CAT 4	NED 3	GER 5	INP Ret	CZE 5	GBR 6	RSM Ret	ARA 3	JPN 8	AUS 2	MAL 13	VAL 5			4th	186
2016	Moto2	Kalex	QAT 9	ARG 2	AME 2	SPA 1	FRA 6	ITA 3	CAT 6	NED 4	GER Ret	AUT Ret	CZE 3	GBR 21	RSM Ret	ARA 1	JPN Ret	AUS Ret	MAL Ret	VAL 4			5th	175
2017	MotoGP	Aprilia	QAT 18	ARG Ret	AME Ret	SPA 16	FRA 14	ITA 19	CAT 19	NED Ret	GER Ret	CZE 18	AUT 20	GBR Ret	RSM Ret	ARA 22	JPN 13	AUS 19	MAL Ret	VAL Ret			25th	5
2018	Moto2	KTM	QAT Ret	ARG 13	AME 24	SPA 8	FRA 13	ITA Ret	CAT 9	NED 9	GER 5	CZE 9	AUT Ret	GBR C	RSM Ret	ARA 20	THA Ret	JPN 17	AUS 14	MAL 15	VAL Ret		16th	49
2019	Moto2	Kalex	QAT 6	ARG Ret	AME 7	SPA Ret	FRA Ret	ITA 9	CAT 9	NED Ret	GER 11	CZE Ret	AUT 24	GBR Ret	RSM 5	ARA 5	THA Ret	JPN Ret	AUS 20	MAL Ret	VAL 10		16th	66
2020	Moto2	Kalex	QAT DNS	SPA 4	ANC 4	CZE 2	AUT 4	STY DSQ	RSM 8	EMI 3	CAT 2	FRA 1	ARA 1	TER 1	EUR Ret	VAL 14	POR 3						3rd	196
2021	Moto2	Kalex	QAT 1	DOH 1	POR Ret	SPA 3	FRA Ret	ITA Ret	CAT 7	GER 5	NED 4	STY 14	AUT 4	GBR 4	ARA Ret	RSM 4	AME Ret	EMI 1	ALR 3	VAL 7			4th	190
2022	Moto2	Kalex	QAT 3	INA 4	ARG 10	AME Ret	POR Ret	SPA Ret	FRA DNS	ITA Ret	CAT Ret	GER 3	NED Ret	GBR DNS	AUT	RSM	ARA	JPN DNS	THA 19	AUS 12	MAL DNS	VAL	19th	55
2023	Moto2	Kalex	POR 7	ARG 10	AME 13	SPA 1	FRA 15	ITA Ret	GER 7	NED 11	GBR 7	AUT Ret	CAT 9	RSM Ret	IND 19	JPN Ret	INA 10	AUS Ret	THA 14	MAL 7	QAT 12	VAL 7	12th	104

* Season still in progress.

References

1. "Sam Lowes". Genes Reunited. Brightsolid. Retrieved 11 September 2015.
2. WorldSBK: Sam Lowes Begins Superbike Journey With Test At Jerez roadracingworld.com, 5 December 2023. Retrieved 16 December 2023
3. Sam Lowes confident he'll be 'fighting at the front' as 2024 WorldSBK prep begins bikesportnews.com, 9 December 2023. Retrieved 16 December 2023
4. "Super Sam storms to fourth victory". Derby Telegraph. 10 June 2013. Archived from the original on 27 September 2013. Retrieved 11 June 2013.
5. Crash.net."Parkalgar Honda signs Lowes for 2011". 3 October 2010. Retrieved on 13 October 2013
6. Crash.net."Buckmaster defends 2012 line-up".8 February 2012. Retrieved on 13 October 2013
7. motomatters.com."Sam Lowes to race a R6 in WSS With Yakhnich". 3 November 2012. Retrieved on 13 October 2013
8. WorldSBK.com. "Sofuoglu wins as Lowes is the new World Supersport Champion". 6 October 2013. Retrieved on 13 October 2013
9. MotoGP.com."Sam Lowes to join Moto2 with Speed Up" Archived 9 November 2014 at the Wayback Machine. 11 October 2013. Retrieved on 13 October 2013
10. MotoGP: Lowes confident about his GP future Motorcycle News, 18 August 2017 Retrieved 8 March 2018
11. MotoGP: Redding confirmed as Lowes’ replacement at Aprilia Motorcycle News, 14 August 2017 Retrieved 8 March 2018
12. Watson, Chris (22 September 2015). "Derby-based Sam Lowes to have one more crack at Moto2 crown before joining MotoGP". Derby Telegraph. Local World. Archived from the original on 28 September 2015. Retrieved 27 September 2015.
13. "Lowes joins Federal Oil Gresini Moto2 for 2016". MotoGP.com. Dorna Sports. 23 September 2015. Retrieved 27 September 2015.
14. "Bradl & Bautista remain with Aprilia for 2016". MotoGP.com. Dorna Sports. 23 September 2015. Retrieved 27 September 2015. Aprilia confirm Stefan Bradl and Alvaro Bautista as their line up for 2016, with Sam Lowes as test rider before making the step up in 2017.
15. Team Estrella Galicia 0,0 Marc VDS for 2020
16. "MotoGP™ Riders". Archived from the original on 14 September 2022. Retrieved 29 July 2021.
17. MotoGP Silverstone: Lowes 'caught out, gutted, and in pain' bikesportnews.com, 5 August 2022. Retrieved 27 October 2022
18. Moto2, No strength in the shoulder Marc VDS team withdraws Sam Lowes gpone.com, 21 October 2022. Retrieved 27 October 2022
19. About me lenfunk.com. Retrieved 27 October 2022
20. Lowes ruled out of Valencia Moto2 finale bikesportnews.com, 2 November 2022. Retrieved 2 November 2022
21. "Sam Lowes to make 2024 WSBK switch with Marc VDS". 14 July 2023. Retrieved 31 October 2023.

External links

• Sam Lowes at MotoGP.com
• Sam Lowes at WorldSBK.com
• Sam Lowes at AS.com (in Spanish)