Sam Lowes | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Nationality | British | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Born | Lincoln, Lincolnshire, England | 14 September 1990||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Current team | Marc VDS Racing | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Bike number | 14 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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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 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]
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 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.
Instead, he opted to join the Moto2 World Championship riding with the Speed Up team, [9] signing a two-year deal with the team.
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.
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]
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.
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.
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]
Lowes, along with Marc VDS, will compete in the Superbike World Championship in 2024 using a Ducati Panigale V4 R. [21]
(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 |
(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 |
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 |
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 |
(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 |
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