Sam Lowes: Victory at my last British GP “would be massive” - Exclusive

Sam Lowes will start the second half of his final grand prix season with perhaps the biggest weekend in his remaining Moto2 career: A last home appearance at Silverstone.

Peter McLaren

25 Jul 2023

Sam Lowes, Moto2, British MotoGP 4 August

Lowes, who is switching to the World Superbike Championship with Marc VDS in 2024, has won ten times as a Moto2 rider and sprayed podium champagne on 26 occasions since 2014.

But despite a pair of home pole positions, even a Silverstone podium has so far eluded him.

Lowes didn’t even get beyond opening practice last year, suffering a serious shoulder injury, but the 32-year-old now gets one last chance to shine in front of the British Grand Prix fans.

Speaking exclusively to Crash.net about his final Silverstone appearance, before his future WorldSBK deal was officially confirmed, Lowes said:

“I’ve thought about that already. It's the one that's got away from me. I've had a couple of poles at Silverstone, but last year obviously was a nightmare.

“So for me to win the British Grand Prix would be massive. And if this is my last British Grand Prix, I've got to give it a good go!

“The way the bike is working now, I will have everything I need to win. It will be down to me. So I just need to get through FP1…

“But that will be a big weekend for me. It's one of those things in my career, to win the British Grand Prix would be massive.”

Lowes, who is eighth in the standings, and countryman Jake Dixon are the only riders other than title leaders Tony Arbolino and Pedro Acosta to have won a Moto2 race so far this season.

“This year, from testing onwards the base of the bike works very good for me,” Lowes said. “The new forks work very well for me. So the package of the bike is better for my riding style. I'm more competitive in general, and Silverstone should be no different.”

The #22’s best Silverstone grand prix finish to date is fourth place in 2021 while he finished second at the famous Northamptonshire track in World Supersport during both 2012 and his title-winning 2013 campaign.

Sam Lowes, Peter McLaren (pic: Junior/Marc VDS)

“I can go down the pub and say, ‘It wasn’t too bad in the end!’”

Reflecting on leaving the grand prix paddock, Lowes - joint fifth on the all-time Moto2 win list with Pol Espargaro, behind only Marc Marquez, Johann Zarco, Tito Rabat and Thomas Luthi - admitted the end of 2020 will remain a ‘what if’.

Lowes hadn’t even started the 2020 season-opener due to a winter shoulder injury but went on to lead the Covid-delayed campaign with just three rounds to go, taking his first Moto2 wins since a miserable 2017 MotoGP season at Aprilia in the process.

Enea Bastianini then retook the Moto2 title lead from Lowes by a slim six points heading into the penultimate round, where Lowes suffered a disastrous double wrist fracture in practice at Valencia.

That helped Bastianini to a 14-point advantage over Lowes for the Portimao finale, a week later, with fellow future MotoGP stars Marco Bezzecchi and Luca Marini also in mathematical title contention.

There were major question marks over whether Lowes could even reach the finish, but he defied the pain to run as high as second and completed the podium in third, behind Remy Gardner and Marini, having beaten both Bezzecchi and Bastianini.

Luca Marini, Remy Gardner, Sam Lowes, Moto2 race, Portuguese MotoGP, 22nd November — Luca Marini, Remy Gardner, Sam Lowes, Moto2 race, Portuguese MotoGP, 22nd…

But the final score saw Bastianini crowned champion by nine points over Marini and Lowes, who were tied for second. Equal on wins, the Italian was credited with title runner-up due to an additional second-place over Lowes.

“It would be hard to leave without winning the [Moto2] championship but I was nine points off in 2020 with the injury at the end and I’ve got to live with that,” said Lowes, 32.

“I've got a lot of emotion to try and win this championship, but I’ve been here for a long time and would I get another MotoGP chance even if I was a Moto2 champion? I don’t think so.

“Also because [the title] just happens too late [in the year]. That's the trouble. The MotoGP seats are already taken by then.

“If I decided on one more year here [in Moto2], I feel like I might miss the boat to go there [to WorldSBK]. I might end up just doing one or two more years [in Moto2] and fizzling out.

“I’d still be happy with my career but I've got a lot more than that to give. I’m not thinking about stopping. I still love it. I could ride every day!