Ducati rider confident of Portimao WorldSBK podium chance despite injury

Sam Lowes thinks a podium could be possible for him at the Portuguese WorldSBK despite being only five weeks on from a wrist fracture.

Lowes broke his left wrist in Race 2 at the Australian Round in February, but was declared fit ahead of the Portuguese Round on Thursday.

Finishing fastest in both World Superbike practices on Friday seemed to confirm Lowes’ fitness, and he admitted afterwards that the pain was less than he expected.

“It’s not bad, honestly,” Sam Lowes said of his wrist when speaking after FP2 to WorldSBK.com.

“I didn’t expect to feel like this. From the Sunday night of Phillip Island to today I expected more pain. 

“The pain is not bad, honestly, just the strength is not amazing so after some laps I’m struggling a little bit to maintain the pace. 

“But I’m happy. 

“I expected it to be worse so I’m happy with the steps we’re making. It was a positive feeling for the wrist but I’d like it to be a bit better.”

Lowes’ position in both sessions is indicative of his strong speed at Portimao, but he is wary of chasing too much this weekend.

“I think if I was fully fit and I improved some points on my riding I could be closer to Bulega,” he said.

“But with how I’m feeling and everything else, I think it’s more realistic to be calm, try to manage, and try and fight for the podium.”

Lowes added: “Obviously, this track is really good for our bike, really good for Ducati, it suits us a lot. We did the test here, so we have a bit of advantage, I guess. 

“The pace was good, at the end [of FP2] I had nice track position and towed a little bit off Alex [Lowes] so that was nice. 

“I’ve been quite fast, also this morning with the same tyre I did 1m40.2s which was good. 

“So, I just need to try to manage a few things [in] the last [six to eight] laps; if I can stay there, I feel like I can fight for something nice.”