MotoGP Portimao: Lowes ‘feeling strong and ready to fight’

Elf Marc VDS’ Sam Lowes is ready for his ninth Moto2 season as the opening round of 2023 prepares at Portimao this weekend.

With 135 Moto2 appearances in the intermediate class already under his belt, a now fully recovered Lowes is eager to make up for lost time after a Silverstone shoulder injury curtailed the majority of 2022’s closing races.

“Physically I feel great,” Lowes said after an intense winter. “It’s probably been my biggest physical preparation in the last five years because there was the rehabilitation and the process of regaining fitness that was long and constant since December. This is a big positive.

“Mentally I feel refreshed. It’s really hard to sit at home and see people racing when you should be there. Last year’s races were difficult, but I realised how much I want to be here, how much I missed it and how much I have worked to be back at it.



“It took a few weeks to understand how bad the shoulder was and I was still struggling in December,” he admitted. “I worked a lot to get the strength and flexibility back. In the new year I went to Spain to do some riding and started to feel back to normal again. It’s been a big winter from the physical side but really positive and I am very happy to be feeling a lot better.

“When you’re in a race weekend with all the pressure and all the stress, sometimes you need to take a step back,” he continued, on the upside to his recent struggles. “When I wasn’t at the track or I came to the races and saw everybody on track, I realised you need to focus on what you’re doing and your plan over the weekend and not worry about everything else. That was important for me to see that. Don’t stress too much about external things and focus on myself.

“I got refreshed and