Sam Lowes has lamented “disappointing” weather during WorldSBK testing this year after the second day of this week’s Portimao test was effectively rained out.

WorldSBK tested in Portimao on 9–10 March, and Lowes was third-fastest on the opening day, behind Alex Lowes and Nicolo Bulega, but even on day one the running was limited to the morning before rain arrived in the afternoon.

Day two started off with a wet track that ultimately never dried throughout the day. Only Tommy Bridewell and Philipp Oettl set lap times.

It was the third two-day WorldSBK test to be held at a European circuit this year, and all three have been hit by rain to some extent. There were two hours of patchy-dry running on the second day at the first test in Jerez, but then both days in Portimao were hit by rain.

It means teams have still been largely unable to work through their respective test plans for this year, something Lowes – who has been trying to dial-in the new Ducati Panigale V4 R in the first part of the year – found “a shame” in Portimao this week.

“We didn’t get any running on day two which was a shame because we’ve struggled for test time this winter with the disappointing weather everywhere – but it’s the same for everyone, it’s not the year of testing for WorldSBK,” said Sam Lowes, as reported by WorldSBK.com.

“It was good to get some bike time [on Monday], but I’m not reading too much into it. 25 laps sounds like a lot, but you’re in and out trying things so it’s not a huge amount.”

Lowes added that he is still recovering the hand and wrist injuries he sustained at the end of last season that forced him to miss the final six races.

“The lap times were quite competitive and it gave me the chance to see how my hand and wrist felt, and I was quite happy considering it’s so soon after the break. 

“I know it’s going to be tough for the race weekend, though, as I still need more recovery time.”

The World Superbike Championship returns to Portimao on 27–29 March for the Portuguese Round, the second round of the 2026 season. 

Lowes goes into the second round after a season opener that saw him show strong speed in practice but ultimately unable to convert that into results in the three races; he finished fifth in Race 1 and the Superpole Race, and crashed out of Race 3.