Sam Lowes suffered a difficult start to his Valencia weekend after crashing his Elf Marc VDS Kalex heavily in a wet FP1.
A big high-side exiting turn five on just his third lap of Friday morning’s cold and wet session meant it was a painful start to the season finale for Lowes, at a track that proved just as painful in 2020.
The 31-year-old suffered a blow to his right foot and ankle but with no fractures detected he dug deep in a dry FP2 to complete 17 laps. His fastest effort - a 1’36.911 - placed him just over a second away from the leading KTM duo’s fastest, in 23rd.
Suffering both with the injury and pace, the Brit is set to analyse his condition further overnight before making a decision on the remaining weekend’s progress.
“It’s certainly been a tough start and the early crash was the last thing I needed,” Lowes admitted on Friday evening. “It was very early in the morning session and to be honest it was quite a big one. Maybe the right side of the rear tyre just wasn’t quite up to temperature. I’m in some discomfort with my right foot and ankle.
“This afternoon in the dry I didn’t feel comfortable on the bike, and it felt like the grip was low. I just didn’t feel good, and we’ll study the data tonight to understand why I’m not able to feel more comfortable.
“I was too slow and if I continue to struggle with the foot, it won’t make much sense to continue. But we need to understand how much of my issues are coming from the pain or whether it is just something we are missing with the set-up. We’ll see if we can improve tomorrow and show more of the potential we know we have.”
