Sam Lowes has proved that he is a consistent front-runner in the 2025 World Superbike Championship.

After a difficult rookie season in the World Superbike Championship, Sam Lowes has established himself as a front-runner in the 2025 World Superbike season.

In six of the last nine races, Lowes has stood on one podium and featured inside the top five on five other occasions.

The British rider had time to make further steps at the two-day Misano Test with the ELF Marc VDS Racing Team.

"It was a positive day; the team did a really good job," Lowes said after the Misano Test.

"We tried a few things, and we have a good direction for the race weekend. We’re pretty strong with the race tyre, I’m happy with the pace we have and the lap times we can do. We did a little bit of time with the SCQ tyre at the end and made a small step, but after 88 laps at that point, I was pretty tired.

"It was good to try for the weekend, I feel like right now we’re definitely in the podium fight big time, just missing something to keep up with Bulega and Toprak, who look like they found something on Day 2. It’s been a positive test for us, we know where we can improve. We need to analyse a bit more, and now we look towards the race weekend in a positive manner."

After the test, he was also asked about what changes he made at the Misano Test, and if he will test the 2026 Ducati anytime soon.

"Nothing massively new that we were trying," he added.

"Obviously, there is the new Ducati Panigale V4 R, which is coming at some point, so this version of the bike is nearing the end of its development cycle. We were more focused on the feeling on the bike and the electronics.

"I saw Pirro on top of the new bike a little bit. He looked good, and although you can’t see much with how it was painted, I’m looking forward to getting on it at some point."