A mistake at Turn 3 on lap six of Race 2 cost Sam Lowes much more than a possible podium finish, as he left Phillip Island with a broken left wrist and bruises to his right hand and left ankle. It was certainly not the result he wanted to end the first round of the season with, but the Briton has no intention of letting this setback compromise his start to the season and aims to be back on his Ducati Panigale V4 R as early as the Portimao tests scheduled for March 9 and 10.
It will be a challenging task, as the Marc VDS team rider himself explained to the official World SBK website, recounting how his recovery from injury is progressing and how the accident that ended his weekend in Australia prematurely occurred.
"The conditions were a lot wetter than anybody anticipated, which made bike set-up more challenging," he said. "I made a slight mistake in Turn 3, I was struggling a bit on entry, and lost the rear off-throttle. It was a big one, at high speed, over 200 km/h, and a lot of rolls through the gravel trap. The race was going quite well before that, so it was unfortunate way to end."
Lowes: "I want to try to ride at the test, there are things we didn't get to try in the winter."
The crash was more serious than it initially appeared, but the 35-year-old still managed to return from Australia without having to go into surgery.
"The medical staff at the circuit were fantastic and they fixed me up for the flight. Then, when I got home, I went to see Mike Hayton up in Manchester, he's a brilliant hand specialist I know really well. He diagnosed me with two fractures: one in my hand and one in my wrist. The hand is not a big deal, fifth metacarpal. The wrist is the radial styloid, which is a bit more problematic and needs more rest, but no surgery needed," said Sam, who is already focusing on his recovery: "I'm keeping my body moving and training lots of cardio as well as doing weights where I can. I've also been seeing a physio and been to the hyperbaric chamber a couple of times. I'm just doing everything I can to be fully fit ASAP."
With winter preparation reduced to the bare minimum due to rain, Lowes is racing against time to try not to miss the next two days of testing in Portugal. But his real goal can only be to recover as best he can for the second round of the season, which takes place in the Algarve two weeks later.
"I really want to try to ride at the test as we want to continue working on the bike, there are some things that we didn't get to try in the winter. It's a big ask so soon after the injury, but during the test I can take it easy and rest it between stints. So, I'll try the test, but the main focus will be the race," he clarified. "Luckily, there's a gap to the race weekend, so I can continue to work hard to be ready for round 2."