Sam Lowes is one of the many events that brightened up the intense 2020 Grand Prix season. This time, the Englishman was not the star of the statistic counting the number of falls suffered in a year of exercise. On the contrary. Even though he missed the title precisely because of an accident that injured his wrist, Sam Lowes showed himself transformed by remaining sufficiently on his wheels and managing the competition intelligently enough to find himself in a position to win the title during the last round in Portimao. At 30, the Marc VDS driver has changed…
We believed Sam Lowes definitively locked in by a passion which diluted his talent and credibility over the seasons. His rise to Gresini was interesting until the entry into MotoGP on a Aprilia. A catastrophic campaign from which we believed he would never recover, until his installation within the Marc VDS Racing. There, he found a team manager who is also his partner in life and the mother of his child. An environment that soothed him while in the box, his chief mechanic Gilles Bigot surrounded him and gave him the confidence that saves so much time against the clock...
Joan Olive, former pilot and executive in the team of the Belgian brewer who will proudly display the colors of Elf this year has closely observed this situation which he can now assess: “ in Moto2, all the drivers and all the teams have the same equipment, the same bikes, the same engines. Everything is the same. It is therefore very important that the driver has confidence in his technical staff. During the first test, Sam felt that we trusted him 100% and it was mutual » says the Spaniard on speedweek.
However, during these preliminaries Qatar, there was a fall, an injured shoulder, and a withdrawal from the race. But never Sam Lowes was morally damaged by this false start. An immunity born from the experience of the chief engineer Gilles Bigot : " everything was easy from the start » is still surprised Olive . " Gilles has a lot of experience and therefore he works very calmly. He is sure of his abilities. This calm and security carried over to Sam. The two then worked in a good, peaceful environment. They complemented each other well and the data engineer also contributed to the success. He has already worked for Sam. Gilles and Sam were a perfect match from the first moment. This is the key to racing success."
Sam Lowes appreciated the rear handlebar brake
Sam Lowes appreciated the family atmosphere at Marc VDS. But Joan Olivé also highlights other reasons that led to this success. “ Sam tried the new rear brake at the start of the year. With this new scooter lever, he was able to control the rear brake better when entering a curve than with his foot. Sometimes it's such little things that add up to the extra speed. Sam was injured during the first test. But Gilles found this finger brake on the left handlebar useful and convinced Sam. This system gives more feedback. Technically, this helped Sam a lot, and the aforementioned friendly environment did the rest ».
In 2021, the same elements will be found so that Sam Lowes is already considered one of the favorites for the Moto2 title. He will have a hard time facing young people who will all have a chance to move up to MotoGP in 2022. Among them, his teammate Augusto Fernandez.
