What next for Sam Lowes if he wins the 2020 Moto2 world title?
A trio of consecutive victories have moved Sam Lowes to the top of the 2020 Moto2 standings with three rounds to go... what are his prospects for 2021?
Three victories on the bounce have earmarked Sam Lowes as the big favourite to land the 2020 Moto2 World Championship in what would be the most significant British success in the GP ranks since Barry Sheene in 1976.
The British rider, already a world champion after winning the 2013 WorldSSP Championship with Yakhnich Yamaha, has been a revelation in recent events, clinching a pair of wins in Motorland Aragon to go with his victory before that in the damp at Le Mans.
Indeed, it was only a few weeks earlier that Lowes’ hopes of becoming the latest rider to lead Marc VDS’ charge to the world title were deemed over despite several positive results following a disqualification for causing an accident in Styria, which in turn landed him a grid penalty in Misano.
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However, as the likes of Luca Marini and Enea Bastianini falter around him, Lowes has seized his opportunity in recent events to assume the lead in the standings.
His win in Aragon gives him a modest six point lead over Bastianini with three events to go, but he has momentum most certainly on his side.
“I’m very, very happy with this result. The team did a fantastic job improving the bike from the first race in Aragon. I really enjoyed the race. It was nice to finally get a good start and lead early!
“The bike was working well. I said to myself that if we could have three really strong results in this triple header we can fight for the championship and that’s what has happened. I’m really happy and really proud.
“Thanks to the team and all the sponsors. Now we’ll look forward to fighting for the championship in the last three races.”
Sam Lowes comes of age in 2020 Moto2
With title winners on its books that include the likes of Tito Rabat, Franco Morbidelli and Alex Marquez, Marc VDS is ‘the’ team to join if you’re chasing a title tilt in Moto2.
However, many expected this to come in the form of Augusto Fernandez, who was signed to replace Marquez after the Spaniard - who was originally set to defend this 2019 title - moved to Repsol Honda in MotoGP. And yet instead it is Lowes that has emerged as its leading light.
Though this is the first time Lowes has led the Moto2 standings, he has been there or thereabouts throughout, albeit hampered by the odd bad event, notably his injury at the Qatar opener that forced him to withdraw and that disqualification from Styria.
And yet if you look beyond that, Lowes thoroughly deserves to be in the position he is.
While he had to start from the back in Misano, he actually qualified on pole position pre-penalty and did a superb job of hauling himself back up to eighth place by the chequered flag. Moreover, while it may have taken a while for that return to the top step - four years in fact - Lowes has been top four in all but nine of the 12 races this year.
That should give him confidence heading to Valencia and Portimao - the latter being a circuit he knows, unlike most of his rivals.
Should he win the 2020 Moto2 title, he’d become Britain’s second grand prix champion of the decade after Danny Kent’s success in Moto3 in 2015. However, an intermediate class win would be the biggest for the nation since Barry Sheene’s 500GP success back in 1976.
What is the future for Sam Lowes?
What this means for Lowes’ future is somewhat unclear. Of course, he has competed in MotoGP with Aprilia, but a disastrous 2017 appeared to have scuppered any hopes of making a return.
However, the subsequent struggle of other riders - Scott Redding especially - on the underperforming Aprilia RS-GP appears to look more favourable towards Lowes’ abilities at the highest level.
This is unlikely to mean much for 2021 with nearly all MotoGP seats now secured but it’s unlikely Marc VDS will want to let Lowes go now.
If he can go a long way to repeating his feats for the 2021 Moto2 season, coupled to Dorna’s eagerness to keep a Briton on the grid in the probable absence of Cal Crutchlow and Bradley Smith, things are definitely looking up for this Lowes twin.
