Ducati’s dominance at Assen; Sam Lowes celebrates and challenges the factory riders

Panigale V4 R superior at the TT Circuit: on the SBK podium along with the Aruba riders was also Sam Lowes, who finished ahead of Bautista.

The finishing order of Superbike Race 1 clearly shows that Ducati is the strongest at Assen. There are four Panigale V4 Rs in the top four positions of the final standings. Nicolò Bulega took his eleventh consecutive victory, once again beating his teammate Iker Lecuona. Sam Lowes climbed onto the third step of the podium; when the rain arrived, he got very close to the two Aruba team riders, but there was no real chance to risk an overtake. And when conditions returned to more normal, the Englishman lost ground again and had to settle for a result that was still very positive.

The TT Circuit is a special place for the Elf Marc VDS team rider, who there in 2025 took both his first pole position and his first podium (in the Superpole Race) since starting his WorldSBK adventure. He then collected four more podiums, the most recent in Race 1 at Aragon on September 27. In the Netherlands he scored his first of 2026 and, considering the potential shown so far, his goal is to repeat in the other races of the weekend as well.

Lowes acknowledges he got the maximum possible in the first race held at Assen, where his past in Moto2 also helped: “I think it’s the right result. I got a bit closer thanks to the rain,” he told the official WorldSBK website, “but in reality I was the third best in terms of speed and pace. I was probably the third best all weekend. I’m happy. It’s a track that suits me a lot, obviously thanks to the many years in Moto2. With its fast and flowing nature, especially sectors 3 and 4 are, let’s say, Moto2-style, so it’s probably a track I can adapt to a bit quicker. The bike is working well."

The Elf Marc VDS team rider clearly identified the points of the TT Circuit where he needs to make progress to be even more competitive than today: “I need to improve a bit in turns 1, 3 and 10, those are the spots where I was losing compared to the others. Towards the end, I had issues with the front tire. We’ll have to think about it tomorrow, check the weather, and see if a harder tire is an option or if we can do something to improve the situation.”

The 35-year-old Brit hopes to be back on the podium after the Superpole Race and Race 2, aware that he probably won’t be able to go beyond third place, since Bulega and Lecuona have a little something extra: “I think two more podiums would be a nice achievement. I need to take a step forward, but I’m getting closer. In the next races I’ll get even closer to those guys and, obviously, Ducati is doing a great job. Right now, as an independent team, being close to them makes us happy.” Looking ahead, he aims to fight with the Aruba Ducati duo.

In 2026 Lowes also had to deal with physical issues: two fractures due to a crash at over 200 km/h that occurred in the first Superbike round at Phillip Island. In Portimao he scored three excellent fifth places; at Assen he was able to raise the bar and immediately took a podium. We’ll see what he can do for the rest of the weekend at the TT Circuit; he and the Elf Marc VDS team can be optimistic for Sunday.