Sam Lowes ‘agrees’ with WorldSBK jump start penalty: “I definitely moved”

Sam Lowes feels his jump start penalty at the Hungarian WorldSBK cost him a shot at the podium, but the British rider nonetheless says he agrees with it.

Lowes was handed the standard double long lap penalty for a jump start when he crept forward on the line for Race 1 at the Hungarian World Superbike round. He made a poor start anyway, wheelieing off the line and dropping to the back end of the top-10.

He eventually came back to ninth, and afterwards he said that he agreed with the penalty despite its severity, in opposition to Danilo Petrucci’s opinion when he was given a double long lap penalty for jumping the start at Assen.

“I’ve seen the replay back,” Sam Lowes told WorldSBK.com after Race 1 in Hungary.

“Myself, I felt the bike move slightly, but I had the clutch in so it was just dragging clutch a little bit, but this meant that when I actually saw the green light and went the clutch was real hot so I actually had a lot of wheelie and I had a terrible start. 

“I agree with the penalty. When you jump the start it’s two long laps. I’m old enough to remember that you had to do a ride-through with a jump start, so I’m happy that it wasn’t this because it’s a bigger penalty. 

“It’s unfortunate, I didn’t take advantage because I was 10th, 11th into turn one because I made a terrible start, but I don’t mind the rule – if you move, it’s a penalty and I definitely moved; it’s very small, but if you move… 

“The clutch was in but the clutch was dragging slightly. The team will fix that for tomorrow.”

Lowes added that it was easy to make mistakes as he tried to recover positions after the long laps, but was pleased with the way he managed the race.

“I decided to do the long laps directly and then just get into the race,” he said.

“It was an enjoyable race, everyone’s pushing hard. Even with the pace I had or the rhythm I had, also with the bike we have, it’s still difficult to overtake, but I felt like I kept focused. 

“It was easy to make mistakes, but made a lot of passes, especially towards the end I kept going.”

The penalty had also cost him a chance at the podium, Lowes felt, and what would’ve been a fourth straight podium after his three third places at Assen.

“Honestly, I didn’t have the pace of the factory boys [Bulega and Lecuona] all weekend, also today, but I had the pace to be with Miguel [Oliveira], to be with Montella, and to fight for the podium which is what I thought I could do,” he said.

“Even the last lap when I had a clear run I did a 1m39.7s. So, I’m in the mix of that pace. It was definitely an eventful race, it’s something that can happen.”

He added: “Every time I had a clear lap I was doing quite competitive lap times, so I think I had the pace to fight for the podium. Minimum to be in the battle [for] top-five or the podium, which is where I’ve been the last races.

“I think tomorrow we can look to do that. Obviously, sorry to the team for the jump start, but we’ll analyse tonight and see what happened. 

“If we have to have a terrible day and we finished ninth, finished the race, with lots of overtaking and some positives, I think we can accept.”