Sam Lowes says his ‘priority’ in 2018 is to return to the Moto2 World Championship and challenge for the world title after losing his Aprilia MotoGP ride.
2014 World Supersport champion Lowes made the jump to the premier class this season with Aprilia, but a difficult maiden campaign aboard the RS-GP has tested the patience of the Italian manufacturer and led to the termination of his two-year deal.
With the final Marc VDS seat going to Tom Luthi for 2018, and the two Avintia bikes set to go to Tito Rabat and Xavier Simeon, Lowes’ options in MotoGP have vanished.
However, while remaining tight-lipped on his options, the Briton revealed several teams have approached him about a ride in the inter mediate class for next season.
“Right now we have three options and all three are on different chassis,” Lowes said at Silverstone on Thursday.
“Three main options. You can probably guess what they are. I just want to be in the best situation to fight for the world championship.
“Moto2 is a tough class, I’ve been there before, I know how hard it is, but I think I’m not talking out of line to say that if I went back I can be in with a chance of winning.”
Lowes admits he has been contacted by teams in the World Superbike Championship – though said Aprilia was not one of them – and put a move under consideration, but ultimately feels he still has a point to prove in grand prix racing.
“I would consider Superbikes. My heart says I want to stay here and prove to myself that I can do it,” he said.
“I’m lucky, I’ve got a couple of options there, which I didn’t really expect, especially in the last couple of days.
“So that’s good, but my priority is to go to Moto2 and fight. I feel like I’ve got a score to settle and prove to everyone Sam Lowes deserves to be here and I can be here.”
Redding: It’s a difficult situation for Sam
Lowes’ Aprilia replacement Scott Redding believes his compatriot was always going to struggle to develop the RS-GP due to his lack of MotoGP experience.
Redding, who has lost his Pramac ride to Jack Miller for 2018, was confirmed as an Aprilia rider last week, having originally been courted by the Noale factory in 2015.
While sympathising with his compatriot’s woes in his maiden MotoGP campaign, Redding believes his time on the Honda and the Ducati in the premier class makes him a viable option for Aprilia next year.
“With Sam it’s really hard to develop a bike when you haven’t rode another MotoGP bike,” said Redding.
“I’ve been to Honda, I’ve been to Ducati and I can use a bit of information from both to help and we’ll see where it goes from there.
“I mean the results from Aleix are not too bad. Like I say it’s a difficult situation for Sam; trying to develop, trying to get results, there’s too much on your shoulders.
“And that’s why I feel I’ll be good for the job.”
