Marc VDS to enter World Superbikes

Marc VDS Racing Team, one of the most successful squads in the Moto2 World Championship, as well as the team with whom Jack Miller recorded his first MotoGP victory, will expand into the FIM Superbike World Championship in 2024. Sam Lowes, one of the team's two current riders in Moto2, will make the switch and ride a Ducati Panigale V4 R for the Belgian outfit’s WorldSBK debut.

“I'm delighted to begin this new adventure in the World Superbike Championship,” said team owner and founder Marc van der Straten. “And it gives me even more pleasure to do it with our great rider, Sam Lowes. I’m also proud to start this new adventure with Ducati, which is undoubtedly the bike to be on in WorldSBK.

“Sam Lowes [is] a great rider who shares our team's values and know-how. Ducati's experience and success completes a package that has everything to be perfect and exciting!”

Despite having no previous experience in WorldSBK, van der Straten expects the new team to adapt quickly and “get to the front of the pack” as soon as possible. Lowes has no World Superbike experience, either, but he was part of the WorldSBK paddock a decade ago, winning the World Supersport Championship with Yakhnich Motorsport Yamaha in 2013.

Next year’s move will see Sam compete against his twin brother Alex, who has been in WorldSBK full time since 2014 and currently rides for the Kawasaki Racing Team. 

“I’m happy and proud that I’ve had such a good GP career, and I’ve enjoyed it a lot,” Lowes said. “But I feel now it’s a great time to move across to WorldSBK to try a different machine and learn how to ride a superbike.

“I have a lot to learn with the new category, including the bike, the tyres and some new tracks. But I am very motivated and excited for this opportunity.”

Since joining the Marc VDS Moto2 team in 2020, Lowes’s best championship placing has been third. Although he’s out of contention for this year’s Moto2 title, Lowes says one of his goals before leaving the category is to help Marc VDS win their first Moto2 teams’ world championship.