Sam Lowes will skip the rest of the Qatar Moto2 weekend due to the condition of his injured shoulder posing too much of a risk to continue.
Lowes suffered a nasty shoulder fracture during the winter that forced him to miss last week’s pre-season intermediate class test at the Losail International Circuit, but he attempted to ride during Friday practice ahead of the race on Sunday.
The Brit struggled in FP1, ending up 28th on the timesheets with a best time two seconds down on leader Thomas Luthi, while FP2 looked more positive with the 19th quickest time-less than a second down on the benchmark time of Joe Roberts.
It has been decided overnight though between his team of doctors that the risk of further injury is too great however, and that Lowes will pull out from any further running.
His focus now turns to being fit for the next scheduled round in the United States in a month’s time, although this event is now in doubt due to further Covid-19 cases having been confirmed in the country.
This could potentially gift the Marc VDS man a further two weeks to get match fit for the Argentinean event-held at the Termas de Rio Hondo venue-in mid-April.
Lowes’ abandonment of the weekend means the Marc VDS squad is down to a sole representative in fellow team newcomer Augusto Fernandez for the opening round of the Moto2 year.
