At the World Superbike Championship in Assen, WSBK rookie Iker Lecuona makes the most of the chaos and finishes third: After his first podium, he talks about his time with KTM in MotoGP
Superbike rookie Iker Lecuona showed a strong weekend at the second event of the season in Assen. Already on Friday the Spaniard started with momentum and confirmed his form in the three races.
In the final race Lecuona took advantage of the chaos after the crash of Toprak Razgatlioglu and Jonathan Rea (see the reactions of the two quarrelling riders) and briefly took the lead. In the end he finished third, Lecuona’s first podium in the World Superbike Championship.
“It was a crazy weekend for me,” commented Lecuona after the biggest success of his young WSBK career so far. “In FT1 I finished second, then in FT2 I had the big crash. I had a lot of pain in my leg for the rest of the weekend. But at the same time I realised that I have a lot of potential, maybe not necessarily for the podium, but for the top 4 or top 5. I felt really strong. “
“I had a good first race, finishing fifth. In Superpole I also managed a good lap time. I made it into the top five again, which was my best starting position so far,” the Honda factory rider explained proudly.
Interim lead after chaos in race 2
Lecuona took advantage of the confusion following the crash of Razgatlioglu and Rea to briefly take the lead in race two, as Alvaro Bautista was forced to slow his Ducati heavily (as Bautista witnessed the crash of the two World Championship rivals and the confusion afterwards). “I saw the crash but no yellow flags and attacked. I overtook Alvaro and Locatelli. I pulled out a small gap but I knew Alvaro was pretty fast,” Lecuona said.
“I think Bassani came from very far behind and just touched my ribs…. I was lucky again” @19Bautista
️♂️ Our detectives have found evidence that it wasn’t @axel47bassani.. It was @michaelrinaldi_!
Luckily no one was hurt NLDWorldSBK pic.twitter.com/JL8Z9EIhPC
– WorldSBK (@WorldSBK) April 24, 2022
How did Lecuona feel about the Razgatlioglu and Rea incident? “It was a strange crash, but that happens sometimes. I think it was a racing accident. Rea saw the gap and Toprak closed it again,” he commented. “I touched Alvaro after that. That happens sometimes. It’s nothing crazy. “
Deteriorating rear tyre sets Iker Lecuona back a little at the end
“In the last four or five laps I was struggling with the rear tyres. I had no grip left,” the Honda rider reported, adding, “Of course I’m very happy to have made it to the podium with the Honda. “
Lecuona’s third place at Assen was the first Honda podium of the current season. “The bike is getting better step by step. But we need more time. I realise that if everyone had finished the race I would have been fifth. But I was on the spot and of course I took my advantage of the other riders’ crashes,” explained the former MotoGP rider.
Iker Lecuona feels more comfortable with Honda than KTM
After retiring from the premier class, Lecuona found a new home with Honda in the World Superbike Championship. “I come from MotoGP and I have two years with the KTM behind me. It’s not an easy bike. You can see that very well now with Tech 3. The riders are struggling a lot,” he refers to the manageable successes of Remy Gardner and Raul Fernandez so far.
Lecuona is convinced that he doesn’t have to hide in direct comparison: “I made the top 10, fought for the podium once and the top 6. As a rider, I like to adapt to the bike and want to make the most of the potential.”
“I gained a lot of experience in MotoGP but struggled a lot. I couldn’t enjoy it. KTM didn’t believe in me and didn’t make sure I had a clear head,” criticised the Spanish motorbike talent.
“When I came here to Honda, I felt that they believed in me. They provide everything for me to stay calm. As a rider, I want to attack in every situation. The team tries to calm me down. That’s important for me,” stressed Lecuona, who is fifth in the championship.
