The 2023 MOTUL FIM Superbike World Championship is three rounds in, but for one rider, there’ll be some extra MotoGP™ World Championship action at this weekend’s Spanish Grand Prix. Iker Lecuona (Team HRC) will replace Marc Marquez in the factory Repsol Honda Team at the Circuito de Jerez – Angel Nieto, with the Valencian rider being called up to stand-in for the eight-time World Champion.

Marquez suffered an injury in the season-opening Portuguese Grand Prix at Portimao when he collided with Miguel Oliveira at Turn 3 on the second lap. Whilst this resulted in a penalty for Marc, the Spaniard also suffered a fracture to the first metacarpal in his right hand and has been out of action since. Lecuona on the other hand has been in the opening three rounds of WorldSBK and with a best result so far of sixth at Phillip Island during round one. Tough weekends at Mandalika and Assen followed, but the 23-year-old is relishing an opportunity to return to the MotoGP™ paddock this weekend, even with big boots to fill.

Speaking about the opportunity, Lecuona stated his excitement about riding with a team he dreamt about: “First I want to wish Marc all the best in his recovery, he is the reference in MotoGP and I think not only the fans, but also the riders miss him a lot. For me, of course it’s an incredible opportunity to return to MotoGP and ride with the team of my dreams. Doing it in front of the Spanish crowd is extra special. But we have to be realistic, it will be a very tough and demanding weekend. I have spent this year and last year fully focused on WorldSBK with Team HRC and now I need to get used to everything that is different in MotoGP as well as learn a brand-new bike – the Honda RC213V. No matter what, I will do my best and let’s see what the outcome is.”

Lecuona started his career in the MotoGP™ paddock before moving over to WorldSBK for the 2022 season. A top six finisher in the premier class back in 2021 aboard KTM machinery as well as five other top ten finishes, the #7 also had two Moto2™ podiums to his name. At Jerez, he’s never scored points in the premier class but has two top ten results from his Moto2™ appearances in 2018 and 2019.

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