Iker Lecuona (Aruba.it Racing - Ducati) will swap the MOTUL FIM Superbike World Championship for the MotoGP paddock this weekend as he replaces the still-recovering Alex Marquez at BK8 Gresini Racing MotoGP. It marks Lecuona’s first return to MotoGP action since his Honda days in WorldSBK in 2023, and Ducati will be the third manufacturer he has ridden for in MotoGP.
Lecuona’s career in the Grand Prix paddock started in 2016 in Moto2 halfway through the season, before a similar scenario played out in 2017. In 2018, he secured a full-time seat and ended the year with his first podium at Valencia, with P2, and backed that up with a further rostrum in 2019 in Thailand. At the end of that year, he jumped on the Tech3 KTM machine at Valencia for his MotoGP debut.
He got two years in MotoGP with KTM, taking a best of P6 at their home Austrian Grand Prix in 2021, but it was not enough to keep him in MotoGP, and he switched to WorldSBK with Honda HRC. The new environment helped Lecuona to pole in the 2022 Catalunya Round – his only pole to date – and he claimed two podiums for the Japanese manufacturer. However, a switch to Ducati really helped Lecuona kick on in 2026. He has recorded 15 podium places this season, all of them P2, and he sits second in the Riders’ Championship behind teammate Nicolo Bulega.
Lecuona has had a busy May with rounds every other week, and June will also be busy for the Spanish star. He will replace Marquez this weekend at Balaton Park, jumping on the Desmosedici GP26 for the first time, as the regular Gresini Ducati rider continues to recover from a fracture to his right clavicle that he sustained in a high-speed crash at his home round in Barcelona. After this, Lecuona will travel to Misano for Ducati’s home round, completing a triple header for the Valencia-born rider.
Speaking about his return to MotoGP, Lecuona said: “Of course, I’m really happy about this opportunity. It’s not something I expected, if I’m honest. I’m really happy so thanks to Ducati for giving me this opportunity and thinking about me. Also, thanks to Gresini, as they accepted me jumping on the bike, and also Aruba.it Racing – Ducati, to Stefano and Serafino, for saying yes as we’re in the middle of the season. I want to enjoy it; I’m not putting any pressure on myself. I know Ducati won’t put any pressure on me. I just want to ride and finish the race. It’s a track that I like and I’m fast there, so let’s see what I can do, but enjoying it is the important thing.”
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