The MOTUL FIM Superbike World Championship’s Iker Lecuona (Aruba.it Racing - Ducati) rose to the occasion once again as he took home a trio of P2s from the TT Assen Circuit and the Pirelli Dutch Round. This marks his second second-place hat trick in two rounds as he continues to find his footing atop the Ducati Panigale V4R and shows more signs of being able to fight with his teammate Nicolo Bulega (Aruba.it Racing - Ducati) for the win.

Lecuona started the weekend’s first race from P3 after Sam Lowes (ELF Marc VDS Racing Team) and Nicolo Bulega had managed to outpace his 1’32.567s Tissot Superpole effort. Determined to improve, Lecuona shot off the line, passing both Sam Lowes and Bulega in the first sector to, for the first time in his career, lead a WorldSBK race. He held P1 until nearing the end of the second lap, Bulega made his move on the Spaniard on Turn 11 for P1, and from there on, it looked like Bulega was going to run for the hills with the win in his back pocket, until rain returned to the circuit, causing Bulega to slow down. Lecuona took advantage to pick his pocket on the final chicane’s exit on Lap 15, regaining the race lead. Bulega responded in the final sector two laps later, from which he took off and secured the win 1.6s ahead of Lecuona.

The action continued into Sunday, where his teammate looked to have Lecuona’s number from the start of the contest, firing off the line to build a 1.6s margin by Lap 3, the closest he would come to the Italian as he finished +1.742s of the #11. The final race of the weekend brought more drama with it, as it was Sam Lowes in P1 and Lecuona in P2 by the end of the opening sector, with the pair fighting and trading positions back and forth through the Veenslang back straight. The #7 made the move stick on the entrance to the T1 for P1 on the Ducati independent to take P1, but Bulega was charging up from the rear with a head full of steam. On Lap 2, Bulega made his move on the #14 on Turn 5 for second place, and shuffled Lecuona down to P2 in the final chicane of the same lap. The #7 and #14 tried their best, but that would prove to be the closest that they could come to the Championship leader as he took off ahead of them.

GETTING UP TO SPEED: “I missed just the P2 in the Superpole to repeat the same results from Portimao”

Having landed on the podium twice in his first four years in the Championship, his offseason move has been a lightning rod for rostrum results since his arrival to the factory Ducati team. He credits his success to an unorthodox change he and his crew made to his bike, which, despite their lack of prior testing with the setting, it appeared to bear fruit for the 26-year-old.

On his Sunday, Lecuona said: “I missed just the P2 in the Superpole to repeat the same results from Portimao. In any case, we did a great job during the weekend. At some moments, I was struggling a lot; at others, I was feeling much more comfortable. In the Superpole Race, I was feeling a bit better, maybe a small step, but definitely moving in the right direction. We changed the bike for Race 2 to a setting we had never tried, because in Race 1 we wore down the front tyre a lot, and in the end it worked well. I had two huge moments on Turn 12 where I almost crashed, but in any case, I’m still very happy. Nicolo is still a bit faster than me, but I know this is one of his better tracks. Let’s see if we can swap positions with him in the races to come.”

SETTLING IN: Every time we jump on the bike, we are learning something and we need to take the feeling more still”

Lecuona’s stock is on the rise, and as he’s now begun to land on the podium with consistency, he can’t help but look upwards at the top step of the rostrum. His results mark his second podium hat trick in two rounds, and unlike at the Pirelli Portuguese Round last time out, this round, he was in stretches, able to fight with his Championship-leading teammate.

On his growing pace and the potential to battle with his teammate, Lecuona said: “In the end, the fastest lap is just two tenths slower than him. Every time we jump on the bike, we are learning something and we need to take the feeling more still. It’s still not my bike 100%. I don’t feel 100% ready yet to fight for the victory. The good thing is that we improved our performance, we learned a lot, and we did another P2 triple to help increase our gap second place in the Championship above Sam. He pushed me so hard during the races, so overall, I’m happy.”

Next up: Balaton Park as the field returns to Hungary on May 1^st! Tune in with the WorldSBK VideoPass!