The factory Ducati team’s newest rider, Iker Lecuona (Aruba.it Racing - Ducati), closed the opening day of the MOTUL FIM Superbike World Championship’s Pirelli Dutch Round in the top three positions across both Free Practice sessions, but isn’t content with the feeling atop his bike. Having closed Friday with a combined time worthy of P3 on the day, the 26-year-old Spaniard knows he and his team can do more to close the gap between him and his Championship-leading teammate, Nicolo Bulega.

FREE PRACTICE FRUSTRATIONS: “I’m a bit frustrated overall. I’m not very happy with the feeling on the bike”

After a proud triple-podium showing last round, Lecuona started out Round 3 in the same fashion on Friday morning, laying down a 1’34.208s lap to clock in second-fastest. While he was just a quarter of a second slower than his transcendent teammate and had nearly a quarter of a second of margin behind him to Sam Lowes (ELF Marc VDS Racing Team), the #7 felt far from the positive feeling he enjoyed last round. Of particular importance to Lecuona is the bike’s behaviour on the faster corners, with Race 1 on Saturday fast approaching, he hopes he and his team can find a solution as soon as possible.

On his opening day at the ‘Cathedral of Speed’, Lecuona said: “I’m a bit frustrated overall, I’m not very happy with the feeling on the bike. I didn’t feel right on the bike in the morning, and I still don’t feel comfortable. Friday afternoon, we didn’t find a way to make a step. We changed something on the bike, and made progress in an area that we didn’t expect, but we didn’t improve in any of the areas where we were struggling. The fastest corners don’t feel good on the bike, I go wide every time, and at Assen, there are lots of fast corners-they’re quite critical here.”

PRACTICE MAKES PERFECT: “I’m focused on FP3 and trying to improve on the bike”

In the afternoon, he found himself outpaced by Lorenzo Baldassarri (Team GoEleven), and while his pace would likely have seen him beat out the #34, the Spaniard knows he and his platform are capable of more. Lucky for him, the team have Saturday morning’s Free Practice 3 to continue ironing out the details of his Ducati Panigale V4R. They have to work quickly, however, as riders like the #34, Sam Lowes, and his former teammate Xavi Vierge (Pata Maxus Yamaha) will look to strike at any chance presented to them to get on the podium tomorrow.

Looking back on his Friday, looking ahead to Saturday, and commenting on the team’s recent fuel flow restrictions, Lecuona said: “In the end, we landed P3, but our pace was good enough for P2 again. The rest are a bit slower than Bulega and I over 10-15 laps. Our pace is good, but still, I feel like I’m missing something. I’m not focused on the races yet, though. I’m focused on FP3 and trying to improve on the bike. I can feel the fuel flow restriction a little bit as well. We need to adjust the electronics a bit, but the change is nothing crazy.”

Lecuona’s next opportunity on track comes on Saturday, April 18^th, in WorldSBK’s Tissot Superpole session at 11:15 Local time (UTC +2)! Watch Live or OnDemand with the  WorldSBK VideoPass!