Portimao’s Pirelli Portuguese Round didn’t make onlookers wait long for history to be made, as among the big headlines, Iker Lecuona (Aruba.it Racing - Ducati) has netted his first podium as a factory Ducati rider.  The MOTUL FIM Superbike World Championship field has due cause for concern if the Spaniard is able to keep putting the pieces together atop his Ducati Panigale V4R, and if he is, he may soon come to feel at home on the rostrum in 2026.

Lecuona’s weekend at the Autodromo Internacional do Algarve got started off strong on Saturday as he raised eyebrows in the Tissot Superpole session. Despite Superpole struggles in the season debut at Phillip Island where he qualified in P13, Lecuona looks to be getting the hang of his new Ducati machine and would have landed his second-career WorldSBK pole had it not been for a record-breaking 1’38.495s effort at the end of the session which broke the record Lecuona had just set by 0.142s

CLEANING UP HIS ACT: “I’m happy for that, not having made any mistakes”

After narrowly missing his first pole, starting from P2 was still the #7’s best starting position in WorldSBK. In Race 1, despite tearing off the line after his #11 teammate, Yari Montella (Barni Spark Racing Team) beat him into Turn 1 to steal away P2. Lecuona bided his time in P3 until Lap 5, when disaster struck the #5, taking a lowside spill into the gravel on Turn 14. From there, Lecuona locked in and maintained a sub-1’41s pace all race until the final four laps, by which point he had carved out an insurmountable 1.8s gap ahead of Miguel Oliveira (ROKiT BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team) in third.

On how he feels after bagging the podium, Lecuona said: “I’m really happy, of course, I said many times this winter that I have the team and the bike to fight for race wins. We’re still a bit far to be honest, I know Nicolo managed better times than I did throughout the race. I had to push hard not to make any mistakes and keep Miguel away because he was pushing hard. I’m happy for that, not having made any mistakes. Overall, I’m really happy, and happy for the team to have taken both P2 and P1. Let’s see tomorrow if we can keep it like that.”

PODIUM EXPECTATIONS: I’m ready to fight for P2, but it’s important to stay within the top three tomorrow”

After joining WorldSBK in 2022, Lecuona enjoyed a strong rookie season, landing his only pole to date at Catalunya and one of his two podiums prior to Race 1. Across his subsequent four seasons with Honda, he struggled to consistently land strong results; apart from P9 in his 2022 rookie season, his second-best result in the Riders Championship was P12, and his only other podium came in 2024. Now, however, with his new factory Ducati squad, he looks to have a new pep in his step.

On what this podium means to him, Lecuona said: “This podium was very important for my confidence. I tried to just relax and ride the way I know I can ride. Now I have shown my potential, and I was just trying to stay calm. Every time I’m on the bike, I learn, so I’m happy to step by step arrive. Nicolo is still a step ahead, not like in Australia, but 2-3 tenths ahead on each lap, I need to be honest. I’m ready to fight for P2, but it’s important to stay within the top three tomorrow.”

Catch Lecuona in the final two races of the round on Sunday WorldSBK VideoPass!