Amid what’s been a busy summer of racing action, Iker Lecuona (Aruba.it Racing - Ducati) took on a different paddock and made his presence felt at MotoGP’s Hungarian Grand Prix. Lecuona rode in the round, filling in for the injured Alex Marquez, who broke a vertebra and right collarbone at his home Catalan Grand Prix. The Spaniard bore the #27 as he returned to the Balaton Park Circuit after the MOTUL FIM Superbike World Championship round there just over a month ago for the Motul Hungarian Round. He represented World Superbike well, finishing up in P7 in what was his first appearance back in the MotoGP paddock since 2023.
Lecuona was on a positive trajectory all weekend as he hopped back on a MotoGP bike for the first time since his seven-race appearance in the 2023 season with Honda. He finished 17th in the Practice session, just 1.2s off of Pedro Acosta in P1. He finished P6 in Q1, but it wasn’t enough to book a ticket into Q2, finishing in P6, this time just under four and a half tenths behind Luca Marini in P2 and six tenths off from Pecco Bagnaia in P1.
“I wanted to catch Diogo, but I’m really happy with my performance”
Starting the Sprint Race from P16, Lecuona didn’t feel fully up to speed on his bike and couldn't push in earnest, dropping two positions to finish P18. Sunday’s Grand Prix was where Lecuona put it all together and showed his level. He inherited three positions after just the first corner when Jorge Martin came into T1 hot up the inside and took out Lecuona’s teammate Fermin Aldeguer, as well as Marco Bezzecchi, Raul Fernandez and Fabio Di Giannantonio who later rejoined. From there, he found his way past Brad Binder on Lap 3 and his old WorldSBK competitor Toprak Razgatlioglu on Lap 5. Lecuona began to settle into a rhythm from there, and while he struggled with differences in tyre management from WorldSBK, he recorded his fastest lap of the Race on Lap 20 of 26 and even managed a last-lap overtake on Australian rider Jack Miller to send himself to P7 to end the weekend.
On his Grand Prix, Lecuona said: “First of all, I’m really happy with our performance, the team did a really good job all weekend. No mistakes all weekend, I felt more comfortable every time I got on the bike. Luckily, everyone was fine after the crash, and we gained a free three to four positions. The race from there was really good. We were fighting in the group, overtaking. I made many mistakes, but I was able to make it past Jack Miller. I wanted to catch Diogo because I wanted to fight with him, but in any case, I’m really happy with my performance.”
“The lap times were a bit inconsistent in that way, and it cost me in the end”
Lecuona’s performance was nothing short of phenomenal, considering the Spaniard’s lack of momentum in the MotoGP paddock on top of his adverse starting position. While the four-rider crash did help him early on, he showed that his outright speed put him right up with the fastest in the paddock, as at one point he held the third fastest lap, slower than only Marc Marquez and Pedro Acosta. Had he not struggled to manage his tyre temperature while pushing, he felt he would have been able to battle with rookie phenom Diogo Moreira. All in all, both his Aruba.it Racing – Ducati and BK8 Gresini Racing MotoGP teams will be pleasantly surprised with his performance.
On his takeaways from the Grand Prix weekend, Lecuona said: “I arrived with 0 expectations, but my 1’39.2s lap in training was really good. I felt I could have caught the guys ahead of me, but it was difficult because I was stuck in a one-lap cycle. I would go fast, and then the next time I would overheat the tyre and go wide. I would need to relax a bit on the next lap to cool down, then fast again. The lap times were a bit inconsistent, and it cost me in the end. What I’m happy about is that both Nicolo and I have enough level to come into this paddock and go very quickly. Of course, we have Sam Lowes, Yari Montella, who are close too, and our performances show that World Superbike has a good level.”
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