The MOTUL FIM Superbike World Championship is well and truly back, and the roadshow has come and gone from Misano World Circuit “Marco Simoncelli”. Round 4 truly was one to remember, with Toprak Razgatlioglu (ROKiT BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team) single-handedly laying siege to Ducati’s title ambitions. However, one man who enjoyed his best weekend of the year was Spain’s Iker Lecuona (Team HRC). The Honda rider has found some difficulty in building momentum, but the Spainard enjoyed a much more solid weekend on the Adriatic Coast.

“PACE WAS VERY STRONG AND CONSTANT” – Lecuona happy with forward progress

Speaking about his weekend form, Lecuona was brimming with positivity, especially given that he did not finish outside the top ten all weekend. In particular, his P7 finish in the Tissot Superpole Race is, by some margin, the best finish that Honda have enjoyed all season. Discussing this progress, Lecuona said: “I’m honestly really happy with the steps we’ve made. On Saturday we struggled a little bit with the qualifying, but in the race, we finished P10. The pace was very strong and very constant. During the race, I started to struggle with the front, and I saved several crashes at turn 2 and turn 4.”

“WE’LL SEE IF WE CAN TAKE ANOTHER STEP”: Honda rider discusses data

One thing that Iker Lecuona has been short of this season is testing data. The Spaniard, who has suffered with repeated injury setbacks, has been very limited in his ability and capacity to perform testing onboard his CBR1000RR-R. Discussing this, Lecuona said: “We haven’t had the time to work. We feel really good, and we are ready to jump on the bike during the race weekend to continue to learn and improve. Now we have two more days of testing at Cremona, and we’ll see if we can take another step to stay in the top ten.” When asked about the possibility of new parts for testing at Cremona, Lecuona was less than certain, saying that: “I don’t know if Japan is bringing something new…for now, we know the way we have to develop.”

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