Lecuona in MotoGP with Gresini, but Plan A was different: the backstory behind the refusal

The Spaniard climbs onto the Desmosedici after the SBK dominator’s no, who made a wise choice: he’ll get his big chance in the top class in 2027.

Alex Marquez was injured in the Barcelona race, had to miss the Mugello GP and will also miss the one at Balaton Park. If in Italy his place was taken by Ducati test rider Michele Pirro, in Hungary it will instead be Iker Lecuona riding the Desmosedici GP26 of the 2026 MotoGP vice world champion. For the Aruba Ducati Superbike team rider, it’s a return, as he has already raced in the top class of the World Championship both as a full-time rider and as a substitute.

The 26-year-old Spaniard made his MotoGP debut at the 2019 Valencian Community Grand Prix, when he was called in to replace the injured Miguel Oliveira in the KTM Tech3 team. In 2020 he made the definitive step from Moto2 to the premier class with Hervé Poncharal’s squad and the Portuguese rider as his teammate.

The first year wasn’t easy: 27 points scored and 20th in the final standings. Twice 9th (Austrian GP and Teruel GP) as his best finishes and the last three grands prix missed due to Covid-19. In 2021 he had Danilo Petrucci as teammate, he collected 39 points, with three top-10 finishes (6th in Austria the best) and again finished 20th overall. He was not retained and had to move to the Superbike World Championship, signing with the Honda HRC team, for which he raced between 2022 and 2025.

In 2023 he took part in seven MotoGP grands prix as a replacement. He ended up standing in for Marc Marquez and Joan Mir of the factory Repsol Honda team and for Alex Rins of the satellite Honda LCR team. He didn’t score a single point, finishing 16th twice (Jerez and Barcelona). His last appearance in the top class was on November 19, 2023 in the Qatar GP race (retirement), contested with Lucio Cecchinello’s squad. At Balaton Park he will wear the colors of the BK8 Gresini team and have the chance to ride the Ducati Desmosedici, certainly a better bike than the Honda RC213V he had in his hands in 2023.

When Lecuona was announced as Alex Marquez’s replacement at Balaton Park, some wondered why it didn’t fall to Nicolò Bulega to wear the BK8 Gresini team leathers. The answer was given by the Emilian rider himself at the end of the Superbike round in Aragon: “Honestly,” he told WorldSBK’s official channels, “there was the chance to go to Balaton, because unfortunately Alex Marquez is injured. But I decided to stay focused on Superbike, because right now we’re in a good moment and it’s not the time to take risks.”

It certainly would have been interesting to see him on the Ducati Desmosedici GP26, but it’s only natural that he doesn’t want to risk injury and losing an SBK world title that looks destined to end up in his hands. A wise, mature choice.

In 2025 Bulega had agreed to replace Marc Marquez in the final races of the calendar, but the Superbike season had ended and so he took on that challenge, after receiving the green light to test the Ducati MotoGP bike in a private test. Barring any twists, the Emilian rider will race in the top class from 2027, when he is expected to join the Pertamina Enduro VR46 team. There are no signatures yet, but the parties seem close to a full agreement.

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