Lecuona: defeats to Bulega sting—overhauling the Ducati wasn’t enough at Misano

The Spaniard left Misano deeply frustrated at not being able to fight with his teammate: he’ll need to push harder in the coming rounds to finally take a win in SBK.

Finishing second behind Nicolò Bulega is by no means disgraceful, but for Iker Lecuona the three defeats suffered at Misano Adriatico were very tough to swallow. After closing the gap in recent Superbike rounds, he thought the time had finally come to push him to the limit on the final lap and beat him.

Doing well in MotoGP as Alex Marquez’s replacement had given him an extra boost heading into the Emilia-Romagna weekend, but then came some clear-cut KOs. In Race 1 he finished 6.1s down and in Race 2 by 5.1s. In the 10-lap Superpole Race the gap was contained to 1.1s, but the former Honda rider never really put Bulegas’s victory in doubt.

The former Honda HRC WorldSBK rider explained that despite the changes made to his Panigale V4 R on Sunday, there was no way to battle with Bulega: "In the morning we took a risk by changing the bike a lot, more than we ever had. In the Superpole Race I felt comfortable and finished 1.1s behind Nicolò, not bad. We saw a bit of light at the end of the tunnel, then we changed the bike again for Race 2. Overall it was better, but in the fast sector I ran onto the green seven or eight times at the Curvone and had to slow down to avoid a penalty. At a certain point I decided to just manage the gap to the riders behind."

He had already said he was frustrated after Race 1, and Lecuona reiterated it at the end of a Superbike weekend at Misano in which he had very different expectations: "On the one hand, I’m happy to be second in the championship, with the team’s results, and with the fact there were three Ducatis in front. But I’m frustrated: not for finishing second, but for my performance. I didn’t find the two tenths that Nicolò had in his pocket. At Aragon I was happy; at Misano I wasn’t, because I was really far off."

He thought he was ready to challenge Bulega, but instead the Spaniard found himself with a gap he didn’t expect, which gives him pause for thought: "I’m unhappy about being far from him. It’s true that I slowed and managed the margin over the chasers, but I still would have finished 3–4 seconds behind. I’m frustrated about that. It’s not hard to finish second; it’s hard to finish far from your teammate".

Lecuona was very candid in expressing his state of mind. Naturally, he hopes to do better at the next round at Donington Park (July 10–12), on a track that was one of the worst for him when he rode for Honda. Now that he’s in the Aruba Ducati team and on a Panigale V4 R, a lot has changed, so it’s not a given that he’ll struggle.

In any case, after eighteen consecutive second places behind Bulega, it’s normal that he feels some dissatisfaction at not yet having taken his first win in the Superbike World Championship. And given how the races are going so far, you can’t even rule out Nicolò winning them all. That would be sensational.

Iker will have to do his best to raise the bar and finally manage to beat his teammate, who is then destined for MotoGP in 2027. Speaking of that move, the Spaniard said he would actually prefer to keep him as a rival: "If he goes to MotoGP, I’ll be very happy for him, because he deserves it. On the other hand, I’d prefer he stayed here, for my own good. Because if he stayed, I could push myself further and learn more".

Bulega would be a spur to improve even further, but 99% likely Lecuona will find a new teammate in the Aruba Ducati garage. In recent days there’s been a lot of talk about the possibility of Franco Morbidelli joining, as he won’t continue racing in MotoGP with the Pertamina Enduro VR46 team, where Nicolò will be heading.

Continuing to have an Italian rider in the squad is important for Aruba Ducati, but even more important is having someone fast and motivated, regardless of nationality. There have been talks with Morbidelli, but several profiles are being considered. Lecuona himself has not yet signed the renewal of his contract expiring at the end of 2026; it should be just a “formality,” given that his results have been very positive so far.