Lecuona-Ducati, quality laps at Jerez: "We’ve found the right direction

Lecuona summed up his final balance from the Superbike test at Jerez: although he didn’t do many laps, he’s happy with the Ducati.

Nicolò Bulega is the big favorite for the 2026 WorldSBK title and he ended the recent Jerez test with the fastest time, while his new teammate Iker Lecuona ranked sixth, 648 thousandths behind. The Spaniard is trying to adapt to the new Ducati Panigale V4 R after four years on the Honda CBR1000RR-R Fireblade SP. The weather in Andalusia wasn’t ideal for someone switching bikes and needing time to get used to the changes. Wednesday was a wet track, Thursday offered only a couple of hours with semi-dry asphalt. Everyone hopes that next week’s test in Portimão will bring better conditions for more productive work. But today’s forecasts don’t inspire optimism.

The Aruba.it Racing Ducati rider was also involved in a crash at Turn 5, the same thing that happened to Bulega, but the incident didn’t spoil his feelings on the Panigale V4 R: "The track wasn’t completely dry, he explains — I came into Turn 5, just touched the wet part a bit and crashed. I couldn’t do anything to avoid the fall, but I’m fine. Then the rain came and we didn’t have any more time to work. Anyway, I’m happy because we did a good job: quality laps, even if we didn’t ride much since we didn’t have the time."

Lecuona felt comfortable both riding and working with the new team, which is trying to understand his needs and put him in the best position: "We found the path to follow by slightly changing the bike: with each run I felt better and faster. That was the goal. We tweaked the electronics a bit because I need to learn. We also adjusted the base setup a little, small things, nothing crazy, but it helped me gain more confidence on the bike. We’ll see how it goes at Portimão".

Despite the less-than-ideal track conditions at Jerez, the Spanish rider was satisfied and hopes to keep improving on the Panigale V4 R: "Overall, riding the bike was positive, it was very smooth and I felt comfortable. Right now I don’t need to push to the limit, the goal is to learn the bike to achieve maximum performance without reaching the limit. At Portimão we’ll try to continue down this path: do a good job, quality laps, and learn more both about the bike and with regard to the team".

Lecuona was positively impressed by the new bike and the new team, but he knows there are many details to sort out to be truly competitive at the start of the championship. The weather is not an ally for him or the other Superbike riders at the moment, and there’s a risk that Portimão will bring a situation similar to Jerez. We’ll see; there are still a few days to go (the test is scheduled for January 28–29) and things can still change.