Iker Lecuona (Ducati) took a risk: “I didn’t expect the crash”

Apart from losing time on the track, Iker Lecuona was unharmed by the crash at the start of the second free practice session at the Circuit de Nevers Magny-Cours. The Spaniard was not injured and his Ducati was back on track after around 20 minutes. In the end, the Spaniard set the fifth-fastest time. His fastest lap from FP1 in the morning was once again enough for third place in the combined timesheets.

So, everything’s fine? Yes, says the 26-year-old from Valencia. “I didn’t expect the crash; it was strange. I’d just straightened the bike out and opened the throttle on fresh tyres. The front end felt light and the front tyre slipped out from under me,” Lecuona explained the situation to SPEEDWEEK.com. “My team repaired the bike really quickly, though we obviously lost some valuable minutes. But there was still enough time to work on the bike. The crash was just bad luck, so we’ll wait and see.”

Perhaps another reason for the slip-up: Lecuona is no fan of the French circuit. “Not at all – I downright hate it,” the Ducati works rider quipped. “The chicanes are so different from those on other circuits, and I think the tight Turn 5 is far too dangerous. It’s all too disjointed for me here, with the hard braking and heavy acceleration.”

If we never change anything, the gap to Nicolò won’t change.

Iker Lecuona

In any case, Lecuona can approach the final third of the season with confidence. Most recently at Donington Park, he ended his team-mate Nicolò Bulega’s winning streak in the first race, thereby proving his potential. And in the overall standings, the runners-up spot is realistically out of reach for anyone else – he holds a 147-point lead over Ducati privateer Yari Montella.

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“I’m happy with my season,” Lecuona nodded in agreement. “I did crash in the Superpole race at Donington, but for me it felt like more than just that one win. A crash can happen; it’s all part of the game. But Nicolò is a lot of points ahead of me and Yari, in turn, is a lot behind me. That’s why I can try something out. I’m having a bit more trouble here, but over these last four races I’ll probably finish third even in the worst-case scenario. So we’ll be trying out new things with the bike so that my crew chief and I can learn from it. Here we’ve tried something I experimented with at the MotoGP in Silverstone – it works quite well, but overall we have more weaknesses here than usual. But if we never change anything, the gap to Nicolò won’t change either. On some circuits I’m a bit closer to him, on others he’s a bit further ahead of me.”