Ducati factory rider Iker Lecuona’s MotoGP outing: two crashes, zero points

After Iker Lecuona had done a flawless job standing in for Álex Márquez at the Balaton Circuit, the Spaniard stepped in again for the Gresini team at last weekend’s Silverstone Grand Prix – this time, the Aruba.it Ducati rider took over the Desmosedici from Fermin Aldeguer.

Lecuona initially picked up seamlessly where he’d left off in Hungary at the British circuit, even though his last visit to Silverstone had been five years ago. The 26-year-old qualified for Q2 via Q1 and received a warm round of applause for securing tenth on the grid.

“It went better than I’d expected. We only made a few minor changes to Fermin’s bike, and I felt comfortable straight away,” said Lecuona. “It took me a bit of time to get back into the rhythm of the track. On a track like this, a mistake in one corner can easily affect the next two, three or even four corners. We had a great Q1, a decent Q2, and to be honest, we could have been in the running for points.”

Only ‘could have’, because Lecuona’s luck ran out after qualifying. In the sprint race on Saturday afternoon, the current runner-up in the 2026 Superbike World Championship was knocked off his bike by Franco Morbidelli on lap 1.

Interestingly, the Italian and Lecuona could be team-mates in the 2027 Superbike World Championship!

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“It was a real shame that my race came to an end so early because of another rider,” said the Ducati rider, clearly annoyed. “There are no grey areas when it comes to describing my race… Fortunately, we’re both uninjured and will try again tomorrow. We worked well together, and I feel sorry for the team about the result of this sprint.”

On Sunday, Lecuona crashed again on lap 6 – this time through his own fault. “It’s a real shame to leave the weekend without any points,” lamented the Donington Superbike winner. “On Saturday, things went the way they did, and on Sunday we just had no luck. I went a bit too wide going into Turn 13, and as soon as I hit the gravel, I lost control of the front wheel. It was a minor crash, but after such a positive Friday and Saturday, it’s still disappointing.”