Following his first Superbike victory: Iker Lecuona’s second MotoGP start in 2026

MotoGP star Fermin Aldeguer crashed during Friday practice at the TT Circuit Assen at the end of June and sustained a protracted vertebral fracture. The Gresini Ducati rider was also forced to miss the Sachsenring Grand Prix. Although Aldeguer was expected to return at Silverstone in a week’s time, his team announced on Friday morning that the 21-year-old will remain sidelined as a precautionary measure.

Gresini has a top-class solution in place to replace his regular rider following this unfortunate absence. Iker Lecuona will take the wheel of the Ducati Desmosedici with start number 54. The Spaniard had already stepped in for Álex Márquez in Nadia Padovani’s team at the Hungarian Grand Prix at the Balaton Park Circuit, impressing with a 7th-place finish.

The 26-year-old from Valencia heads to Silverstone with his confidence boosted. Also in England – on 11 July at the Superbike meeting at Donington Park – Lecuona secured his first victory in the Superbike World Championship in the first race, thereby ending the winning streak of his team-mate Nicolò Bulega, who is set to move to Valentino Rossi’s VR46 team in MotoGP in 2027.

The Aruba.it works rider’s participation is made possible by the long summer break in the production-based World Championship, which runs until early September at Magny-Cours.