Lecuona on Bulega's MotoGP promotion: "I'd rather he stayed!"

After Race 1 at the Superbike meeting in Misano, Iker Lecuona was frustrated that he was only second again and had lost out to his superior Aruba Ducati team-mate Nicolo Bulega. He finally had to make a move to be on a par with the Italian. In the Superpole race on Sunday morning, he only managed second place again.

In the second main race on Sunday afternoon, Lecuona once again had his sights set high. The Spaniard entered the first corner in the lead ahead of Bulega and Bassani. Bulega regained the lead on lap 1. After that, things took their course. Lecuona made several small mistakes and after seven of 21 laps he was 3.2 seconds behind his team-mate. Bulega's lead then grew lap by lap. The local hero won, with Lecuona crossing the finish line more than five seconds behind him. When he got off his Panigale in the parc fermé, he just shook his head.

Willkommen zum Rennwochenende in Misano, Nicolò Bulega

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Paddock

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Kawasaki Motorhome

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Álvaro Bautista

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Axel Bassani

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Iker Lecuona & Nicolò Bulega

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Das Bike von Sam Lowes

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Iker Lecuona

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Lorenzo Baldassarri

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Álvaro Bautista

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Andrea Locatelli

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Nicolò Bulega

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Michael van der Mark

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Yari Montella

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Sam Lowes

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Somkiat Chantra

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Ryan Vickers

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Michael van der Mark

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Garrett Gerloff

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Alex Lowes

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Iker Lecuona

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Xavi Vierge

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Garrett Gerloff

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Alex Lowes

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Nicolò Bulega

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Yari Montella

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Iker Lecuona

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Nicolò Bulega

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Superpole - Iker Lecuona, Nicolò Bulega & Alex Lowes

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Rennen - Iker Lecuona, Nicolò Bulega & Yari Montella

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Sieger Nicolò Bulega

Foto: Gold & Goose

Willkommen zum Rennwochenende in Misano, Nicolò Bulega

© Gold & Goose

"I am frustrated. When I'm riding well, I'm close to Nicolo. When I have problems, like this weekend, second place is the maximum. At least I'm faster than the rest," said Lecuona. "I don't want to say that I'm not happy with second place, because in the end the result was very positive for the team. We finished first and second again all weekend. I'm second in the championship and scored a lot of points again - more than Yari (Montella)."

Despite three second places in Misano, Lecuona's disappointment prevailed. "I'm very annoyed with myself. We made a lot of changes to my bike this morning. It was good in the sprint race, I think. Our lap times were good, in the end I only lost 1.1 seconds to Nicolo. But this afternoon I often went wide in turns 11 and 13 on the first ten laps. I pushed a lot at the beginning, but then I made these mistakes - especially in turn 13 I took a big diversions," said the 26-year-old. "Then it was like yesterday - I just managed my lead over the guys behind me, I wasn't thinking about Nicolo any more. He did a very good job and was very fast. On top of that, this is one of his favourite tracks. I'm just disappointed with myself because I'm not at the level I expect from myself. It wasn't like Aragon - there I was happy because we were fighting and I was very close. But here I was far away from my team-mate - that's why I'm frustrated. It's now time to keep working, get some rest and prepare well for Donington."

Lecuona finished second 18 times in a row in 2026 - that's never happened before in the Superbike World Championship. This is an incredible streak. There is simply one rider who is doing better at the moment. Bulega has achieved 25 wins in a row. How does he generally deal with this situation? "I'm aware that Nicolo helped develop this bike. It's his fifth year with Ducati, his third with the Superbike. He simply knows some things better, so I still have to learn," mused Lecuona. "But I have improved my riding this weekend. But he can still go one better. I have to be satisfied, I'm second in the championship. The third-placed rider is way behind me."

Is Lecuona happy that Bulega will switch to MotoGP next year? "No," he waved it off. "I already said it a few races ago - if he switches to MotoGP, then I'm very happy for him. He deserves it! He wins all the races and is very fast. On the other hand, I would prefer him to stay here - because of me. Because if he stayed, I could push myself forward more and learn more."