Lecuona (2nd) frustrated: "It's time to finally make a move!"

After his furious MotoGP performance at the Balaton Park Circuit, where Iker Lecuona raced to 7th place in the Grand Prix on the Ducati Desmosedici, he switched back to his superbike on Friday in Misano. In the first session he still had to get used to his Panigale V4R, but the good feeling quickly returned. In both free practice sessions, Lecuona was second behind team-mate Nicolo Bulega. In FP3 on Saturday morning, Lecuona finished 6th, in Superpole the Spaniard set the second-fastest time - 0.227 seconds behind Bulega.

Lecuona got off to a perfect start from second on the grid in Race 1 on Saturday afternoon. He was able to overtake the world championship leader and take the lead. But after just a few corners, Bulega re-established the usual pecking order.

Iker Lecuona: Schon wieder hinter Nicolo Bulega

Foto: Gold & Goose

Bulega then pulled away from Lecuona lap after lap. By the halfway point, his gap had increased to almost four seconds. Lecuona also had to ride a wide line, which alone cost him a second. At the finish, the gap between the two Aruba Ducati riders was over six seconds. Lecuona had a lead of over seven seconds on Yari Montella (Barni Ducati), who finished third.

"I set times of 1:32.8 minutes for three or four laps, and even then Nicolo was two tenths of a second faster than me. After six laps I let up a bit. That was it," said a disappointed Iker Lecuona after the race. "I realised that there was nothing more I could do. I'm frustrated with myself because I think it's time to take another step. I didn't find that last step to be on a par with him. Of course I have to work on it. We are working with the team to find something with the bike. I also need to improve my riding."

Does Lecuona have any idea where Bulega was faster than him? "He's only slightly faster in two or three corners here. At the moment I don't know what I need to do differently there. I know in which areas it is, but I have no idea what I need to do there," mused the 26-year-old. "But today was also a day when I didn't feel comfortable enough to push the limit on every lap. I therefore preferred to ride conservatively. I just wanted to finish the race, finish second again and score 20 points."

Lecuona also had to watch out for Yari Montella, who was setting a strong pace behind him. "Yari did a very good job today and he was very good in the fast sectors. After six laps, my goal was to maintain the lead over him," said Lecuona.