Iker Lecuona “frustrated” as Nicolo Bulega remains unbeatable at Misano WorldSBK

Three more second places for Iker Lecuona were not as the previous 15, the Spaniard suggested, and left the Ducati rider “frustrated” after the Misano WorldSBK.

By now, Lecuona is well used to finishing second to Nicolo Bulega, he's done it for the last 18 races in a row, but at Misano the former MotoGP rider was further behind his team-mate than at any point since round one in Australia.

While he was content to take three more second places, it was the distance to the front that left Lecuona dissatisfied with his weekend at the Emilia-Romagna WorldSBK.

“Of course I need to be happy because everyone wants to be second,” Iker Lecuona told WorldSBK.com after Race 2 with the perspective of a rider who spent four years struggling to finish inside the top-six with Honda.

“But I’m not happy not for the position, I’m not happy because I’m far compared to Nicolo [Bulega]. 

“Of course, I rolled off and I managed the gap [behind], but even like that Nicolo can go like three or four seconds faster during the race. 

“I’m frustrated for that reason. 

“I’m happy when I finished in Aragon, even if I finished second, because I fought from the first lap to the last one for the victory. Right now, I fight to be second during all the race. 

“I’m frustrated just for that reason, honestly. It’s not hard [to take] to finish second, it’s hard to finish far from your team-mate.”

Lecuona had made changes to his bike before the Superpole Race that he felt had improved his performance compared to Saturday, but more changes for Race 2 were less fruitful and he was back to finishing over five seconds behind Bulega.

“A bit better this morning, honestly we take the risk – we changed a lot the bike that we never [did it before],” Lecuona said.

“In the Superpole Race I found something on the bike, I felt good, comfortable, just 1.1 seconds [behind] Nicolo that is not really bad, honestly. 

“So, maybe we see a little bit the light out of the tunnel, but the reality is that we changed the bike again for [Race 2]. It was good overall, but in the fast sector, sector three, Curvone [turn 11], I go on the green maybe seven or eight times, so I needed to roll off just to not make a penalty.”

Lecuona then made a mistake at turn 13, identical to what he did in Race 1, and from that point he settled for second, managing the gap behind him.

“In the moment that I go wide in turn 13, very wide, I did like yesterday, just holding the rear guys and managed the gap with Yari [Montella],” he said.

“Again, I need to be happy for one side because we are second in the championship, we take those four points extra to Yari, now it’s more than two complete weekends, the distance to him. 

“So, I’m happy for that reason, I’m happy for the team, for Ducati, we are three Ducatis in the top-three, 1-2 for the team again during all the weekend. 

“But I’m very frustrated just because– not for the second place, just for my performance that I don’t arrive, I don’t find that two-tenths that Nicolo has it in the pocket. I’m frustrated. 

“In Aragon, I finished second but very happy; here not [happy] because I’m very far. 

“This is the real situation right now, I’m struggling during all the weekend. Just time to learn, to rest, to work, and let’s see in the next race.”