“Quite tricky”: Donington WorldSBK practice a struggle Iker Lecuona

Iker Lecuona finds himself on the back foot at the Donington WorldSBK after Friday practice at the Donington WorldSBK, feeling he “cannot ride smooth”.

Lecuona was third-fastest in FP2 at Donington, behind Nicolo Bulega and Yari Montella, but the Spaniard felt afterwards that he was unable to make true improvements to his bike setup, leaving him uncomfortable on the bike.

“Quite tricky, honestly,” Iker Lecuona said of his first day at Donington.

“I don’t feel comfortable on the bike. We tried to change a little bit, but every time we changed something we improved one side, we  did it worse on the other side. 

“We didn’t find the way to improve the worse side while keeping the other one. 

“Was tricky and difficult because the bike was not precise, honestly, so I struggled a lot all the track because we need to flow and, because the bike is not constant and is not precise, of course the lap time is not constant.

“I struggled because I cannot ride smooth, I need to think when I ride. I think ‘Let’s see what happens in that corner, let’s see what the bike does’, to try to manage the situation. 

“We are far, I want to say, that normally we are less than a tenth or on a tenth – it’s two-tenths-and-a-half compared Nicolo [Bulega]. 

“Just trying to understand what happened and trying to find a way, because today we made very small changed, but almost every run was a little bit different. But we don’t find a way.”

Unaffected by fatherhood

Lecuona was one of a few riders to miss the Ducati Race of Champions last weekend. The others were absent through injury, but for Lecuona it was different, as he became a father.

The UK WorldSBK is therefore the Spaniard’s first race since his wife gave birth, but he says he is no different at the track now compared to in the past.

“I’m a dad, but that changes when I’m at home,” he said.

“When I’m at home, of course I have the baby, my wife. Of course it’s different, maybe the nights will be a bit more tricky to sleep, but even on that side I have luck that the baby for now sleeps almost six hours, so even like that I can rest quite well. 

“On the bike it doesn’t change anything. Even during today, I think about the baby only on the lunch or when I talk with someone.

“But when I start to warm up, when I put the leathers, until the moment I remove the leathers I don’t think [about it] because it’s my work and honestly I’m focused here. 

“Right now, I don’t see it different – here at the track. At home, everything changes!”