How a “horrible” track became the site of Iker Lecuona’s historic first WorldSBK win

Iker Lecuona’s first WorldSBK win was history-making and history-breaking, and it also turned around completely his fortunes at a circuit he found “horrible” before 2026.

Lecuona joined WorldSBK in 2022 with Honda. That year he had what turned out to be his best results at Donington before Race 1 of the 2026 edition, finishing in the top-10 in all three races, with a best of seventh in the Superpole Race.

Since 2022, Lecuona was unable to return to the top-10 at the UK Round with Honda. After winning aboard Ducati and breaking the 25-race win streak of Nicolo Bulega, the Spaniard admitted to finding the British circuit “horrible” with the CBR1000RR-R.

“But with the other brand [Honda], before, it was horrible that track [Donington], honestly,” Iker Lecuona said after Race 1.

“It was very difficult and that bike works well in other tracks, it’s just that myself that I need to put all of the pieces together. 

“Step-by-step we understand more. Yesterday the bike was not working; this morning we did a big change, but the bike worked directly. 

“So, we started to understand a little bit. Also, my comments to the team, I’m a bit more precise to take the way.”

From Superpole it was clear that Lecuona’s and Bulega’s strengths were different. Bulega excelled in the flowing first half of the track, while Lecuona was better in the stop-start final sector.

This proved a key in the race, because Lecuona was able to put himself out of reach in the heavy braking zones at the end of the lap where overtaking is less risky compared to the faster parts of the track.

“I knew Nicolo was faster in the first part of the track, but I’m faster in the second part of the track,” said Lecuona.

“So, I’m stronger in the points that he can overtake, that is braking, and when he tried always he went wide, so I tried to go inside again. 

“Just I did one mistake that I almost went to the grass on the back straight and he overtook me on the braking, he went a bit wide and I did like a block pass, but I needed to fight.

“Honestly, it was nice to fight with him, also because he did it a little bit with me, but we are [...] always with that margin to say ‘We are team-mates and we don’t want to crash’. 

“Also, one or two laps before the end he went too fast inside and he told me ‘I didn’t want to, but it’s just that I braked too late’. 

“So, honestly, I’m really happy about that fight and also I’m really happy because we did a really good job on the bike. I feel good, I feel comfortable – still I miss something, honestly, but we did a step, we found a victory, and we are happy.”

Lecuona’s win also came after a tough Misano round where he was further away from Bulega than he’d been since the first round at Phillip Island.

Work with his psychologist proved key for Lecuona to “reset” his mentality.

“During the year, I say always that every time I jump on the bike I’m closer and closer,” he said.

“It’s true, Misano I [...] expected more from myself. I said that it’s not that I’m not happy with the second, I’m not happy about my performance – I said many times in Misano. 

“But then with my psychologist I tried to reset my mind and tried to enjoy finishing second.

“So, of course, this morning in the Superpole [when Lecuona was beaten to pole by Bulega by 0.042 seconds] I’m a bit disappointed that I did a mistake, but we are with him [Bulega], less than a tenth, and finally we found a victory.  

“Even if today we are second, I can be happy because we are leading in the race, we fight with him, and in the end he is the reference and we can beat him. 

“So, for me it’s the important thing: we arrive; and let’s see tomorrow if we can stay with that progression.”