“Not my intention”: Iker Lecuona reacts to Nicolo Bulega French WorldSBK near miss
Iker Lecuona explains he was trying to avoid Nicolo Bulega when he the two nearly collided in the French WorldSBK Superpole Race.
A near miss between Iker Lecuona and Nicolo Bulega in the French WorldSBK Superpole Race was not an intentional overtaking attempt by the Spaniard, he says.
Bulega made the holeshot in the Superpole Race, but Lecuona took the lead at turn five on the first lap.
Two laps later, Bulega reclaimed it at the same turn, but could not shake his team-mate, who was not close enough to pass at turn five, but got in too deep on the brakes to the tight, first-gear hairpin and was faced with a choice, he explained afterwards.
“Honestly, when I overtook the last time to Nicolo [Bulega] it was not my intention, but with the slipstream I braked a bit more deep and I cannot stop the bike,” Iker Lecuona said in his post-race interview with the WorldSBK world feed broadcast.
“If I go for the left side I would hit him, so I decided to remove a little bit the brake and go fully closed just to escape and to not hit him, honestly.”
The battle continued to turn six, where Bulega commanded the inside line and squeezed Lecuona out, the Spaniard cutting turn seven as a result and dropping behind Sam Lowes briefly.
“When we fight, I go wide in turn six because I don’t have the space and I didn’t want to have the penalty [after cutting turn seven], so I needed to roll off until Sam overtook me, and then straight away I overtook him,” he said.
“I know in the sprint it was so hard, very hard to beat Nicolo – he did a really good job. In any case, I’m happy, my pace, my riding was good, I’m improving a lot. I’m still trying.”
For Nicolo Bulega, the turn five close call was simply the end of another enjoyable battle with his team-mate before taking his 25th win of the season.
“It was another good first laps with Iker [Lecuona], like yesterday,” Bulega said in parc ferme after the race.
“He was very strong at the beginning, but then I understood that I can be a bit faster, so I decided to overtake him and then try to make my pace – a good pace, so I’m happy. Thanks to my team for the great work.”
Alex joined the Crash.net team in August of 2024 having covered consumer and racing motorcycle news at Visordown for two years.
