Iker Lecuona drops “conservative” WorldSBK setup approach in bid to close Bulega gap

Iker Lecuona’s isolation in the WorldSBK standings has encouraged him to drop his “conservative” approach to bike setup, he says.

Lecuona is the only rider who can mathematically beat Nicolo Bulega to the 2026 WorldSBK title, but the Spaniard is 146 points adrift after the three races in France this weekend.

A the same time, he’s over 100 points clear of Yari Montella in third place, meaning he has little to lose by experimenting.

On Saturday he had already made clear that he wants to try changes on the bike to try to close the gap in terms of speed to Bulega, and after Race 2 he revealed that there were changes made for the Superpole Race, and then again for Race 2, although the latter adjustments backfired somewhat.

“I said yesterday it would be very difficult and very hard to beat Nicolo [Bulega], but like I said yesterday our target is to find those tenths,” Iker Lecuona told WorldSBK.com after Race 2 in France.

“Thanks to the team because they worked very hard, honestly. 

“I worked very hard on the bike and they have changed the bike a lot. 

“Normally we try to be more conservative on that area, but I say ‘The championship is done with Nicolo, we manage very well Montella for second place’. I want to change a lot the bike to try to find different ways to close those tenths. 

“This morning was a different bike, in the afternoon we changed a little bit more and in the afternoon [Race 2] I struggled a lot, honestly.

“It’s a tough race for me, from this year; I felt very tired because from lap four I started to struggle with the rear, lap seven or nine I struggled with the front.”

In general it has been a tough weekend for Lecuona, but the experimentation has been valuable for him, especially with a test at Cremona coming up before the race there later in September.

“It was a very difficult weekend, but very positive because we take very important information with three different bikes that is for us the important thing,” he explained.

“If we want to find those tenths, we have to understand what happened. 

“Now it’s time for the engineers to understand what happened in the next week that we have the test in Cremona. It’s time to try something different, means the bases, so different completely. 

“Let’s see, but I need to say that I’m happy because we are working hard, we are not stopping, and for sure we can arrive.”