Iker Lecuona avoids Italian WorldSBK ‘favourite’ tag: “Nicolo Bulega is there”

Iker Lecuona was fastest in both practices on Friday at the Italian WorldSBK, but denies he’s the favourite for race wins.

While Lecuona was fastest, his team-mate Nicolo Bulega crashed in both sessions, missing around 30 minutes of FP2 as a result.

Lecuona was comparatively stress-free on day one at Cremona Circuit, by the end of which he was feeling as well as he ever has on the Ducati in WorldSBK.

“Very happy with the job, honestly,” Iker Lecuona told WorldSBK.com after FP2 in Italy.

“The team did a really good job on the bike; also I did a really good job on track. 

“It’s a track that I like, I have had good results here. That gives me extra motivation, honestly, this weekend. 

“But I need to say that this morning I felt well on the bike, but still with some issues, not very consistent and we wanted to try something more, something different, honestly. 

“This bike is a mix between the bikes we tried in the test, and this afternoon in the first run I felt well, but in the second run is the first time I can say that I ride the Ducati like I want, with the margin; easy to be in 1m28s-medium, without being beyond the limit. 

“So, very happy, honestly, because it’s the first time I feel like that with the Ducati.”

But Lecuona refuses the tag of ‘favourite’ ahead of Saturday’s Race 1.

“No,” Lecuona said when asked if he thinks he’s the favourite to win at Cremona.

“I think, like always, Nicolo [Bulega] is there. Okay, today he crashed. It’s strange to see Nicolo crash, but in any case he is the second-fastest. 

“We are probably a similar pace, honestly. Even the rest are not very far compared to other tracks, so let’s see. 

“For sure we have a little bit more compared to third [fastest], I want to say, but Nicolo was there, so I don’t know if I’m the favourite or not. But at least I try.”