A difficult day for Lecuona and Vierge in Catalunya
Circuit de Barcelona-CatalunyaTeam HRC and factory riders Iker Lecuona and Xavi Vierge have concluded round 2 of the 2024 Superbike World Championship at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya with the sensation that the final results fell short of expectations.
Team HRC and factory riders Iker Lecuona and Xavi Vierge have concluded round 2 of the 2024 Superbike World Championship at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya with the sensation that the final results fell short of expectations.
Although the track was damp for morning warm-up, meaning that most riders elected not to ride, conditions had fortunately improved by 11am (CET) when the lights went out on the morning’s ten-lap Superpole race. Lecuona was lying sixteenth through the opening stages having started the race from the sixth row of the grid, while Vierge found himself in twentieth position. Putting in some strong initial laps, Xavi soon made up three positions and moved ahead of his team-mate, who lost a little ground throughout the second half of this short sprint race, the Spaniard having also opted for a different tyre with respect to his fellow Honda riders. While Vierge gained further ground in the last laps to conclude the Superpole race in fifteenth, team-mate Lecuona crossed the line twenty-first.
Back out early afternoon for the second and final Superbike race, the factory duo was keen to improve on their race 1 performance. Xavi placed fourteenth and Iker fifteenth through the first turns. Unfortunately lap three brought an incident for Lecuona, when Ray made contact and caused them both to crash. Iker was fortunately unhurt, but unable to continue with his race. Xavi moved into thirteenth on lap three and from there battled with a group of riders, oscillating between thirteenth and fifteenth position throughout the central phase but unable to make any real inroads on the group ahead considering the very similar lap times. Vierge finished this final race of the weekend in the points, in fourteenth position.
As round two draws to a close, Vierge lies fifteenth in the championship standings with 13 points, Lecuona eighteenth with 3 points. Next up for Team HRC is the Dutch WorldSBK round at Assen, set to run over the weekend of 19-21 April.
I’m really disappointed with our weekend. This should have been one of our 'good' tracks, so to speak, but we’ve struggled incredibly. We need to analyze everything very carefully because we absolutely have to find a way to solve our biggest problem. As soon as we open the throttle, the bike suffers a lot of spin, and no matter how we try to manage the gas, whether we open it a little or a lot, the effect is the same. This means that, not only do we lose ground, but we also destroy the tyres because we aren't using them properly. The feeling on the bike during braking, going into the corners, and even when we start cornering without throttle, is really good, especially compared to others, I think. But as soon as we open the throttle, we're finished. It’s crystal clear, and similar to last year, but even worse. So we must understand the way forward to try and overcome this as soon as possible, otherwise, we cannot fight.
Our race ended too soon. Ray hit me through turn one and we both ended up in the gravel. He apologized after the race, no problem, it was nothing more than a racing incident. I wasn't expecting the collision, of course, and I crashed quite hard on the right side, so I feel sore, but I'm fine, nothing broken. It's frustrating, very frustrating because we worked well today, trying to adjust the electronics and even using the SCX in the Superpole race to prepare for race 2. The bike was at an 'okay' level and I think we had the pace to fight for the top ten, so it's a real pity we couldn't try and demonstrate that. Not the best way to end a tough weekend but it is what it is. Thanks to the team and everyone at HRC because they continue to believe and work very hard. Now it's time to go back home, recover, rethink the weekend with a clear mind, and then focus on the next one.
