Lecuona and Vierge battle at the front in Race 1 and aim for more on Sunday
MotorLand AragónTeam HRC can be pleased with its WorldSBK results, with riders Lecuona and Vierge crossing the line sixth and eighth in race 1 after fighting in the front group and eager for more tomorrow.
Team HRC can be pleased with its WorldSBK results, with riders Lecuona and Vierge crossing the line sixth and eighth in race 1 after fighting in the front group and eager for more tomorrow.
Factory riders Iker Lecuona and Xavi Vierge began the day with the third and final practice, a session they used to make final setup adjustments in preparation for the subsequent Superpole. Following a brief interruption after a technical failure for another rider left dirt on the track, Lecuona was able to take a few more tenths off his previous best, setting a 1’48.922, while Vierge was very close behind him with a 1’49.174.
Back out for Superpole in dry, sunny conditions at 11am CET, Lecuona and Vierge immediately took almost another half a second off their respective FP3 times. Despite using every second of this brief qualifying phase, neither rider was able to improve on that initial time after switching tyres. This meant that Lecuona closed with a 1’48.408, with which he qualified P9 for Race 1, just 0.2 of a second from P3. Vierge’s best, a 1’48.747, was enough to assure the Spaniard of a spot on the fourth row of the grid, directly behind his team-mate, in twelfth.
The first of the weekend’s Superbike races ran in warm conditions at 2pm. Knowing that they could count on good race pace, Iker and Xavier positioned themselves just behind the front group, but the race was interrupted immediately on lap one after an incident for another rider meant that a section of the track required cleaning. A short time later, when the lights went out on the restarted (17-lap) race, Vierge moved straight up into ninth while Lecuona got caught up in traffic through turn one but quickly reacted to position tenth by the end of lap one. Lapping at the same pace as the leaders, the duo made up one position on lap three and then stuck with the front group, waiting for the opportunity to gain further ground.
Iker overtook his teammate on lap 7, Van der Mark on lap 8 and began to chase down Lowes, followed closely by Xavi, with both riders able to pass Lowes on lap 12. Setting their fastest times over the course of the final laps, Lecuona secured sixth place today, crossing the line less than 5 seconds behind the race winner, while Vierge, who was overtaken by Lowes, finished just 1.7 seconds behind his teammate in eighth position.
The riders will be back at Motorland tomorrow for the Superpole sprint race and the final 18-lap Superbike race.
Overall, I’m happy. We knew that we were very strong through certain sections of the track, like sector 1 and sector 3, but struggled in sector 4, for example, along the back straight. Qualifying was not so bad, P9 in a classification so close that every tenth can make a big difference in terms of positions. The start of the race wasn’t bad either, but I was caught in a 'sandwich' between the two BMW riders and had to close the throttle just a fraction to avoid crashing on the straight, and in doing so, I lost ground. Anyway, I was able to overtake a couple of riders before the end of the first lap and then I stayed calm because I knew we had the pace to fight in the front group. I passed first Xavi and then Van Der Mark. We were still within a couple of seconds of the top group at that point, but then Michael passed me again. By the time I was finally able to get back in front of him, we had lost contact with the podium contenders. I managed to catch Lowes but couldn’t reach Petrucci. Having said that, the good news is that my race pace was strong until the end, still in the ’49 bracket. The bike worked well, and I’m happy with the performance and the feeling, because I could overtake in different places like turn 5, 7, and 12. This gives me extra motivation for tomorrow.
Overall, I’m happy. We knew that we were very strong through certain sections of the track, like sector 1 and sector 3, but struggled in sector 4, for example, along the back straight. Qualifying was not so bad, P9 in a classification so close that every tenth can make a big difference in terms of positions. The start of the race wasn’t bad either, but I was caught in a 'sandwich' between the two BMW riders and had to close the throttle just a fraction to avoid crashing on the straight, and in doing so, I lost ground. Anyway, I was able to overtake a couple of riders before the end of the first lap and then I stayed calm because I knew we had the pace to fight in the front group. I passed first Xavi and then Van Der Mark. We were still within a couple of seconds of the top group at that point, but then Michael passed me again. By the time I was finally able to get back in front of him, we had lost contact with the podium contenders. I managed to catch Lowes but couldn’t reach Petrucci. Having said that, the good news is that my race pace was strong until the end, still in the ’49 bracket. The bike worked well, and I’m happy with the performance and the feeling, because I could overtake in different places like turn 5, 7, and 12. This gives me extra motivation for tomorrow.
Another solid race, at a different track. Seeing how things went yesterday, we expected a little bit more, but today it wasn’t easy. In qualifying, we tried a strategy that didn’t work perfectly, and we had to start from the fourth row. But we made a good enough start and battled as part of the front group for the entire race. It was a pity I lost the battle with Lowes, but for the first race of the weekend, another top 8 finish is not too bad, and the most important thing is that the gap to the top was really small. So, I’m very happy about that and hungry for more. We’ll check the data to see if we can refine some details and show even stronger pace tomorrow.
Another solid race, at a different track. Seeing how things went yesterday, we expected a little bit more, but today it wasn’t easy. In qualifying, we tried a strategy that didn’t work perfectly, and we had to start from the fourth row. But we made a good enough start and battled as part of the front group for the entire race. It was a pity I lost the battle with Lowes, but for the first race of the weekend, another top 8 finish is not too bad, and the most important thing is that the gap to the top was really small. So, I’m very happy about that and hungry for more. We’ll check the data to see if we can refine some details and show even stronger pace tomorrow.
