Team HRC in the points in Race 2 at Donington
Donington Park CircuitTeam HRC riders Xavi Vierge and Iker Lecuona wrapped up an intense WorldSBK race weekend at Donington Park with points in Race 2.
Team HRC riders Xavi Vierge and Iker Lecuona wrapped up an intense WorldSBK race weekend at Donington Park with points in Race 2.
Vierge and Lecuona first made good use of the ten-minute morning warm-up, carrying out some final technical checks. That done, the team turned its attention to the Superpole race, which ran at 11am local time in dry albeit very cloudy conditions. Vierge was lying thirteenth but lost two places mid-race. Although times remained in line with those of his closest rivals, Xavi was unable to make up the ground, crossing the line fifteenth. Team-mate Lecuona, who had made a different tyre choice, was running sixteenth in the early stages of this ten-lap sprint but later dropped back to seventeenth, which is where he finished the race, closing two seconds behind Vierge.
At 2pm the lights went out on the weekend’s final Superbike race. The weather also remained dry for this 23-lapper, with Vierge making a good start to place eleventh through the first laps. Losing a little ground as the race went on, the Spaniard slipped to fourteenth, while team-mate Iker was pushing hard to reach the points zone from sixteenth. By mid-race, a small gap had opened up ahead of Xavi, while Iker had progressed to within a tenth of a second of his team-mate. Able to sneak past Vierge on lap 21, Lecuona ultimately crossed the line in fourteenth position, just three tenths ahead of his team-mate, fifteenth.
After the first five rounds of the 2024 WorldSBK championship, Vierge places sixteenth in the general classification (26 points), with Lecuona lying nineteenth (24 points). Team HRC will travel immediately on to Autodrom Most in the Czech Republic where round six is taking place on 19-21 July.
Quite a tough weekend, honestly. It was hard for me to manage both the situation and the frustration; overall, it was not easy for me or the team. We tried to find a way to turn the situation around and make progress and after making a final change to the bike’s setup in this morning’s warm-up, I had slightly better feeling. With nothing to lose, we tried the X tyre despite the cold and tricky conditions, and in the end, it was a mistake, but it was worth trying. In Race 2, I was able to stay close to the middle group at the start and lap at a similar pace to the riders ahead. Mid-race, I started to struggle a bit with the front brakes, and Gerloff overtook me. Two laps from the end, I managed to overtake Xavi in a safe area and collect a couple more points. The positive is that the experience we gained from the work done over these three days will be put to good use in Most next week.
Quite a tough weekend, honestly. It was hard for me to manage both the situation and the frustration; overall, it was not easy for me or the team. We tried to find a way to turn the situation around and make progress and after making a final change to the bike’s setup in this morning’s warm-up, I had slightly better feeling. With nothing to lose, we tried the X tyre despite the cold and tricky conditions, and in the end, it was a mistake, but it was worth trying. In Race 2, I was able to stay close to the middle group at the start and lap at a similar pace to the riders ahead. Mid-race, I started to struggle a bit with the front brakes, and Gerloff overtook me. Two laps from the end, I managed to overtake Xavi in a safe area and collect a couple more points. The positive is that the experience we gained from the work done over these three days will be put to good use in Most next week.
Another tough weekend from which we have to try and take the positives, in that we never gave up, kept our focus, and continued to work hard to find the best setup possible for our bike at this time. We achieved that, and our pace during the race today was not so bad. Of course, it’s not enough to be able to battle with the others yet, but at least there was some progression. We will continue to analyze the data and provide as much information as possible to the engineers to make real progress as soon as possible.
Another tough weekend from which we have to try and take the positives, in that we never gave up, kept our focus, and continued to work hard to find the best setup possible for our bike at this time. We achieved that, and our pace during the race today was not so bad. Of course, it’s not enough to be able to battle with the others yet, but at least there was some progression. We will continue to analyze the data and provide as much information as possible to the engineers to make real progress as soon as possible.
