Team HRC riders Lecuona and Vierge again place top ten in all the weekend’s races
MotorLand Aragón
Team HRC banks more important points as the tenth WorldSBK round concludes at Motorland Aragón, with riders Iker Lecuona and Xavi Vierge completing both the day’s races, and now three rounds in a row, inside the top ten.
Team HRC banks more important points as the tenth WorldSBK round concludes at Motorland Aragón, with riders Iker Lecuona and Xavi Vierge completing both the day’s races, and now three rounds in a row, inside the top ten.
Eighth and eleventh on the grid for Sunday’s ten-lap Superpole race, Lecuona and Vierge were eager for more strong results. The race ran in cool, dry conditions (16°C air temp., 22° track temp.), with both riders getting away well when the lights went out. Ninth through lap one, Iker passed Locatelli and soon moved up into seventh. With two riders ahead of him in the same chasing group, Lecuona worked hard to move in on his closest rivals, but with the limited number of laps available, he was unable to improve any further on his position and crossed the line seventh. When the race began, Xavi tucked in behind his team-mate and way lying tenth through the first corners. Passing Rinaldi to progress to ninth on lap three, Vierge held that position for the best part of the race. Able to close in on, and pass, Locatelli on lap eight, the Spaniard battled van der Mark in the final stages, ultimately completing today’s sprint in ninth place.
The second of the weekend’s 18-lap Superbike races began in the early afternoon. Thanks to their Superpole race results, Lecuona and Vierge started this final (dry) race from seventh and ninth position. The Team HRC duo oscillated between eighth and eleventh in the initial stages as they worked to get into a rhythm. Lying ninth on lap five, Iker worked to pass Locatelli over the course of the next few laps. That done, the Spaniard held eighth all the way to the line to score more important championship points. Tenth for a good part of the race and setting almost identical times to those immediately ahead, Vierge meanwhile ran a consistent second half of the race to also secure a top ten finish.
As this tenth round of the 2024 championship concludes, Lecuona positions eleventh in the general standings with a total of 105 points, with Vierge just one point behind (104) in twelfth place. Team HRC will be back on track for round eleven, the penultimate race weekend of the 2024 season, taking place on 11-13 October at the Estoril Circuit in Portugal.