Vierge and Lecuona round out the 2025 season with one of the strongest Sundays for Honda HRC
Circuito de Jerez - Angel NietoToday’s races at Spain’s Jerez Circuit brought the 2025 WorldSBK season to a positive and emotional close for the Honda HRC team and its riders, Xavi Vierge and Iker Lecuona. A hard-fought and impressive fourth place for Vierge in the Superpole Race not only marked the team’s strongest result of the year, but also crowned a weekend in which his consistent performances saw him climb to seventh in the overall standings — Honda’s best WorldSBK result since 2020. Iker Lecuona gave his all in every session and wrapped up the season with two top ten finishes.
After a final warm-up, the factory team turned its attentions to the Superpole race. Having qualified eighth, Vierge was straight up into fifth with his CBR1000RR-R. Passing Lowes for fourth on lap two, the home rider was lapping faster than Iannone, in third. Hunting down the Italian through the central part of this short sprint, Xavi continued to demonstrate strong pace all the way to the line, just missing out on a podium finish to secure fourth. This impressive performance represents the best race result of the season for Vierge, and for the Honda HRC team as a whole.
Lecuona, fifteenth on the grid, quickly moved up to eleventh. Soon getting into a strong rhythm, Iker progressed to tenth and pushed to close in on Bassani immediately ahead. Passing the Italian on lap seven, and van der Mark on the last lap, Lecuona did well to conclude P8.
Thanks to their strong Superpole race results, Vierge and Lecuona were promoted to second and third row on the grid for Race 2. Vierge made a lightning start to place second through the opening corners. Battling Locatelli and Razgatlioglu in the initial stages, Xavi dropped to fifth but remained hot on the heels of those ahead. Getting back in front of the Italian before being passed again in the final stages, the Honda HRC rider did well to defend fifth, holding this position all the way to the line to secure those crucial 11 points needed to clinch seventh in the championship.
Lecuona slipped back a little off the start line but was quick to react and able to climb back to seventh by lap four. Working hard to maintain a consistently fast pace, the Spaniard’s pace dropped a little in the final stages, which meant that he completed this final race of the year in ninth position.
As the 2025 WorldSBK season draws to a close, so does the Honda factory journey for Vierge and Lecuona. Xavi rounds out the year in seventh position in the championship standings, having collected 185 points along the way. This positioning is the best result for Honda in SBK since 2020. Teammate Iker closes thirteenth, with a tally of 103.
The Honda HRC team once again thanks both Xavi and Iker for their commitment, hard work and positive attitude over the last four years and wishes the two riders the very best for the future.
I think it’s been a very strong weekend to finish this chapter. When we arrived at this final round, we knew that the best way to end the season was to try and finish seventh in the championship. We also knew it would be difficult — but in the end, we achieved it. Of course, finishing seventh isn’t anyone’s main goal, but being realistic and knowing how much we’ve been struggling, to end the season in that position is actually a very good result for us. I felt I was able to show my true speed in every session, and I was in the mix for the podium in every race. It’s true that I struggled a lot with tyre life, especially over the last two or three laps, which meant I couldn’t quite fight for top three, but we were really close today. We also finished a few seconds closer to the front. Anyway, I want to say a big thank you to the team for these four years of hard work. Everyone involved has always given their all — myself included — but especially once we knew that our paths would separate at the end of the season. There are two kinds of people: those who roll off and those who keep pushing even harder. I think we showed that we fall into the second group. We kept at it, we achieved better results, and until the very last lap of the very last race, we gave everything. I’ll keep that with me. It’s been a pleasure to be a Honda HRC factory rider and a pleasure to work with this team. I wish them all the very best for the future.
I think it’s been a very strong weekend to finish this chapter. When we arrived at this final round, we knew that the best way to end the season was to try and finish seventh in the championship. We also knew it would be difficult — but in the end, we achieved it. Of course, finishing seventh isn’t anyone’s main goal, but being realistic and knowing how much we’ve been struggling, to end the season in that position is actually a very good result for us. I felt I was able to show my true speed in every session, and I was in the mix for the podium in every race. It’s true that I struggled a lot with tyre life, especially over the last two or three laps, which meant I couldn’t quite fight for top three, but we were really close today. We also finished a few seconds closer to the front. Anyway, I want to say a big thank you to the team for these four years of hard work. Everyone involved has always given their all — myself included — but especially once we knew that our paths would separate at the end of the season. There are two kinds of people: those who roll off and those who keep pushing even harder. I think we showed that we fall into the second group. We kept at it, we achieved better results, and until the very last lap of the very last race, we gave everything. I’ll keep that with me. It’s been a pleasure to be a Honda HRC factory rider and a pleasure to work with this team. I wish them all the very best for the future.
Considering the situation, I’m really happy with how the year has ended, and with how these four years have come to a close. Today was a good day overall — P8 in the Superpole Race, where we recovered a lot of time compared to the group, and then P9 in Race 2, fighting until the end for that position against some strong riders. At the beginning I felt fast, but halfway through the race my right arm became really tired and I started to risk losing the front. I knew Mackenzie was right behind me, so I said to myself, ‘OK, let him go,’ because if we started to fight, the chasing riders would have caught us quicker. So I let him pass and tried to follow him for five or six laps, but in the last four laps I was really struggling with the front and with both arms. I just couldn’t manage the position anymore. My main target today was to finish a clean weekend without mistakes or crashes — to complete this final race and to be able to make it back to the garage to say “thank you” to everyone. I also wanted to have a bit of fun, do a burnout and say goodbye to the whole team and all the guys. So, a big thank you to Honda HRC for these four years together.
Considering the situation, I’m really happy with how the year has ended, and with how these four years have come to a close. Today was a good day overall — P8 in the Superpole Race, where we recovered a lot of time compared to the group, and then P9 in Race 2, fighting until the end for that position against some strong riders. At the beginning I felt fast, but halfway through the race my right arm became really tired and I started to risk losing the front. I knew Mackenzie was right behind me, so I said to myself, ‘OK, let him go,’ because if we started to fight, the chasing riders would have caught us quicker. So I let him pass and tried to follow him for five or six laps, but in the last four laps I was really struggling with the front and with both arms. I just couldn’t manage the position anymore. My main target today was to finish a clean weekend without mistakes or crashes — to complete this final race and to be able to make it back to the garage to say “thank you” to everyone. I also wanted to have a bit of fun, do a burnout and say goodbye to the whole team and all the guys. So, a big thank you to Honda HRC for these four years together.
