After moving across to WorldSBK at the end of the 2021 season, Iker Lecuona is back in MotoGP™ this weekend as he gets set to replace the injured Marc Marquez in the Repsol Honda Team ranks at the Gran Premio MotoGP™ Guru by Gryfyn de España.
But for those who might be new to the sport, you might be wondering: who is Iker Lecuona? Well, here’s a little more information about the two-time Grand Prix podium finisher and former MotoGP™ rider.
Born in 2000, Lecuona raced in the FIM CEV Repsol International Championship in Moto2™ - now the Finetwork FIM JuniorGP™ - in 2015 and 2016, with a slew of impressive top five results. His debut in the Moto2™ World Championship came in 2016, a year in which he raced six times, before three full-time seasons came in 2017, 2018 and 2019 in the intermediate class.
A debut podium was achieved at the 2018 Valencia Grand Prix, and another was earned at the 2019 Thai GP – a rostrum he shared with Luca Marini (Mooney VR46 Racing Team) and Brad Binder (Red Bull KTM Factory Racing). Then, a move to Tech3 in MotoGP™ came in 2020. Three top 10s were scored in his impressive debut MotoGP™ campaign, while in 2021, three more top 10 results came his way on a tricky-to-ride KTM RC16.
2022 saw Lecuona move across to WorldSBK as part of Team HRC’s factory line-up. His debut season on a Superbike saw the exciting Spaniard earn one podium and one pole position, and so far in 2023 he sits P13 in the overall standings on 33 points after three rounds in Australia, Indonesia and the Netherlands.