Iker Lecuona says his Ducati Panigale V4 R now feels "quite different" after bringing elements of his MotoGP setup to the WorldSBK machine. The Spanish rider has contested two MotoGP rounds so far this year with Gresini Racing, replacing Alex Marquez at Balaton Park and Fermin Aldeguer at Silverstone.
Lecuona performed well on both occasions, and he believes the current championship picture—with Nicolo Bulega too far ahead to consider a late title push—has given him the freedom to experiment with his WorldSBK bike. "We tried something new, so I think it was important for us to understand that new base, or those new things that we did on the bike," Lecuona told WorldSBK.com after FP2 at Magny-Cours.
"It's true I pushed my crew chief to do it. I need to be honest, because Nicolo [Bulega] was too far in the championship, Montella was far to me, so I think it's time to find those last tenths compared to Nicolo. If I want to try to find those last tenths, I need to try something different on the bike," he explained.
He added that the setup he tried in MotoGP felt right, prompting him to apply it in WorldSBK. "In MotoGP I tried something different from my standard base—I liked it in MotoGP and I said 'Why can't we try it here?' We tried it, I liked it. There are a few points that were positive, and others that we need to improve or work on. So, let's see. I think it's an okay Friday," Lecuona said.
He stressed that the changes have made the bike quite different compared to Donington. "From the first run in FP1 to the last one, we started to work, make changes, and then adjust, so from morning to the end the bike is just adjusted. But this morning it's a quite different bike compared to Donington," he stated.
FP2 Crash: "I Didn't Expect It"
On track, things were complicated by a crash in FP2 for Lecuona. It happened at Turn 10 on his first flying lap, and came as something of a surprise. "I crashed in Turn 10 before changing direction, just with a new tyre," Lecuona explained. "Honestly, we changed the bike and [I was] a bit too fast, and when I tried to pick up the bike on the first throttle touch, I lost the front when I unloaded a little bit the front."
"Sometimes it's a typical crash, but I didn't expect it because I was quite relaxed, but a bit too fast. In any case, the team did a really good job, repaired the bike quickly, and we had enough time to still work," he concluded.
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