A first podium of the season for Lecuona in WorldSBK race 1 at Estoril

Team HRC celebrates its maiden podium of the 2024 WorldSBK season after Iker Lecuona crosses the line third in Race 1 at the Estoril Circuit in Portugal; Vierge a solid P8.

Saturday’s action got underway with a third and final free practice that ran on a wet track. While Vierge elected to make a few laps to refine the wet setting of his CBR1000RR-R, Lecuona preferred to avoid any unnecessary risks and remain in the garage.

A couple of hours later the SBK field was back on a still wet track for the Superpole qualifying session. During this brief 15-minute phase, during which the rain held off and the wet asphalt began to gradually dry, Xavi soon put in a rapid 1’54.575 which projected him into the top five. The Spaniard may well have further improved on his time but was prevented from doing so after he crashed at Turn 6 with just four minutes left on the clock. His earlier time, which therefore remained his best, meant that he qualified thirteenth for the afternoon’s first race. Iker worked hard to build confidence in the tricky conditions, slowly lowering his references before completing his fastest lap in the final stages. A best of 1’54.678, very similar to his team-mate’s lap time, saw him place right behind Xavi, in fourteenth place, with the Team HCR duo qualifying on the fifth row of the grid.

The weekend’s first 21-lap Superbike race got underway at 2pm CET in very cloudy but dry conditions. Vierge immediately made up positions off the line, placing eleventh at the end of lap one while Lecuona, who had dropped as far as sixteenth during the opening lap, managed to move back into twelfth position in just a few corners. Demonstrating strong pace, Iker was able to climb to seventh and Xavi to P9 by lap six. While Vierge ran a consistent second half of the race to secure P8 today, Lecuona had a little extra. With the bit firmly between his teeth, Iker passed Lowes and engaged in a battle with Rea, overtaking him for fifth position on the very next lap. A mid-race crash for Bautista promoted Lecuona to fourth, the Spaniard immediately setting to work to close in on third-placed rider, Locatelli. Iker was rapidly closing the gap when the Italian suffered an unfortunate incident on lap fifteen. Having moved into third, Iker was determined to defend this position to the line and maintained a half second advantage over Lowes to secure his first podium of the 2024 season.

Team HRC will return to the track on Sunday for the Superpole Race and Superbike Race 2.