A solid start for Vierge and Lecuona in tricky conditions at Most
Honda HRC riders Vierge and Lecuona make a solid start to the Czech WorldSBK weekend at Autodrom Most, placing tenth and eleventh at the end of day 1, just seven tenths from the front.
Round five of the 2025 Superbike World Championship got underway on Friday morning with the first free practice session which proved very challenging for all the riders and was red-flagged no less than four times. On a damp track, Honda HRC rider Xavi Vierge headed straight out, while teammate Iker Lecuona was still in the garage when the session was red-flagged for the first time due to the track conditions following a crash for Rea. Three more red flags followed, the tricky conditions resulting in a series of incidents during this opening session. Back out for the remaining minutes, Vierge and Lecuona were able to gradually lower their lap times on a track that had essentially dried. Lecuona soon moved up the timesheets, ultimately placing seventh after setting a fastest time of 1’32.635. Placing top five during the early stages, Vierge’s best was a 1’33.024, with which he placed eleventh.
The two Spaniards returned to the track mid-afternoon for FP2, which again began on a damp track. Vierge opted to exit immediately, part of a small group of riders who ventured out in the tricky conditions, while Lecuona chose to wait a few minutes, aware that the asphalt would soon begin to dry. Once on track, Iker completed a total of 16 laps and made a good step later on in the session, putting in a rapid 1’32.065. Teammate Xavi went a fraction better, completing 19 laps and improving on his FP1 time by one full second to set a reference of 1’32.014.
This meant that Vierge placed tenth and Lecuona eleventh in the day’s combined standings, with the factory duo part of the front group of riders separated by just seven tenths of a second, while the rest of the pack finished more than one second from the top. The Honda HRC team will return to the track tomorrow for a final free practice, Superpole and the first of the weekend’s races.
Xavi Vierge 97
“It’s been a positive first day, though definitely not an easy one. We experienced unexpected weather conditions and started this morning on a track full of damp patches. That said, the feeling on the bike was good right from the start, although the session was disrupted by a series of red flags that affected our plans. Especially in the final minutes, when I was improving my lap times, the yellow flags and red flags meant that laps were cancelled, and the action interrupted. But we knew we had good pace. Between sessions, we made a small change to the bike setup. In FP2, I immediately felt comfortable again and was able to maintain better pace than in FP1. We focused on the tyres, aiming to complete the entire session on the same set, and were satisfied with our pace. Tomorrow, we’ll try to improve especially in the third sector, to see if we are able to further close the gap to the front.”
Iker Lecuona 7
“A first day in quite tricky conditions, rain, dry, mixed… really unpredictable. That said, today I had the worst feeling on the bike in quite some time. I know the gap to the top isn’t huge in terms of lap time, but the feeling just wasn’t there. So now we need to carefully go through the data with the team to find a solution for tomorrow. At the moment, after just three or four laps I feel really tired because I have to ‘fight’ the bike. We need to find a way to improve the bike’s handling so I can ride more comfortably. As for the weather, there’s nothing we can do — so let’s see what tomorrow brings.”
Free Practices Combined Results
| Pos. | Rider | Num | Nation | Team | Constructor | Time/Gap |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Razgatlioglu Toprak | 1 | TUR | ROKiT BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team | BMW | 1'31.318 |
| 2 | Lowes Sam | 14 | GBR | ELF Marc VDS Racing Team | Ducati | 1'31.542 / 0.224 |
| 3 | Lowes Alex | 22 | GBR | bimota by Kawasaki Racing team | Bimota | 1'31.607 / 0.289 |
| 4 | Bulega Nicolò | 11 | ITA | ARUBA Racing - Ducati | Ducati | 1'31.693 / 0.375 |
| 5 | Bautista Alvaro | 19 | SPA | ARUBA Racing - Ducati | Ducati | 1'31.721 / 0.403 |
| 6 | Petrucci Danilo | 9 | ITA | BARNI Spark Racing Team | Ducati | 1'31.727 / 0.409 |
| 7 | Bassani Axel | 47 | ITA | bimota by Kawasaki Racing team | Bimota | 1'31.738 / 0.420 |
| 8 | van der Mark Michael | 60 | NDL | ROKiT BMW Motorrad WorldSBK Team | BMW | 1'31.899 / 0.581 |
| 9 | Locatelli Andrea | 55 | ITA | Pata Maxus Yamaha | Yamaha | 1'31.928 / 0.610 |
| 10 | Vierge Xavi | 97 | SPA | Honda HRC | Honda | 1'32.014 / 0.696 |
| 11 | Lecuona Iker | 7 | SPA | Honda HRC | Honda | 1'32.065 / 0.747 |
| 12 | Vickers Ryan James | 17 | GBR | Motocorsa Racing | Ducati | 1'32.441 / 1.123 |
| 13 | Rea Jonathan | 65 | GBR | Pata Maxus Yamaha | Yamaha | 1'32.457 / 1.139 |
| 14 | Sofuoglu Bahattin | 99 | TUR | Yamaha MotoxRacing WorldSBK Team | Yamaha | 1'32.463 / 1.145 |
| 15 | Gardner Remy | 87 | AUS | GYTR GRT Yamaha WorldSBK Team | Yamaha | 1'32.491 / 1.173 |
| 16 | Gerloff Garrett | 31 | USA | Kawasaki WorldSBK Team | Kawasaki | 1'32.530 / 1.212 |
| 17 | Montella Yari | 5 | ITA | BARNI Spark Racing Team | Ducati | 1'32.595 / 1.277 |
| 18 | Redding Scott | 45 | GBR | Bonovo MGM Racing | Ducati | 1'32.755 / 1.437 |
| 19 | Aegerter Dominique | 77 | SWI | GYTR GRT Yamaha WorldSBK Team | Yamaha | 1'32.810 / 1.492 |
| 20 | Mackenzie Tarran | 95 | GBR | PETRONAS MIE Racing HONDA Team | Honda | 1'33.190 / 1.872 |
| 21 | Rabat Tito | 53 | SPA | Yamaha MotoxRacing WorldSBK Team | Yamaha | 1'33.816 / 2.498 |
| 22 | Zaidi Zaqhwan | 21 | MAL | PETRONAS MIE Racing HONDA Team | Honda | 1'36.193 / 4.875 |
| 23 | Iannone Andrea | 29 | ITA | Team Pata Go Eleven | Ducati | 1'39.699 / - |
Location Information
Autodrom Most, Czech Republic Autodrom Most is a new track in WorldSBK calendar for 2021. Thanks to its attractive event line-up, it is popular destination for many motor enthusiasts and their families from whole Europe. The track was completed in 1983 as a part of restoration of coal mine lands… read more.
| Pole Position | Left |
| Lenght | 4.212 Km |
| Corners | 21 |
| Right | 14 |
| Left | 7 |
Records
| Pole Record | 1'30.064 (168,360 Km/h) Km/h T.Razgatlioglu, (BMW M 1000 RR, 2024) |
| Race Record | 1'31.180 166,300 Km/h T.Razgatlioglu, SPR (Yamaha YZF-R1, 2022) |
| All Time Record | 1'30.064 (168,360 Km/h) Km/h T.Razgatlioglu, (BMW M 1000 RR, 2024) |
| 2024 Race 1 Winner | T.Razgatlioglu, (BMW M 1000 R) |
| 2024 Superpole Race Winner | T.Razgatlioglu, (BMW M 1000 R) |
| 2024 Race 2 Winner | T.Razgatlioglu, (BMW M 1000 R) |
