A strong fifth for Vierge and first points of the season for Lecuona in Race 1 at Portimão

A positive Race 1 for Honda HRC factory riders Xavi Vierge and Iker Lecuona — who makes his return — in the second WorldSBK round at Portimão, with Vierge securing a strong fifth place and Lecuona completing a sensible race to finish eleventh.

The second round of the 2025 Superbike World Championship season is being staged at the Autódromo Internacional do Algarve in Portugal. The Honda HRC team and riders Vierge and Lecuona made the most of a third and final free practice on Saturday morning, as they made final preparations ahead of the day’s first race. Xavi and Iker put in their quickest times of the weekend up until that point, lapping with very similar references to each other and setting a respective best of 1’41.079 and 1’41.094.

Next up for the SBK field was qualifying, a 15-minute Superpole in which riders go all out to establish the best possible grid position for the races. Vierge’s first lap was immediately quick, the Spaniard ducking under 1’40 for the first time this weekend to set a 1’39.981 and place a temporary third. Saving his best to last, Xavi put in a 1’39.711 in the final stages to conclude sixth, thus ensuring himself of a place on the second row of the grid for the afternoon’s race. On the other side of the garage, Lecuona made two initial laps, the best of which in 1’40.744. His second exit saw him take another seven tenths off this time, a best of 1’40.077 positioning him eleventh. Iker thus qualified on the fourth row of the grid for Race 1.

The first of the 20-lap races making up the Portuguese weekend ran on Saturday afternoon, in sunny conditions (air temp. 26°C, track temp. 41°C). Both Honda HRC riders made a good start from their respective starting positions. Vierge held sixth for the first seven laps before gaining another position.

Showing consistent pace from start to finish, Xavi was able to manage his race well, keen to secure a top five finish at this challenging track. And he did just that, holding firm and crossing the line a strong fifth, a result that bodes well for tomorrow’s Superpole race and second Superbike race.

Lecuona made a clean start and was able to hold his position for the first third of the race. Despite the fact that he is not yet back to full fitness following recent injury, he battled hard as part of the chasing group and made good progress, climbing as high as tenth. Only losing a little ground in the last few laps, Iker completed Race 1 in eleventh position, scoring his first championship points of the season. Iker heads into Sunday keen to build on today’s already encouraging performance.