An unlucky race incident compromises Team HRC’s final race day at Jerez

An unlucky end to the WorldSBK season for Team HRC rider Iker Lecuona, who has fractured his left toe after a crash involving team-mate Xavi Vierge. While Lecuona was unfit to compete in Race 2, Vierge placed P13 in the season’s final race after serving a long lap penalty for the race incident that involved his teammate.

Out on track at Jerez this morning for warm-up, the factory riders used the time to ensure everything was in order for the day’s races. A short time later and positioning fifth and seventh on the grid for the ten-lap Superpole race, Iker and Xavi both made a strong start when the lights went out, lying sixth and seventh on lap one. Unfortunately, their race was over almost as soon as it began, the riders coming into contact with each other on the very next lap, through turn 6, and both crashing as a result. While Vierge was unhurt, Lecuona was taken to the medical centre, where doctors diagnosed a displaced fracture of the fifth metatarsal bone in his left foot. The Spaniard was unfortunately deemed unfit to compete in the final race of the season, a disappointing end for Iker who had showed very strong pace to close P5 yesterday and was fighting, along with team-mate Xavi, for a top ten championship finish.

Having not completed the Superpole Race, Vierge lined up in tenth place on the Race 2 grid. He was also given a long lap penalty for the Race 1 incident. Thirteenth through the opening stages, Xavi then completed the long lap which caused him to slip to seventeenth. With significant ground to make up, the Spaniard quickly got to work, climbing up into the points zone during the first half of the race. Up into fourteenth by lap eleven, Vierge continued to push but could do no more than thirteenth position today.

In the final 2024 championship standings, Vierge finishes just three points outside the top ten, placing eleventh overall with 137 points while Lecuona positions twelfth with a tally of 134. Team HRC and Xavi Vierge will remain at the Jerez track to take part in the first of the winter tests, scheduled for Tuesday 22 and Wednesday 23 October, while Iker Lecuona will travel to Valencia for further medical checks ahead of a likely surgical procedure to reduce his foot fracture.