Strong performance from Honda HRC’s Lecuona and Vierge in Assen’s first WorldSBK race

The TT Circuit Assen today staged the first of the races making up the third Superbike World Championship round and it proved to be a very positive one for Honda HRC riders Iker Lecuona and Xavi Vierge, who both put in a stellar performance to cross the line fifth and sixth respectively having started further back on the grid.

Following a challenging Friday, the squad carefully analysed the data, defined a clear plan, and got to work during the third and final free practice session, making the final adjustments to their CBR1000RR-R machines ahead of qualifying. Both riders completed the session in one single run, with no tyre changes, focusing on preparation for the day’s race.   Lecuona soon set his best time of the weekend, taking another seven tenths off his FP2 reference. Vierge also took another step, finding a little more in terms of pace in spite of the cool early morning temperatures.

Less than two hours later, the factory riders were back on track for Superpole.  It proved to be a particularly hard-fought qualifying, in which the top eighteen riders all closed within a second of each other, demonstrating just how high the level of the WorldSBK championship is this season. Despite setting a best time of 1’33.469 – just a little over eight tenths of a second off the new pole record – Lecuona qualified fourteenth, placing him on the fifth row of the grid for Race 1. Vierge, who set a time of 1’33.690, only two tenths from his team-mate, finished eighteenth and had to line up on the sixth row for Race 1

The first of the weekend’s two 21-lap races ran in dry conditions. The Honda HRC riders moved straight up into thirteenth and fourteenth position, with Vierge immediately ahead of team-mate Lecuona. The duo then exchanged places, with each gaining two positions to place eleventh and twelfth by lap six. Incidents involving several other riders, combined with further overtakes, saw the Honda HRC pair move up to seventh and eighth positions by the halfway point of the race. Lecuona was able to climb further in the second half, fighting van der Mark for fifth. With three laps to go, Vierge caught up to his team-mate, with the two riders embroiled in a five-way battle for fifth. It was the Honda HRC riders who ultimately got the better of their closest rivals, with Lecuona securing fifth and Vierge a close sixth, which represents the duo’s best combined result of the season so far.