Top 10 for Lecuona in Race 1 at Misano as Vierge fights back after first lap crash

Team HRC riders Iker Lecuona and Xavi Vierge complete the first race making up the fourth Superbike World Championship round at the Misano World Circuit ‘Marco Simoncelli’ in tenth and sixteenth place respectively.

During the early morning FP3, which ran in fairly cool conditions, both Lecuona and Vierge improved on their times with respect to yesterday. Iker placed among the top five for a good part of the session, lowering his time by a couple of tenths to set a best time of 1’34.054. Xavi continued to take steps in the right direction, shaving off another half second to record a 1’34.122 as he worked with his team to make final preparations ahead of the Superpole.

Iker put in a 1’33.644 during the first few minutes of the Superpole qualifying phase. The Spaniard then made a second exit and pushed hard to improve his reference but a small issue during his final flying lap meant that this initial time remained his best. Lecuona thus qualified fourteenth, securing a spot on the fifth row of the grid. On the other side of the garage, Xavi recorded his fastest time, a 1’33.834, with one minute to go. This result saw him close seventeenth, for a place on the sixth row.

The first of the weekend’s races ran as scheduled at 2pm local time (CEST). From fourteenth, Lecuona was lying thirteenth through the opening lap. Holding that position in the initial stages, he found himself part of a close group of four or five riders all lapping with very similar times. He was able to pass one rival mid-race to move into twelfth and, from there, he worked hard to move in on the group ahead, his stronger pace allowing him to reach Bassani and pass him on lap 18. Iker continued to push hard to the line, concluding race 1 in tenth place.

Vierge was unfortunately hit by another rider and crashed on lap 1. Unhurt, he was able to get back on his bike and rejoin the race, albeit at the back of the field. The Spaniard had his work cut out to catch the pack but was lapping two seconds quicker than riders at the back of the field, which meant he reached them by the mid-race point. Twentieth on lap 13, Xavi gained a further four positions in the latter stages to finish a valiant sixteenth just out the point zone.

The racing weekend will conclude tomorrow with the Tissot Superpole race at 11:00 am and Race 2 at 2:00 pm local time (CEST).