Xavi Vierge, Iker Lecuona positive as Honda shows improvement at French WorldSBK

The French WorldSBK round at Magny-Cours last weekend proved to be one of the most positive of the year for Honda.

The Japanese brand has generally struggled since it returned as a full factory effort in 2020, and that has been the same in 2024.

The French Round, though, provided some positive indications for HRC, as its factory riders, Iker Lecuona and Xavi Vierge, both battled for top six positions in both wet and dry conditions, ultimately coming away with six top-10 results between them.

“I want to say thank you to the team,” Vierge told WorldSBK.com after Race 2 in France. “They’re working so hard as always, but now we’re starting to see the results. In the last few races, our potential was more than we demonstrated.

“I was struggling a little bit with arm pump as everyone knows, I had the operation and Portimao was quite good.

“After that, we went to Estoril, and we had a really positive test. Here, we can see the benefits. It’s true that it was a strange weekend with the weather conditions, but we were competitive in all conditions so I’m really happy with that.

“The problems are still the same but we’re trying to minimise them. We’re making good progress in all areas.

“We’re still not ready to fight but if you compare now to the beginning of the season, we’re much closer and when you’re close to the top guys, it’s easy to see the difference and easy to improve.”

Lecuona had a similarly positive perspective on the weekend, despite encountering arm problems of his own.

“Overall, I’m really happy because this morning in the Superpole Race, I started basically last and still managed to finish P7,” Lecuona said. “I even had a chance to fight for the top five, if not for a clash with van der Mark along the way.

“Anyway, the goal of improving my grid position for the main race was achieved, and Xavi was right there too, so having two Hondas in the top seven was really cool.

“This afternoon, I was expecting a bit more, but I struggled a lot with my right arm — I’ve been dealing with this issue all weekend, to be honest, and today it was especially difficult to manage.

“It meant I made a few mistakes, lost some positions on track, and then I received a penalty that moved me back to tenth after the flag. Not that it changed much, though.

“The positive is that both Hondas were fighting close to the front, which shows we’ve taken a step forward. Let’s see if we can keep this momentum and hopefully build on it. But, yes, we’re happy today.”