Iker Lecuona “started to cry” after delivering Honda first 2024 WorldSBK podium

Having not stood on a WorldSBK podium since Assen 2022, Iker Lecuona finally returned to the rostrum in Race 1 at this weekend’s Estoril World Superbike round.

It was a chaotic start to the race for Lecuona, he explained. He nearly crashed, and then lost positions to avoid it.

“The start was good, and I could overtake some riders in the first corner, but at Turn 4 I went just behind Xavi [Vierge] and tried to overtake [Michael Ruben] Rinaldi,” the Honda rider told WorldSBK.com.

“Rinaldi crossed the line and my front tyre hit him on the back. I almost crashed, so I closed the throttle to not crash and about six riders overtook me.”

As the race progressed, so did Lecuona, picking up positions to eventually land on the podium.

“I started to overtake, and I couldn’t think so much, just to overtake at Turn 3, Turn 6. I overtook many riders, Turn 7 braking — I felt really strong,” Lecuona said.

“I had a lot of performance today. I didn’t expect a podium because we didn’t have enough time. It was a question mark over tyre life.

“I said I’d try to save the tyre in some places and keep the pace. I caught Alex [Lowes], overtook him and I was P4.

“I wanted to catch [Nicolo] Bulega and [Andrea] Locatelli, but Locatelli made a mistake.

“I couldn’t relax because Alex was 0.5 seconds behind me. I went a bit faster than Bulega, and I said to keep the pace.

“In the last two laps, I thought the podium was possible after two years. I was very happy during the whole lap, but coming into pit lane, I started to cry.

“It’s been a hard year for me with many injuries. Sometimes, I felt like I wasn’t good enough to be here. It was a really good thing for me.”

Lecuona said that he had made improvements mentally over the summer which have contributed to improved performances in recent races.

“I think in the summer, I need to say I started to work with a psychologist because I needed to be more focused and relaxed in some areas," he said.

“I work physically more than ever; eat the food I need to eat. I listen to my manager and my team, to my girlfriend and my friends.

“I changed a lot and they’re [Honda] working really hard in Japan. From the summer, the bike improved a lot. We were getting closer and closer and now we’ve done it.”