Phillip Island WorldSBK Test: Iker Lecuona: “We don’t understand what happened” - are Honda in big trouble?

Iker Lecuona cut a frustrated figure after day two of the Phillip Island WorldSBK test as he was unable to identify why Honda are struggling.
Iker Lecuona, Team HRC Honda WorldSBK Phillip Island 2023
Iker Lecuona, Team HRC Honda WorldSBK Phillip Island 2023

Lecuona once again finished as the top Honda rider, however, last season’s rookie of the year was more than 1.2s down on WorldSBK champion 168澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果历史:Alvaro Bautista, who topped the tw👍o day test like in Portimao. 

The Spaniard was also a second down on Bautista when it came to the end of FP2 when race runs were the focus, a session where Bautista was also slower than in FP1🧸. 

Lost for words as to why Honda are struggling, Lecuona said: "♋Very difficult test. We finished in P8 but we are not sure if this position is true. We struggled a lot and we don’t understand very wellꩵ what happened. 

"I feel good on the bike, I feel like we have a good balance, but the real🐽ity is that we are missing 🤪some tenths. 

"We missed some lap time in the beginning with the first tyre and we don’t know wh✱y. We have two days before the first race; two days that we need to put the focus towards the electronics, on the data to understand what happened with the bike, what happened with the electronics and what happened in general."

When trying to piꦆnpoint what area of the bike the lack of performance was coming 🌄from, Lecuona was again left unsure.

Lecuona added: "I don’t know if it’s the setup, if it’s the electronics 𝔉or maybe I did something wrong on-track. What is clear is th𓂃at we are missing some tenths and we need to know why."

Iker Lecuona Australian WorldSBK. 21 February
Iker Lecuona Australian WorldSBK. 21 February

There were still positives for Lecuona as pace on used tyresܫ compared to his rookie season has been a big strength so far in pre-season testing, which again🔜 continued in Phillip Island. 

"On used tyres we took a big step compared to last year because I now feel good on them ♏and can ride consistently - this is important as we’ve resolved something that was critical for me and my riding style and that was causing me to struggle in t𓃲he second part of the races," said Lecuona. 

"So we’ve made a step there, and that has us 🅰feeling that there is still more we can do with the bike setup, but our expectations were much higher going into this test to be honest, particularly here at a track I adore."

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