Last lap overtake secures Lecuona’s best MotoGP result in dry conditions

Just two weeks after claiming his best MotoGP result of sixth in wet conditions (Austria), Iker Lecuona has taken his best finish in the dry with P7 at Silverstone.

Robert Jones

02 Sep 2021

Iker Lecuona, British MotoGP race, 29 August 2021
© Gold and Goose

Iker Lecuona secured his first back-to-back top ten MotoGP finishes courtesy of late race overtakes on Francesco Bagnaia, Joan Mir and Alex Marquez at Silverstone.

Lecuona finished P7, one spot behind Brad Binder who is notorious for having impressive late race pace.

It’s the Tech 3 KTM rider’s second best finish in the premier class after taking sixth in the AustrianGP - while also his best result in the dry.

Aside from race winner Fabio Quartararo, Ducati’s Jack Miller and Binder, there was no rider on track with better pace than Lecuona during the final five laps.

Whether it’s a coincidence or not, the 21 year-old’s performances have steadily gotten better since the news of Raul Fernandez replacing him in 2022.

Lecuona added: "I’m really, really happy! The Qualifying yesterday has been difficult for me, I did some mistakes, but I knew the pace was there.

"In the warm-up this morning I felt really strong, finishing in P5 and I knew if I can recover some places, I can fight in the front group.

"The start of the race was ok, although I tried to save the tyre a bit, because the conditions have been cold.

"Lap by lap I managed to improve my lap time and I recovered a lot. On the last lap, I overtook the last rider (Alex Marquez) to finish in P7, which is my second best result in MotoGP and it happened in the dry.

"I want to say thanks to my team, because this weekend was very good and very strong."

Lecuona wasn’t alone in scoring points for the team, as Danilo Petrucci also came through to claim tenth place - just his third of the year.

"It was a good top 10 result. We managed to hit the target we set yesterday. Unfortunately, I lost a lot of time in overtaking, mainly on the straights, so it was difficult for me to pass other riders," said Petrucci.

"In the end, it was pretty decent. I think we could have been a little bit better, but the passes stopped me a bit.

"Anyway, it’s a good result. Now I really have a very good feeling on the bike, maybe Aragon will be even better with the KTM for us. We will fight for a good result there as well."