MotoGP Austria 2 J1: Iker Lecuona (KTM/11), little by little the bird is making its nest..

At the end of the first day of free sessions on the Red Bull Ring track in Austria, the Red Bull KTM rider Tech3, Iker Lecuona once again stood out by finishing 11th in the combined two sessions. A great performance for the one who last week on this same circuit, finished ninth. 

Building on this great day, the 20-year-old rookie looked back on his result of the day: » I'm really comfortable on the bike, I've done a lot of laps, I'm very satisfied. I consider this day to be one of the most beautiful days so far in my MotoGP career.”

An obvious gain in confidence on his machine while the start of the season had not necessarily started well for the Spaniard: fall in the Czech Republic and at Jerez 2 and retirement at Jerez 1 because he was physically exhausted.

Tomorrow will be another day and we will have to go back into battle. The top ten following FP3 will qualify to enter Q2 directly. Only the first two drivers from Q1. will join their counterparts in Q2. Go to Q2, Iker lecuona simply believes in it: “ Why not? It's possible“, confides the KTM rider.

« It's true that I'm not the only one who wants to enter Q2, today I drove a good part of the time alone “, he continues. “I know it will be difficult to be even faster in FP3 but I will give 100%. It was very hot during FP2, so I was not able to improve my time obtained in FP1.” The teammate of Miguel Oliveira who ranked 4th at the end of this first day, says he is very confident: “ we worked a lot and now I am satisfied with all situations. We are working a lot on the race settings because we want to further improve the pace compared to last weekend. »

On Thursday, clear instructions were given to the four riders by the KTM clan with Pete Beirer et Mike Leitner, the objective being to calm the heated spirits and not to play hard at the risk of seeing all the KTM riders go to the mat…to the great displeasure of the parent company..

« Nothing in particular was said during this meeting“, declared the rookie. “ Pol Espargaro was more concerned. We should exercise discernment when fighting together for top positions. Last week, all four KTMs could have entered the top ten, if not for what happened between Pol and Miguel! That's what it was all about »concludes Iker.