Honda HRC rider Lecuona secured a valuable ninth place in the Superpole race and a strong sixth place in Race 2 at Misano, while a not yet fully fit Vierge battled hard to finish inside the top ten in both of Sunday’s races – an impressive achievement, considering he had surgery to remedy four fractures to his right foot just over three weeks ago.
The sixth round of the Superbike World Championship has concluded today at Italy’s Misano World Circuit, bringing more important championship points for the Honda HRC team and riders Iker Lecuona and Xavi Vierge.
After a constructive early morning warmup, the factory duo prepared for the 10-lap Superpole race, which ran at 11am local time (CET). Vierge and Lecuona both made a strong start, moving straight up into tenth and eleventh place. Xavi was able to maintain strong pace, battling with Gerloff for ninth in the initial stages. Vierge and teammate Lecuona exchanged places mid-race, with the latter gaining a position and the former slipping back one place. In a group of three riders, Xavi was able to work his way back to tenth, a position he held to the line, with teammate Iker finishing just 0.1 of a second ahead, in ninth place.
Lecuona’s ninth-place finish in the Superpole race meant that he lined up for the weekend’s final race on row three of the grid, in ninth position. The track temperature had risen to 48°C by the start of this second race, the extreme conditions posing an additional challenge for the SBK riders. While Lecuona held tenth through the opening corners, Vierge got away very well from sixteenth and was straight up into eleventh, just behind his teammate. Both riders were able to pass Gardner in the early stages, with Iker soon able to close in on, and overtake Rea for eighth place. Setting his sights on the two Lowes brothers immediately ahead of him, Lecuona progressed to seventh on lap thirteen. Meanwhile, a gritty Vierge began to feel the physical toll of the demanding weekend, but continued to dig deep during the central phase of the race to climb to eighth. Iker was able to gain another position in the final stages, passing Sam Lowes to confirm a very positive sixth place finish, with Xavi gritting his teeth to join his teammate inside the top ten, ninth across the line today.
Mid-way through the 2025 season, Lecuona lies eighth in the general standings, with 84 points, while Vierge lies ninth with 83 points. While Vierge now will take a well-deserved rest and continue his recovery at home, Lecuona will fly to Japan to take part in an official Suzuka 8 Hours testing session, scheduled for June 18–19.
The Honda HRC team will be back on track at the Donington Park circuit in the UK over the weekend of 11-13 July for round seven of the WorldSBK championship.
