Lecuona penalty
Of course, of the two penalties the more meaningful is that of Lecuona.
The Spaniard ended yesterday feeling like he had a shot at race wins this weekend having topped both practices and shown comparable pace with Nicolo Bulega.
Qualifying fifth was already set to make it a tough ask for Lecuona to beat Bulega today, but starting eighth only increases that challenge.
Lecuona comes into this race 69 points behind Bulega in the championship and on a six-race podium streak. It certainly seems that points gap will grow further today, and the question in Race 1, which is now around 45 minutes away, becomes more about damage limitation for the second factory Ducati rider.
For Bulega, of course, Leucona’s penalty further decreases the pressure on his shoulders this afternoon and increases the likelihood of him taking that record-breaking 14th consecutive win that it feels like we’ve been talking about for over a month – largely because we have, since it became a real possibility after Bulega won Race 2 at Portimao at the end of March.