![\"Iker](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/gng_1317682_hires_1600x900.jpg\")
<\/p>\n
Iker Lecuona takes over from Michele Pirro as a replacement for Alex Marquez.<\/p>\n
\u00a9\u00a0Gold and Goose<\/p>\n
\u201cHonestly, I was a bit surprised,\u201d Lecuona said in Hungary on Thursday.<\/p>\n
Article continues below ADVERTISEMENT<\/p>\n
Article continues below ADVERTISEMENT<\/p>\n
\u201cI only knew on Monday during the test in Aragon.<\/p>\n
\u201cMy manager said, \u2018Do you want to race in Balaton?\u2019 I said, \u2018What? Okay, yes!\u2019<\/p>\n
\u201cHonestly, I even said to Ducati it was a big surprise for me.<\/p>\n
\u201cI need to say thanks to Ducati for this opportunity, also Gresini and Aruba.\u201d<\/p>\n
Lecuona, who had been getting his first taste of the future Michelin WorldSBK rubber at Aragon, explained why he had jumped at the chance.<\/p>\n
Article continues below ADVERTISEMENT<\/p>\n
Article continues below ADVERTISEMENT<\/p>\n
\u201cI feel that it’s like a present for me,\u201d he said. \u201cI don’t think it’s a pressure, it’s a present. I want to enjoy it.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s been three years without riding the MotoGP. And when Ducati gives you the chance, you cannot say no.<\/p>\n
\u201cI’m really happy also for that side. Because Ducati says my name.\u201d<\/p>\n
![\"Nicolo](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/gng_1315767_hires.jpg\")
<\/p>\n
Nicolo Bulega leads Iker Lecuona, 2026 Czech WorldSBK. Credit: Gold and Goose.<\/p>\n
\u00a9\u00a0Gold & Goose<\/p>\n
Like LCR stand-in Cal Crutchlow, Lecuona faces a three-year jump in MotoGP technology.<\/p>\n
Article continues below ADVERTISEMENT<\/p>\n
Article continues below ADVERTISEMENT<\/p>\n
\u201cI had maybe 30-40 minutes talking with the team about the bike and explaining everything. And, yeah, it’s changed a lot,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, Lecuona joked that he doesn\u2019t expect his streak of runner-up results to continue this weekend, after finishing second to Bulega for the last 15 WorldSBK races in a row.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think this weekend, if I’m not last, it will be fine!\u201d he smiled.<\/p>\n
Subscribe to our MotoGP Newsletter<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Iker Lecuona admits he didn\u2019t expect to be picked by Ducati for a MotoGP call-up at this weekend\u2019s…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":714864,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[572],"tags":[64,63,17197,8455,234256,806,805,803,804,85],"class_list":["post-714863","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-motosport","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-ducati","tag-gresini-racing-motogp","tag-iker-lecuona","tag-motor","tag-motor-sports","tag-motosport","tag-motosports","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/714863","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=714863"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/714863\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/714864"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=714863"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=714863"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=714863"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}