The 21-year-old rider was left without a place in MotoGP for the 2022 season after the Tech3 KTM team decided to sign Moto2 champion and runner-up Remy Gardner and Raúl Fernández to take his and Danilo Petrucci’s place.
Iker Lecuona’s time in MotoGP has not been easy. Having started on the circuits in 2015, his debut in the category last year came after having contested 89 fewer grands prix than fellow KTM rookie Brad Binder. He missed the last three races of 2020 due to contracting COVID-19, while the start of 2021 was rough as all the Mattighofen-branded riders struggled with the new RC16.
With a top 6 in Austria as the best results of the year, Lecuona ended his time in MotoGP with a 15th place in Valencia, before leaving for the Superbike World Championship.
“Difficult to manage, honestly,” Lecuona replied when asked by Motorsport.com how his last MotoGP race went. “During the weekend I didn’t feel anything, it seemed like just another weekend. When the race came, an hour before it started, I felt nervous, and when I got to the grid, I was fine, I went back to the box like always. When I came back, I put my helmet on. When I said goodbye to some members of the team before the start, I had to close the visor because I started to cry.”
“So it wasn’t easy to drive. The start was bad, when I got to the first corner I couldn’t see anything. When I got to the second corner I was overtaken by some drivers, four, five… I don’t know. I didn’t have the concentration on the race, honestly, had the mind in another side”.
“I needed several laps to calm my mind and start to feel good on the bike. In the end, we finished with a point, it’s over. To get a point for me is good because I lost a lot of time with the top 10, we were fast , I really enjoyed it”.
(Before reading on, click on the link or on the image to see all the photos of Iker Lecuona at the 2021 MotoGP Valencia GP)
Reflecting on his time in the premier class, Lecuona said he was “pissed off” at how this year started as he considers he deserves to be in MotoGP.
“For me, as I always say, when I have the opportunity, I try to take advantage of it and use it,” he said. “In this case, I have used this opportunity, I have been in MotoGP for two years. But inside of me I don’t feel frustration for these two years. I have a lot [frustration] for the first part because I fought a lot, I didn’t expect it, also for me I didn’t I worked hard enough during the winter tests and I had a lot of personal problems during the first few races, so I needed time to start improving, for me it was a bit of everything.”
“I didn’t want to say goodbye to MotoGP, but life is like that, everything happens for a reason. Finally, I think it’s mixed up a bit. I’m happy to be here, but I’m pissed off at the start of the year because I know my potential, I feel like I could be in MotoGP for a long time. But I can’t say I can’t come back.”
