Iker Lecuona ‘felt a big punch in the shoulder’, reverts back to old swingarm

After suffering an injury in the pre-season WorldSBK test at Phillip Island, Iker Lecuona made his return to action in Catalunya.

Lecuona, who cut short his running on day-one, was again in action during day-two as he tried an older spec swingarm.

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Lecuona said: “We tried the new items which are a question for us; I could take data for the team, which is positive.

“The second day felt more comfortable on the bike so it was less painful for the shoulder but in the end, the last run was more aggressive and braking for Turn 10, it was more painful and it felt like a big punch in the shoulder.

“I said ‘OK, let’s finish for today’; at the end, it wasn’t nice to not do many laps but now it’s time to recover and be ready for next week.

“I can say I prefer the old swingarm; we need to confirm that with the data because we need to change more items on the bike to use it, as it’s old but it has some positive points that right now, we need to talk to the team and the Japanese engineers, to see if we can use it or not and what we need to do to feel more comfortable.”

Fastest of all the Honda riders for the second consecutive day, Xavi Vierge admitted Honda managed to complete their entire test program without any hiccups.

“We’ve been able to complete our work plan for these tests, while making adjustments along the way of course,” began Vierge. 

“The feeling with the bike wasn’t so bad when we started on Thursday but when we made a set-up change later that day, to try and improve the drive, this unfortunately caused my feeling to diminish.

“The work continued on Friday though, when we made a lot of laps and tested some new parts, particularly concerning the electronics, the engine brake area, and the swing-arm.

“Even though we haven't yet realised all the benefits we were hoping for, the test has given us indications of the direction to follow.

“We now have a lot of data to analyse in order to find the best possible base for the race weekend.

“I want to thank the team for all their hard work here and also Honda and HRC - everyone is working tirelessly in Japan to bring us new items and improve our machine, so a big thank you to everyone. Let's keep pushing forward.”