Iker Lecuona scores points in both races at Qatar MotoGP round

It was quite the weekend for Iker Lecuona (Aruba.it Racing - Ducati) stepping in as a replacement rider for BK8 Gresini Racing MotoGP’s Alex Marquez at the Qatar Grand Prix. The Spaniard delivered one of his strongest four 2026 MotoGP appearances by finishing in the points in both races and cracking the top ten in Sunday’s Grand Prix.

Lecuona started his weekend with a P16 in practice, sitting two spots ahead of fellow WorldSBK replacement rider Jake Dixon (Honda HRC). In qualifying, Lecuona could not match the pace of his teammate Fermin Aldeguer, who took first in Q1, leaving Lecuona fifth-fastest and securing a P15 starting position for both weekend races.

“Lots of little things like managing the throttle as well; that’s something I struggled to manage this last season against Nicolo.

Race 1 brought chaos immediately with an early red flag after Aldeguer braked late and collided with Pecco Bagnaia, sending the latter to the medical centre where he was ruled unfit with fractures in his right foot. Lecuona capitalized instantly when the lights went out. By Lap 2 he was up to P11, having passed Brazilian Diogo Moreira and his future 2027 BMW competitor Brad Binder. On Lap 3, he cleared Aldeguer just as Marco Bezzecchi crashed out following contact with Marc Marquez at the front. After an intense battle trading P9 with Moreira, Lecuona came out on top to claim P9 and his second consecutive MotoGP Sprint race finish in the points.

Sunday saw Lecuona starting from P13 following Bagnaia being ruled unfit and Marini withdrawing due to fatigue. Taking a more measured approach than Saturday, Lecuona held P13 early on before overtaking Moreira for P12 on Lap 7. He maintained that spot through the middle third of the race before turning up the wick on Lap 12, stringing together four consecutive laps below the 1’53.5s mark. Benefiting from a mechanical issue for Brad Binder ahead of him, Lecuona moved into P11 by Lap 16. He stalked his teammate Aldeguer before making his move on the penultimate Lap 21, taking P10 to close out his Qatar campaign.

Reflecting on his efforts and what he plans to take into 2027, Lecuona shared: “Honestly, I’m very, very happy with my performance in the Grand Prix. I lost a lot of time early on while I was fighting with Diogo. And later with some other riders when I went wide at Turn 1. My lap times started to drop into the low 1’53s, and I recovered a lot, even towards Di Giannantonio. I’m done physically; I’m very tired but I want to thank the team for giving me so many chances to ride and get to know the new tyres. These last two weekends, I think I’ve come to understand more. I've learned how to stop the bike, manage wheel spin, and manage the tyres during the race.”

He added: “Lots of little things like managing the throttle as well; that’s something I struggled to manage this last season against Nicolo.”