MotoGP: Iker Lecuona – KTM’s Future Superstar

Iker Lecuona will make his MotoGP debut this weekend in place of injured Portuguese rider Miguel Oliveira.

The 19 year old Spaniard will line up on Sundays grid at Valencia poised to make history as the first rider to be born after the new millennium (January 6th, 2000) to start a MotoGP race.

There is a buzz around Lecuona joining the MotoGP grid full time in 2020 but there is also, a fair few detractors. It is easy to see where both sides are coming from, although there is more than meets the eye.

On one side of the fence there are people that are saying that there are more deserving riders – these people, technically aren’t wrong. Over the past 3 and a half seasons in Moto2 Lecuona has only scored 2 podiums, his first coming at the 2018 finale at Valencia and his latest in a last lap battle for second with fellow KTM rider Brad Binder at Thailand. He currently sits eleventh in the Moto2 standings on 90 points. 2019 marks his most successful season – thus far.

On paper, his results don’t warrant an opportunity to move up to the blue-ribbon class but to understand the true picture, we have to delve a little deeper.

Lecuona, didn’t come through your conventional route into Grand Prix Racing, he didn’t travel around Spain racing Minibikes like his peers. His backstory is entrenched in Supermoto. Winning the Spanish Title before his move into road racing.

From Dirt to Tarmac

Ultimately Lecuona could have stayed in Supermoto and become a great within the sport but he switched to become a road racer in 2015. This was a late switch for any racer, he had to adapt to new circuits and become accustomed to a new way of riding. Instead of sitting more upright and sticking your leg out to go around a corner on a Supermoto bike, he had to become used to tucking himself under a bubble and getting his knee (and elbow) down on the ground.

Not only did he have to translate into this form of riding but as a 15 year old he didn’t make his debut in Moto3 but in Moto2. Racing in the FIM CEV Repsol International Championship he place eighteenth in the standings but put together a stronger season the following year, taking sixth in the championship with three Top 5 finishes.

This was combined with half a season in the Moto2 World Championship – making his debut for the CarXpert Team in place of the injured Dominique Aegeter at Silverstone and Misano. He replaced the Swiss rider for the final four rounds of the season.

Lecuona is KTM’s Quartararo

Since day one working with him I’ve believed in Iker’s huge, huge talent. Obviously he lacks experience in roadracing but his raw talent is incredible” – Mathieu Grodecoeur

In 2019 – Lecuona has arguably been the second best KTM rider after Brad Binder. Both riders have pulled out impressive results before the summer break on a bike that was notoriously difficult to ride. Since then, the chassis has been improved and Binder has scored four wins while Lecuona has picked up a podium and a further three Top 10 results. KTM have signed Lecuona for 2020 as they have inside knowledge on his skill set and they have seen something in Lecuona that they believe they can develop .

This sentiment is echoed by his Moto2 crew chief Mathieu Grodecoeur – “Since day one working with him I’ve believed in Iker’s huge, huge talent. Obviously he lacks experience in roadracing but his raw talent is incredible” – he told Motor Sport Magazines – Mat Oxley

What KTM have on their hands is a rider that Yamaha have with Fabio Quartararo. Someone that has a large amount of potential but is still very young. What they can do is mould the young rider into their work ethic, integrate them into the manufacturer and build the bike around them and turn that rider into a Marquez-beater.