Honda and Iker Lecuona returned to a World Superbike podium for the first time in 2024 at Estoril.

Iker Lecuona switched to World Superbikes for the 2022 season after leaving MotoGP. The young Spaniard joined Team HRC as he replaced the departing Alvaro Bautista. In his three years with the Japanese manufacturer, Lecuona had only stood on the podium once.

However, in Race One at the Estoril Round this weekend Lecuona finally made his way back onto the rostrum. This was the Spaniard's first podium in two years and Honda's first podium of the 2024 season.

After the race, an understandably emotional Lecuona admitted that he 'started to cry' when he entered the pit lane.

In parc ferme Lecuona said: “I had a lot of performance today. I didn’t expect a podium because we didn’t have enough time. It was a question mark over tyre life. I said I’d try to save the tyre in some places and keep the pace. I caught Alex, overtook him and I was P4, I wanted to catch Bulega and Locatelli, but Locatelli made a mistake. Then I couldn’t relax because Alex was 0.5 seconds behind me. I went a bit faster than Bulega, and I said to keep the pace. In the last two laps, I thought the podium was possible after two years! I was very happy during the whole lap, but coming into pit lane, I started to cry. It’s been a hard year for me with many injuries. Sometimes, I felt like I wasn’t good enough to be here. It was a really good thing for me.”

Discussing the mental side of the sport, Lecuona said: “I think in the summer. I need to say I started to work with a psychologist because I needed to be more focused and relaxed in some areas. This year I have been work physically more than ever; eat the food I need to eat. I listen to my manager and my team, to my girlfriend and my friends. I changed a lot and they’re working really hard in Japan. From the summer, the bike improved a lot. We were getting closer and closer and now we’ve done it.”