Iker Lecuona says he is ‘very happy’ with the progress made on the Team HRC Honda CBR1000RR-R during the most recent WorldSBK test at Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya, despite a fall that left him bruised and nursing a black-eye.

The Spaniard has enjoyed a solid start to his sophomore WorldSBK campaign on the factory Honda, though his efforts last time out in Indonesia were hampered by a crash in practice that dented his confidence.

As such, he was keen to rediscover his flow during the Spanish test around a circuit where he scored his maiden WorldSBK pole position in 2022.

Making the most of the ‘super concessions’ Honda has been granted to give it more testing days compared with rivals Ducati, Yamaha and Kawasaki, Lecuona is excited about his potential going forward despite landing himself in hospital following a fast crash.

“I’m very happy for several reasons, starting with the very thing that put an early end to a very positive test, funnily enough,” said Lecuona after his big crash on Friday. “I was so lucky to come away from a high-side with only a black eye and some bruises but nothing broken. 

“I lost the front at corner 14, over a bump, I think. I wasn’t doing anything “crazy” but it’s true I was on a qualifying tyre and so was riding fast. The bike hit my right foot in the gravel, and a stone hit my eye after I lost my visor. 

“Anyway, the tests at the hospital were all OK and I feel fine, and basically no pain. As for the test, I’m very pleased because after trying some new items and settings at Aragón last week, we’ve been able to complete back-to-back tests here at Catalunya, a very different track to Motorland.

“It’s also more challenging in terms of tyre drop-off. We’ve worked well and have had confirmation that we’ve really taken a step forward.”