Iker Lecuona undergoes surgery ahead of 2020 MotoGP debut with KTM

Iker Lecuona is recovering after undergoing surgery on his arm ahead of what will be his maiden full MotoGP World Championship campaign in 2020.

The Spaniard steps up from Moto2 with the Red Bull Tech 3 KTM team as one of three rookies debuting in 2020, together with Brad Binder in the sister factory KTM team and Repsol Honda’s Alex Marquez.

The big beneficiary of Johann Zarco’s decision to exit KTM ahead of schedule, Lecuona essentially takes the seat he vacated after Binder – who was originally signed to Tech 3 – was promoted into the factory team.

Having gotten his MotoGP debut earlier than anticipated at the 2019 Valencia finale when he deputised for forthcoming team-mate Miguel Oliveira, Lecuona has now gone under the knife himself to correct a problem with his arm to better prepare his condition for the 2020 MotoGP season.

In a tweet posted by the French-based team, there is no suggestion Lecuona is at risk of missing the 2020 MotoGP tests at Sepang, which begin in February.

Today @LecuonaIker had surgery on his right arm to fix the chronic exertional compartment syndrome in order to be well prepared for his first full year in @MotoGP. We wish you a speedy recovery and can’t wait to start the season with you in Sepang #KTM #Tech3 #MotoGP #IL27 pic.twitter.com/pAfEt3j5qm

— Red Bull KTM Tech3 (@Tech3Racing) January 7, 2020

KTM to supply new parts to best riders

A long-time partner of Yamaha as its satellite entry, Tech 3 Racing split with the Japanese firm at the conclusion of the 2018 season citing the limitations of such a role, despite the success it brought them.

Switching allegiance to KTM on the premise it would receive current-spec machinery in line with the factory team, this wouldn’t always prove to be the case in 2019 as the Austrian struggled to meet the demand of running four riders against the backdrop of intensive development.

Nonetheless, while Pit Beirer insists KTM remains committed to this end goal, he says on the occasions limited new parts become available they will go to the best performing riders, regardless of whether it is the factory team or Tech 3

“It will also be the case in the future that you will have a single new development part that you can only give to one driver at the beginning. But soon we will have it twice and three times, and then there will definitely be no separation between the factory team and the Tech3 team.

The words are likely an attempt to appease Oliveira, who was upset at being overlooked in favour of rookie Binder when the factory KTM became available. However, provided he can establish himself on a relative par with Pol Espargaro, he stands to benefit from the better machinery anyway.