Midway through the season, the MotoGP World Championship arrives at perhaps its most unique circuit on the calendar, Luca Marini and Joan Mir approaching it with their usual gusto.
German GP Preview |
MotoGP 2026 |
Round 11 |
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Tuesday, 7th July 2026
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German Grand Prix, Sachsenring
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Round and round – Honda HRC Castrol ready to ride The ‘Ring
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Midway through the season, the MotoGP World Championship arrives at perhaps its most unique circuit on the calendar, Luca Marini and Joan Mir approaching it with their usual gusto.
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Just 3.67 kilometers long and with the Grand Prix running across 30 laps, the Sachsenring is a very different kind of circuit to almost anything else in the World Championship. With the longest straight measuring in at just 700 meters, the German track is a formidable test of edge grip, corner speed and stability. In 2025, Johann Zarco put the Honda RC213V on the front row of the grid for what turned out to be chaotic German GP. Tight and technical, grid position will be vital to avoid an ambitious move into Turn 1 when the lights go out on Saturday and Sunday.
Luca Marini arrives in Germany having yet to miss points on Sunday afternoon so far in 2026, this run of consistency has him just five points shy of the top ten in the World Championship. His goal for the weekend remains the same as those that came before: crack Practice on Friday afternoon to end inside the top ten. Weekend after weekend, the Italian has shown great pace on Sunday with his grid position limiting his overall performance. Despite being his first race back from injury in 2025, Marini was able to be competitive throughout the German GP weekend and ultimately walked away with a sixth-place finish.
After a Grand Prix full of untapped potential in the Netherlands, Joan Mir arrives at the Sachsenring ready to take the weekend as it comes and focus on extracting the best possible result. Showing as the fastest Honda in a multitude of rounds, the #36 is looking to recapture his speed at a different kind of circuit and deliver when there are points on offer. His best result at the German GP in the premier class is seventh place, achieved in 2019.
A three week ‘Summer Break’ will follow this weekend’s German GP action, a chance for riders and teams to refresh themselves before attacking the second half of the year.
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Luca Marini 10
Honda HRC Castrol
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“The past few weekends we have been able to leave on Sunday with an acceptable result after a lot of hard work. Our goal is to arrive at our level much, much sooner and, like always, try to capture one of the Q2 spots. Last year we had a really good result in Germany when I came back from injury, but it was quite a strange race. Work to do, but everyone on my side of the garage has been doing a great job this year and I know we can make that step we need soon.”
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Joan Mir 36
Honda HRC Castrol
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“We arrive in the same way as many races before, with a fresh mindset and ready to approach the weekend with all our intensity. The Sachsenring is a really unique track where you spend a lot, a lot of time on the edge of the tyre so we really need to work to improve our feeling there. In Assen we were able to be more competitive in some of the tighter sections of the track so that should hopefully put us in a good position for this weekend. After this there are a few weeks off which will be welcome to recharge a little bit.”
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