Fractions of a second again made the difference around the MotoGP World Championship’s shortest track, Luca Marini and Joan Mir finishing the day with 11th, 15th and plenty of ideas for Sunday.
German Sprint Race |
MotoGP 2026 |
Round 11 |
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Saturday, 11th July 2026
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German Grand Prix, Sachsenring
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On the Cusp – Honda HRC Castrol target Sunday improvements after tight fought Saturday
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Fractions of a second again made the difference around the MotoGP World Championship’s shortest track, Luca Marini and Joan Mir finishing the day with 11th, 15th and plenty of ideas for Sunday.
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Another day of diligent work and stalwart improvements for the Honda HRC Castrol squad as they focused on maximising their performance. Saturday at the German GP saw the debut of the revised grid layout, an increase in the space between each rider on the grid to improve safety in the run to the first corner. It was another day of incredibly close lap times which saw Joan Mir and Luca Marini challenge for Q2 until the very final moments of the session. Setting a 1’19.988 and 1’19.998 respectively, the Honda HRC Castrol duo ended within 0.125s of the top two in Q1.
Finding no trouble in replicating his previous strong starts with the new grid layout, Luca Marini was able to make up a handful of places on the opening lap to move within striking distance of the top nine. Much of his 15-lap Sprint would be spent trying to find a route past Diogo Moreira, eventually crossing the line less than two tenths behind his fellow Honda RC213V rider and taking 11th.
Starting the day with a positive Free Practice 2 and a very competitive Q1 session, Joan Mir was able to grow his confidence ahead of the Sprint. Starting well, the #36 made up ground in the run to the first corner but was shuffled back in the melee and lost touch with the top ten. Missing the same feeling as in the morning, Mir kept his focus and brought his Honda home in 15th after briefly battling with Alex Rins.
Sunday's 30-lap German Grand Prix is now all that awaits before the Summer Break, a busy evening of work already underway in the Honda HRC Castrol garage.
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Luca Marini 10
Honda HRC Castrol
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“We tried to do our best today and in Qualifying we were almost able to make it. Overall, our potential this weekend hasn’t been what we wanted. Certainly, the bike has improved compared to last year, but the others have also pushed their potential more and more. The top ten is the goal tomorrow but we need to remain realistic and base our goals on what we saw today.”
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Joan Mir 36
Honda HRC Castrol
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“We missed Q2 by barely one tenth and in FP2 I felt quite good about my speed. Our race was more or less done at the first corner when some riders did some things I was not expecting and I had to completely change my approach. I was a second slower than the pace I was showing in the morning when we used the same tyres. Strange to go from 1’21s to 1’22 and now we need to check the data as we have been trying many different things this season with the setup. A shame to not be able to fight more in the Sprint.”
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