Equalling his best grid position of the year, Luca Marini battled hard throughout the 13 lap Sprint as teammate Joan Mir put it all on the line in the opening laps.
Equalling his best grid position of the year, Luca Marini battled hard throughout the 13 lap Sprint as teammate Joan Mir put it all on the line in the opening laps.
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Saturday, 6th June 2026 |
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| Hungarian Grand Prix, Balaton Park Circuit |
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Hungary's Saturday Sprint leaves Honda HRC Castrol looking for more |
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| Equalling his best grid position of the year, Luca Marini battled hard throughout the 13 lap Sprint as teammate Joan Mir put it all on the line in the opening laps. |
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A manic day of action unfolded on Saturday at Balaton Park for the Honda HRC Castrol team, Luca Marini and Joan Mir doing their best to secure spots in Q2 before heading into a nail-biting Sprint. Overnight work helped both factory Honda RC213V riders to improve their feeling as Q1 loomed large on the horizon after Free Practice 2.
Luca Marini did what needed to be done in Q1 alone, securing passage with a perfectly timed lap towards the end of the session as others hunted for a slipstream. His 1’37.594 saw him head to Q2 as the second fastest rider, going just a fraction slower in the second session to secure ninth on the grid – equalling his best Qualifying result of 2026. From the third row, the #10 launched well in the Sprint and did his best to defend from the likes of Moreira and Bastianini early on. A close fought battle with Di Giannantonio would see Marini lose contact with the top ten, crossing the line in 12th place. Improving grip and turning will be the primary focus for Sunday.
Missing out on a Q2 spot by only 0.162s had Joan Mir lining up in 13th on the grid for Saturday’s Sprint. Determined to make up ground early, Mir went deep into Turn 1 when the lights went out as he looked to tag onto the back of his teammate. Settling into his rhythm and doing his best to bring his Honda home, Mir crossed the line in 15th place as he again looked for better handling from his package and looked for a solution to vibrations.
Sunday’s 26-lap Hungarian GP presents a last chance for both Marini and Mir to make improvements to their machines and capture more points for their 2026 World Championship campaigns.
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| Luca Marini 10 |
| Honda HRC Castrol |
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“Positive to come through Q1 today, we were able to put together a good lap at the right time. It’s the first time all year that I have felt strong like this in Qualifying. Not our best start today, we have become used to better ones and then my braking point wasn’t ideal so we could have made up some more places with a bit more risk. I was behind Pecco and Diggia for a while, but I didn’t have the same speed or feeling as this morning – much less grip than before. We need to check how we can improve the grip and the turning for tomorrow, understand what tyre to use depending on how the temperature behaves as it was quite hot today.”
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| Joan Mir 36 |
| Honda HRC Castrol |
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“We were really close to getting through Q1 with Luca, a shame to miss out but I think I made up for it with my start to the Sprint! A tricky day today, in the Sprint we had a lot of vibration again and it was quite complicated to ride how I wanted. You probably saw me drop quite some places in the Sprint and this was just from a small mistake, nothing strange. I did my best to get the bike home, stay with my teammate for as long as could and try to improve for tomorrow. The condition of the track changed quite a lot from this morning to the afternoon so we need to check what the situation will be on Sunday.”
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