Catalunya calls the Honda HRC Castrol Team
Circuit de Barcelona-CatalunyaLuca Marini and Joan Mir arrive straight to Barcelona, the pair with points to prove as the 2026 season continues to progress at pace.
The Honda HRC Castrol team have travelled some 1,000 kilometres south from Le Mans, France to Barcelona, Spain for the next stop on the MotoGP World Championship tour. Home to a number of titanic battles over the years, Honda have won ten premier class races at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya since 1996. 4.66 kilometres long and featuring eight right and six left corners, the Barcelona circuit is often used for testing due to its varied and demanding layout.
A steady flow of top ten finishes and points in every Sunday race sees Luca Marini lead the four Honda riders in the World Championship standings as he arrives at round six. But now he is targeting more, the Italian keen to recapture the form he showed towards the end of 2025 where he regularly challenged the top five. The #10 took a solid eighth place at the Barcelona circuit back in 2025, a repeat result certainly on the cards if the Italian can conquer Q2. Marini is scheduled to make his 100th premier class start at the Catalan GP on Sunday.
Walking away from France with a laceration to his right hand after a heavy fall, Joan Mir is looking to dig deep and give his home fans something to cheer about. The Mallorcan has consistently shown impressive speed aboard the Honda RC213V and regularly leads the Honda charge on track in both Qualifying and the races. Converting this speed to points in Barcelona could mark a key turning point in the 2020 MotoGP World Champion’s season.
“Straight back to work in a very intense part of the season, but I am looking forward to it. We didn’t deliver on our potential in France, so it is a good opportunity to show this was just a one-off weekend and we can be there fighting further forward. The plan is similar to normal; we need to capitalise on our work early in the weekend and make it into Q2. I am confident we can have a better showing on Saturday and Sunday than in Le Mans.”
“Straight back to work in a very intense part of the season, but I am looking forward to it. We didn’t deliver on our potential in France, so it is a good opportunity to show this was just a one-off weekend and we can be there fighting further forward. The plan is similar to normal; we need to capitalise on our work early in the weekend and make it into Q2. I am confident we can have a better showing on Saturday and Sunday than in Le Mans.”
“The hand is more or less OK after the crash, I just needed a few stitches. For sure there is some pain and we need to check a bit how it will be but I am not too concerned. I want to put in a big effort this weekend for the Catalan GP, not only because it’s my home race but because I know that we have the ability to put in a good result. In France we had very good speed compared to the other Honda riders and I am eager to show our pace again.”
“The hand is more or less OK after the crash, I just needed a few stitches. For sure there is some pain and we need to check a bit how it will be but I am not too concerned. I want to put in a big effort this weekend for the Catalan GP, not only because it’s my home race but because I know that we have the ability to put in a good result. In France we had very good speed compared to the other Honda riders and I am eager to show our pace again.”