Inspirational Assen looks to turn the heat up on Honda HRC Castrol
TT Circuit AssenThe European heatwave looks set to follow the MotoGP World Championship as the paddock heads north to the TT Circuit Assen for Round 10.
Fans of the MotoGP World Championship are well acquainted with the Dutch GP, a uniquely historic track which until 2016 was held on a Saturday. Being the MotoGP World Championship’s longest serving circuit has by no means depleted the 4.54 kilometer long track of surprises as the 2026 edition looks set to be the hottest on record with ambient temperature expected to rocket past 35°C. The Honda HRC Castrol team enter the weekend unphased and prepared for all eventualities, including the removal of 'holeshot' devices.
Eighth place in Brno moved Luca Marini to within just two points of the top ten overall and advanced him to eight points clear of the chasing Bastianini. The top ten remains the target day in and day out for the Italian, especially on Friday afternoons in order to jump straight into Q2 and guarantee a top 12 spot on the grid. Sundays in 2026 have followed a familiar pattern of strong recoveries for Marini, his pace coming through the field clearly showing he has the potential for more. The #10 missed the 2025 edition of the Dutch TT due to injury.
Equaling the team’s best result of the year and collecting a substantial number of points, Joan Mir demonstrated his and the Honda RC213V’s potential at the Grand Prix of Czechia with fifth place. Focusing on maximizing his performance at each individual race for the remainder of the season, the #36 will be one to watch at a circuit which has traditionally produced dramatically close racing.
“It’s clear what our objective for the weekend is: be strong on Friday afternoon. Assen is a circuit that can be quite complicated to overtake, so arriving to those first four rows from the start will make our lives a lot easier. My side of the Honda HRC Castrol team have been working great the last few weekends to keep on improving the bike so I am sure that when the lights go out on Sunday, we as a team will be at our best moment of the weekend. Looking at the weather, I can’t think of a Dutch GP that was so hot – let’s see how this changes things because in the past it was more likely to have rain in Assen!”
“It’s clear what our objective for the weekend is: be strong on Friday afternoon. Assen is a circuit that can be quite complicated to overtake, so arriving to those first four rows from the start will make our lives a lot easier. My side of the Honda HRC Castrol team have been working great the last few weekends to keep on improving the bike so I am sure that when the lights go out on Sunday, we as a team will be at our best moment of the weekend. Looking at the weather, I can’t think of a Dutch GP that was so hot – let’s see how this changes things because in the past it was more likely to have rain in Assen!”
“Feeling good heading to Assen which looks to be a really hot weekend, I think for sure the hottest weekend there! It’s a unique track which is really different to Brno and certainly to Hungary but I think that we can continue to show our potential. It’s a circuit where a lot of different riders and bikes have been strong in the past and if we can repeat our Czech weekend, I know the top five is possible. We’ve had some bad luck the last few years, but the good thing about luck is it always can change! Let’s make the most of this weekend.”
“Feeling good heading to Assen which looks to be a really hot weekend, I think for sure the hottest weekend there! It’s a unique track which is really different to Brno and certainly to Hungary but I think that we can continue to show our potential. It’s a circuit where a lot of different riders and bikes have been strong in the past and if we can repeat our Czech weekend, I know the top five is possible. We’ve had some bad luck the last few years, but the good thing about luck is it always can change! Let’s make the most of this weekend.”