Work to do for Honda HRC Castrol as German GP begins
SachsenringAfter a positive morning, Joan Mir and Luca Marini were optimistic about their Friday performance at the Sachsenring but faced unexpected challenges on their way to 15th and 18th respectively.
The tightest and shortest track on the MotoGP World Championship calendar began its moment in the sun as round 11 began. After a brief attempted appearance by some rain early in the day, the sky remained crystal clear as teams and riders got about their work.
Starting Friday comfortably inside the top ten, Joan Mir approached Friday with a clear ambition of progressing directly to Q2. Setting a best lap of 1’20.099, saw the 2020 World Champion go almost two seconds faster than his Friday best of 1’21.847 from 2024 at the German GP, a significant improvement but still not enough to finish in the top ten as the envelope is continually pushed in MotoGP. 0.3s from tenth, Mir was unable to find the same feeling with his second front tyre when on his time attack run.
After missing three Grands Prix with injury, Luca Marini was warmly welcome back into the Honda HRC Castrol garage as he began the next step of his journey to return to full fitness. Starting the weekend feeling at around 80% of his maximum, the #10’s primary focus was to get laps under his belt and understand his physical condition. A quickest lap of 1’20.309 had Marini within three tenths of his teammate and 18th overall. There is still some work to do to get back in ‘race mode’ and adjust from testing alone in Brno to the intensity of racing MotoGP with 20 other riders.
Saturday forecasts call for more mixed conditions with rain clouds on the horizon. Overnight work and a little bit of luck should have Mir primed to fight for the two transfer slots in Q1 as Marini continues to focus extracting the maximum from his performance.
Overall today we had some good potential, but we missed the final piece of the puzzle. I expected to go to Q2 honestly, we were working through a solid day. In the first time attack I felt good but on the second exit, the front did not feel the same and I couldn’t turn like before – which is important at a track like Sachsenring! Disappointing as we had a good plan and our feeling was improving. Tomorrow we can hopefully make another step and fight in Q1.
Overall today we had some good potential, but we missed the final piece of the puzzle. I expected to go to Q2 honestly, we were working through a solid day. In the first time attack I felt good but on the second exit, the front did not feel the same and I couldn’t turn like before – which is important at a track like Sachsenring! Disappointing as we had a good plan and our feeling was improving. Tomorrow we can hopefully make another step and fight in Q1.
Today we kept the length of the runs quite short, we wanted to understand the situation without stressing my body ahead of Saturday and Sunday. I am missing strength in my left arm, so with all the left corners it’s a bit tricky to keep the position consistent. Even when you are 100%, Sachsenring is a very physical track. With this time off, I am also missing a little bit that feeling you need when you put in a new tyre to really attack. We just need more time; I am satisfied with how we have started.
Today we kept the length of the runs quite short, we wanted to understand the situation without stressing my body ahead of Saturday and Sunday. I am missing strength in my left arm, so with all the left corners it’s a bit tricky to keep the position consistent. Even when you are 100%, Sachsenring is a very physical track. With this time off, I am also missing a little bit that feeling you need when you put in a new tyre to really attack. We just need more time; I am satisfied with how we have started.
