Sunday surge in Spielberg for Nakagami to lead Honda HRC Castrol home
Red Bull Ring - SpielbergThe cobwebs were blown off Takaaki Nakagami as he charged into the points at the Austrian GP, taking 13th and besting Luca Marini who ended the Grand Prix a place behind.
An intense weekend of work for the Honda HRC Castrol team came down to 28-laps on Sunday afternoon in the Austrian hills as both Honda RC213Vs lined up for Round 15 of the 2026 MotoGP World Championship. With both Takaaki Nakagami and Luca Marini having built steadily over the weekend for this moment, their targets were clear.
Takaaki Nakagami’s weekend has followed a clear trajectory throughout: upward. This progress would not halt on Sunday as the #30 put in a commendable ride from 18th to 13th, finishing just a tenth shy of Raul Fernandez. Having spent the vast majority of his time with the new 850cc project this year, the Austrian GP weekend’s performance demonstrates Nakagami’s deep connection with and understanding of the Honda RC213V having spent his entire Premier Class life with the machine. These are Nakagami’s first MotoGP points since he scored a sensational sixth at the French GP in 2025 held in mixed conditions. A perfect foundation for his home wildcard coming up in Motegi.
Sunday would be much more complicated than anticipated for Luca Marini, the Italian tangling with several riders in the first lap and losing important time early on. Keeping calm, he shifted his attentions to hunting down his rivals later in the race when they began to struggle with tyre life. This late charge saw Marini pass fellow Honda rider Diogo Moreira, the Italian trying to catch his teammate for the weekend Nakagami but ultimately unable to close the gap with just a handful of laps to go. Despite continuing his run of point-scoring finishes, Marini’s ambitions remain much higher than 14th place.
The Honda HRC Castrol team will remain at the Red Bull Ring for a one-day private test ahead of the new era of MotoGP starting in 2027. Afterwards, the MotoGP paddock will head for the Japanese GP - Honda HRC's home race.
“A great result today, I am of course really happy with how we have worked as a team this weekend. In the Sprint we got some good information for today and made some changes, especially on the electronics side, to help us manage. 28 laps were really tough with the direction that we went, I had to be super precise, but I knew that in the second half of the race I would have more tyre. I wasn’t expecting to finish ahead of some of the riders I did, so we have to be pleased. Let’s keep raising the level in Motegi with the Test Team. Tomorrow, I go back to my ‘normal’ job – a very busy period now.”
“A great result today, I am of course really happy with how we have worked as a team this weekend. In the Sprint we got some good information for today and made some changes, especially on the electronics side, to help us manage. 28 laps were really tough with the direction that we went, I had to be super precise, but I knew that in the second half of the race I would have more tyre. I wasn’t expecting to finish ahead of some of the riders I did, so we have to be pleased. Let’s keep raising the level in Motegi with the Test Team. Tomorrow, I go back to my ‘normal’ job – a very busy period now.”
“I had a lot of contact on the first lap, and I lost a lot of time, so I just focused on staying calm and managing everything for the last laps. Unfortunately, most people managed the situation, and we could not make as big of a late comeback as I was hoping for. We’ve worked a lot on the bike all weekend, right up until the race to try and find more grip in the rear. It didn’t work as we expected and it has been a tough Sunday. Congratulations to Taka, he showed his speed and put together a good weekend.”
“I had a lot of contact on the first lap, and I lost a lot of time, so I just focused on staying calm and managing everything for the last laps. Unfortunately, most people managed the situation, and we could not make as big of a late comeback as I was hoping for. We’ve worked a lot on the bike all weekend, right up until the race to try and find more grip in the rear. It didn’t work as we expected and it has been a tough Sunday. Congratulations to Taka, he showed his speed and put together a good weekend.”
