Luca Marini is set to make a welcome return to competition alongside Joan Mir at the German GP as Honda HRC focus in on further improvements and future gains.

Back to fighting strength, the Honda HRC Castrol team leave two of the fastest circuits on the calendar for one the tightest and slowest tracks of the year. At under four kilometres in length and a race distance of 30 laps, the Sachsenring’s 13 corners will be well-worn by the time the chequered flag waves on Sunday.

Having completed two days of private testing in Brno, Luca Marini is now ready to remount his Honda RC213V in competition for the first time since the British GP. Finishing in the points in all of his race starts so far in 2025, the #10 has been the most consistent rider of the year. Still recovering from his injuries, Marini heads into the weekend in Germany looking for bike time and aiming to build his fitness further. In 2024, the Italian scored his first point as a factory Honda HRC rider at the Sachsenring.

Recent rounds have continued to highlight Joan Mir’s grit and determination, steadily working away with the Honda HRC Castrol team to improve his fortunes in complicated situations. In terms of layout, the Sachsenring’s tight and technical nature is a world apart from the fast and flowing Assen and Mugello and this change will give Mir and Honda HRC’s engineers a great opportunity to understand the full breadth of the 2025 Honda RC213V’s performance.

As is the trend for the remainder of the year, the German GP is the first race in a double-header. Marini, Mir and the team traveling straight to the Grand Prix of Czechia on Sunday evening.

Luca Marini

“I am really happy to be back, to be able to ride my bike again, see everyone in the team and keep working on this project. The test we had in Brno last week was good, and I was able to understand my physical condition well, I am not perfect at the moment but the best way to improve further is to ride. Of course, it would be great to go straight back fighting where we were, but this weekend is mostly about getting back into the rhythm to end the season well.”

Joan Mir

“I’m fully recovered from the fall in Assen and spent the week training in the gym, on the bicycle and on the motocross bike. Now we put the fall in Assen behind us and focus on the weekends in Germany and Brno, especially Germany is a really different track to Mugello and Assen. From high speed to focusing more on technical riding and grip on the side of the tyre. Let’s check how our performance is and if we can get back into fighting for the top ten in each session.”

MotoGP 2025

Rider standings

Pos. Rider Num Nation Points Team Constructor
1 Marquez Marc 93 SPA 307 Ducati Lenovo Team Ducati
2 Marquez Alex 73 SPA 239 Team Gresini Racing MotoGP Ducati
3 Bagnaia Francesco 63 ITA 181 Ducati Lenovo Team Ducati
4 Morbidelli Franco 21 ITA 139 Pertamina Enduro VR46 Racing Team Ducati
5 Di Giannantonio Fabio 49 ITA 136 Pertamina Enduro VR46 Racing Team Ducati
6 Bezzecchi Marco 72 ITA 121 Aprilia Racing Aprilia
7 Zarco Johann 5 FRA 101 LCR Honda Honda
8 Acosta Pedro 37 SPA 98 Red Bull KTM Factory Racing KTM
9 Aldegeur Fermin 54 SPA 81 Team Gresini Racing MotoGP Ducati
10 Vinales Maverick 25 SPA 69 Red Bull KTM Tech 3 KTM
11 Quartararo Fabio 20 FRA 67 Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP Yamaha
12 Ogura Ai 79 JPN 49 Trackhouse Racing Aprilia
13 Binder Brad 33 RSA 47 Red Bull KTM Factory Racing KTM
14 Fernandez Raul 25 SPA 44 Trackhouse Racing Aprilia
15 Bastianini Enea 23 ITA 42 Red Bull KTM Tech 3 KTM
16 Marini Luca 10 ITA 38 Honda HRC Castrol Honda
17 Rins Alex 42 SPA 35 Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP Yamaha
18 Miller Jack 43 AUS 33 Prima Pramac Yamaha Yamaha
19 Mir Joan 36 SPA 32 Honda HRC Castrol Honda
20 Nakagami Takaaki 30 JPN 10 Honda HRC Castrol Honda
21 Savadori Lorenzo 32 ITA 8 Aprilia Racing Aprilia
22 Oliveira Miguel 88 POR 6 Prima Pramac Yamaha Yamaha
23 Fernandez Augusto 7 SPA 6 Yamaha Test Team Yamaha
24 Chantra Somkiat 35 THA 1 LCR Honda Honda
25 Martin Jorge 89 SPA 0 Aprilia Racing Aprilia
26 Espargaro Aleix 41 SPA 0 Honda HRC Castrol Honda
Location Information

Car and bike races have been held on closed public roads in the area around the town of Chemnitz, Germany since the 1920s and were still taking place until as recently as 1990. It was decided, however, that the five mile course through such a densely populated area was no… read more.

Length 3.671 kilometres / 2.281 miles
Width 12 metres
Left corners 10
Right corners 3
Longest straight 0.700 kilometres / 0.435 miles
Constructed 1996
Modified 2001 (resurfaced in 2017)

Lerchenstraße, 09337 Hohenstein-Ernstthal, Germany - View in Google Maps

www.sachsenring-circuit.com

Records

Pole Position 1m 19.423s (166.3km/h) Jorge Martin (Ducati, 2024)
Race Lap 1m 20.667s (163.8km/h) Jorge Martin (Ducati, 2024)
Race Time 40m 40.087s (162.4km/h) Francesco Bagnaia (Ducati,2024)
2024 Race Winner Francesco Bagnaia (Ducati)
2024 Sprint Winner Jorge Martin (Ducati)