Honda HRC Castrol call in at the Sachsenring
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.”
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
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) |