Honda HRC Castrol prep for penultimate race of 2025 in Portugal

The Honda HRC Castrol squad have just two races left to tie a bow on a season of progress, development and rewards. Luca Marini and Joan Mir are both primed to bring their overseas form back to Europe.

Affectionately called ‘the rollercoaster’ due to its incredible elevation changes, the Autodromo Internacional do Algarve was opened in late 2008 and joined the MotoGP World Championship calendar back in 2020. A long, fast final corner leads onto a 970m main straight before riders grab the brakes as late as they dare for the tight Turn 1 – Joan Mir spectacular to watch into the corner. It remains as one of just a handful of circuits on the calendar in which Honda HRC has never won a premier class race at.

Luca Marini arrives with 18 points between himself and the top ten in the Championship standings and a mere six points splitting the Italian and Johann Zarco from top Honda honours. Finishing outside of the top ten on Sunday just twice since his return from injury, Marini’s march has been steady and has delivered him directly into being a consistent podium threat. If Marini can score just 14 points across the four remaining races, he will have increased his 2024 points haul tenfold in 2025. Conquering qualifying and start on the front two rows remains a major focus for the #10 as he continues to hunt a first Honda podium.

Coming off two podiums in four races, Joan Mir arrives at round 21 in the best form of his Honda career and with his confidence only growing. The hard braking zones at the 4.59-kilometre-long circuit should allow the #36 and his Honda RC213V to highlight their combined strengths while the fast and flowing corners give a chance for further testing and improvements. His two previous visits to Portimao on the Honda RC213V have yielded an 11th and 12th place finish – solid foundations.

The 25-lap Portuguese GP will begin at 13:00 Local Time on Sunday, November 09 before the Moto3 race.