A GP without Mir
On the occasion of the Austrian Grand Prix, Honda HRC will present itself this weekend with a modified line-up: Luca Marini’s occasional teammate will in fact be test rider Takaaki Nakagami, called by the Japanese team to replace Joan Mir. The Spaniard, after voluntarily withdrawing at Misano due to physical problems and a medical visit in Spain, will not race in Spielberg.
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15 point-scoring races?
In his last home race, Marini once again confirmed his consistency with 9th place finishes in both the Sprint and Sunday GP. Thanks to these performances, the future Tech3 rider is still the only one to have finished all the races of this championship in the points zone: “First of all, I want to wish Joan all the best and hope he can get back on the bike with us as soon as possible – commented #10 – he is a really valuable teammate. Here everything is played on decisive braking and strong accelerations out of corners; what was done at Misano can help us. Let’s stay realistic about our situation and our goal does not change. We aim to repeat the Misano weekend: show our pace from Friday and work well with the team to continue growing step by step. It is a track where anything can happen; it is essential to position well and be ready to take advantage of any opportunity that arises. Let’s enjoy the moment and prepare as best as possible for the Asian races, starting with Japan.”
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From Mugello to Spielberg
Nakagami’s return to the track will not be easy for the Japanese rider; despite having competed in more than 100 GPs in his career, to find his last MotoGP race you have to go back to the 2025 Japanese GP. Since then, the 34-year-old has focused on developing this year’s bike and the team’s future projects: “I arrive in Austria directly from a private test at Mugello, where however we tried several bikes. This weekend will serve to fully regain the rhythm with the RC213V and Michelin tires in view of my home wildcard at Motegi. Naturally, I am sure we will take the opportunity to try some solutions that the team would not normally experiment with, so as to be well prepared for the future. The most important thing is to make sure Joan is well: this is the fundamental aspect in a difficult moment for him.”
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