Honda has “work to do” at Brno MotoGP after honest assessment of Balaton result

Luca Marini arrives for this weekend’s Brno MotoGP fresh from a season-best fifth place last time in Hungary.

However, the HRC rider was quick to highlight that five riders ahead of him were taken down in the Turn 1 incident, without which he would probably have been at the tail end of the top ten.

“My position was this,” Marini said on Sunday evening in Balaton Park. “With the crashes, I had a bit of luck and finished fifth.”

The Italian added that Honda’s rivals had been stronger than a year ago.

“Last year it was the first year and the Honda works very well when you arrive in a new track,” Marini explained.

“Also in the garage we are very good to prepare and set well everything but when everyone has more data and increased their level we still miss this step. This year we were struggling more.”

Honda will face a similar ‘second year’ situation at Brno this weekend, with MotoGP returning to the Czech circuit for the first time since 2020 last season.

Marini’s first hurdle will be to try to improve qualifying, with the Italian ranked just 18th in this year’s BMW MotoGP Qualifying Award, although fast starts have helped to negate the disadvantage.

"There’s work to do"

“Another two races in a row so another busy two weeks. We left Hungary in a positive way and now arriving in Brno, there’s work to do,” said Marini, who finished twelfth  in last year’s Czech Grand Prix, despite still recovering from Suzuka superbike injuries.

“The Czech track needs a lot of flow through the various corners and getting enough grip will be crucial to having a good weekend.

“It’s looking like a pretty hot weekend which will be great for the fans, but we need to understand how the grip will change as this can be quite critical, especially for us.

“Last year I was still recovering from my injuries during the Czech GP so I am sure we can be more competitive this weekend.”

Team-mate Joan Mir qualified fifth on the grid at Brno last year, but failed to score after incidents in both races.

“Last year during all the weekend we were really strong in Brno, it’s a track that I like a lot and fifth on the grid in 2025 was a big boost,” Mir said.

“I think we have all the pieces to do another strong weekend if the conditions play to our strengths a bit.

“We are in the intense part of the season with many back-to-back races so we can take a lot of profit from good moments.

“Like in Hungary and Mugello, it will be crucial to collect as much information as possible and finish all the races.”

Marini is currently the leading Honda rider in the world championship, in eleventh, with LCR rookie Diogo Moreira 16th and Mir just 18th, behind the injured Johann Zarco.