Luca Marini sees Assen and Sachsenring as chance “to explore many things”

Luca Marini remains the only full-time MotoGP rider who is scoreless heading into this weekend’s Dutch round at Assen. 

The Italian has failed to make big improvements aboard an RC213V that is lacking competitiveness compared to its rivals.

Despite finishing every race so far this season, Marini’s best result is only 16th (COTA and Le Mans).

However, the former Ducati rider expects Honda to try ‘many things’ over the next two races in a bid to bring him closer to the riders ahead.

“I am looking forward to getting back on the Honda and back with the team so we can keep developing,” said Marini.

“It’s been a long break and I’m ready to continue our work because in Mugello we made a good step at the end of the weekend.

“I’ve no doubt it will be a useful two weeks for everyone in the Repsol Honda Team before the real MotoGP ‘Summer Break’.

“Assen and Sachsenring are two very different tracks so we will be able to explore many things.”

“It’s important to work well” - Mir

Set to sign a new deal with Honda despite struggling again in his second year with the Japanese brand, Mir is hoping to make strides forward in what has been a crash-hit 2024.

Mir added: “I’ve had three good weeks to focus on training and working after a busy start to the year.

“Now we head into two back-to-back races before another small break and it’s important to work well both this weekend in Assen and then in Germany.

“With the second break, we will have a chance to work more on the bike and keep working on improvements. Let’s approach it with the same intensity as always.”