In 2016 the MotoGP™ World Championship will return to Austria on the 14th of August for the NeroGiardini Motorrad Grand Prix von Österreich. The Repsol Honda Team pair of Marc Marquez and Dani Pedrosa were out on the Austrian track once again for a day of filming aboard the RC213V-S, Honda’s road going MotoGP™ machine.
With the time to Assen and round eight of the 2016 championship rapidly counting down, the day gave the pair a chance to relax and pop a few wheelies. Assen will be an important round for Marquez who looks to extend his championship lead, having moved back to the top of the points table after an eventful Catalan GP. “Now it’s ten points, you always prefer to lead because if we do a mistake like in Le Mans then they reduce the advantage but you’re still there. But ten points are like nothing!” he said on his current position.
Pedrosa heads to Assen not worrying about the championship, instead his desires centre on continuing to improve the RC213V. “The start of the season was hard but the bike is getting better, the rhythm of the races and my physical condition is also coming together,” reflected the hopeful Spaniard. Pedrosa has never won at Assen in the premier class, his last, and only, victory at the historical track coming in 2002 in the 125cc class.
Assen is the immediate challenge for both Pedrosa and Marquez, but the pair are also thinking ahead to the Austrian GP where almost every rider will have to learn the new track. The most recent circuit to be added to the calendar before Austria was the Autodromo Termas de Rio Hondo in 2014, won in spectacular style by Marquez.