Here's a Look at the Red Bull Ring Ahead of the First MotoGP Race There Since '97

Nineteen years have come and gone since Austria last hosted the traveling circus that is MotoGP. That dry spell will come to an end this weekend, however. That's right, we're officially just one day away from the first free practice at the Red Bull Ring - Spielberg, a 4.3-mile course formerly known as the A1-Ring.

For almost every rider, the Red Bull Ring/A1-Ring is a new track, with only Valentino Rossi having actually raced here, on 125s. Perhaps more interesting is that, in the two years that the track was a part of the calendar (1996 and 1997), Honda won every last race. That includes the 125, 250, and 500 races.

Which brings us to the video above, which comes from a private test Honda hosted to help its riders Marc Marquez and Dani Pedrosa find their way around the track, in this case on a pair of RC213V-S. If you too want to know what it looks like, click play and give it a watch.

Keep in mind, of course, that since this video was shot, there was a private two-day MotoGP test at the Red Bull Ring, meaning Marquez and Pedrosa are no longer the only guys with a proper lay of the land. In that test, the two Ducati riders were fastest on both days, with Dovizioso topping the charts on Tuesday and Iannone going to the front on Wednesday (Honda and the Tech 3 Yamaha team sat this test out, with Honda having actually already used up all its allocated test days).

Will the boys from Bologna be able to build on that momentum or will Honda keep its impressive win record in Austria alive? We'll know soon enough. In the meantime, enjoy the video and prepare yourself for Sunday. It's bound to be a good day for racing.