– After three years, Luca Marini’s chapter with the Honda factory team comes to an end. When Marc Marquez terminated his contract with Honda in autumn 2023, he said at the time that it “made no sense” for Honda to hire a top rider as long as the RC213V was not competitive.
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“The best thing for the project is to invest all the money in the motorcycle,” Marquez said at the time. “That is my conviction, because it makes no sense to have a motorcycle that is currently not performing well and to get the best rider for it.”
“First you need the motorcycle, and then you go and get the best rider. It doesn’t matter who that is. That’s my opinion.” Since it was late in the season, Honda didn’t have many alternatives at the time.
Marini approached Honda on his own and was able to convince the managers. Thus, he moved from VR46 to the Japanese factory team and took over the vacant spot from Marquez.
Now he has to leave, because from 2027 Honda is relying on a top rider with Fabio Quartararo. Marini has to leave the project without having reaped the fruits of his work. In two and a half years, he did not achieve a podium finish.
“At first, when I spoke with Honda and they told me the decision, I was of course a little sad,” Marini says about the separation. “But I understand it, I had to accept it and look ahead.”
“I know what I have done here at Honda and for Honda – as a rider and as a person. I worked on everything, not just the motorcycle, and I am really satisfied with what we have done.”
“I am really glad to have worked with great people in my box. Everyone gave me something, and I learned a lot. Now I just keep going, keep working on this season and give my best.”
Marini cannot reap the fruits of his work
Since the separation from Marquez, Honda has changed the project in many areas, for example personnel-wise with the new technical director Romano Albesiano. Johann Zarco won a race in the rain at Le Mans in 2025.
Joan Mir achieved two third places under dry, normal conditions last year. Honda made progress, but the return to the top field did not succeed by the end of the 1,000cc era.
Nevertheless, Marini says that now a lot is very different from when he arrived in 2024: “Oh, it is completely different in every respect. It was like a revolution, and a very good one at that.”
“And I think, for me personally, the regulation change for next year is really a shame. Because we could have achieved much more in 2026 if the regulations had continued like this.”
“They would have continued to improve the project, continued to listen to me and continued to work on the motorcycle, while now unfortunately all the effort is going into the new motorcycle, which I of course understand.”
“That’s why we are not collecting the results this year 2026 that we expected and worked for in the past two years. When I arrived at Honda, we all had to work together to build something.”
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“And now that it is finished, a few small puzzle pieces are still missing to enjoy it a bit more with the results.” Marini scored world championship points in all 13 season races so far, his best result was fifth place in Hungary.
Marini’s future is Tech3-KTM
The future of the Italian is KTM. Marini will race for Günther Steiner’s Tech3 team in the next two years. “I tried to find the best solution for me,” he says about his future.
“In the end, I believe I succeeded, and I am really satisfied with everything. I just have to keep giving my best as a rider now, for this season, for the next, and for the future.”
In his three years with Honda, Marini built a reputation for making very precise statements and working well with engineers on development. This made him interesting for other manufacturers.
Photo gallery: The career highlights of Luca Marini
KTM has so far failed to develop the motorcycle into the absolute reference and make the leap to the top to be able to fight for victory on all tracks and under all conditions.
Could Marini be the one who, together with the KTM engineers, manages to do exactly that? “Well, we will see. Because next year the situation will certainly be different, with all the changes in regulations and tires.”
“But of course I will also give my best there and try to reach the highest level as quickly as possible. At the beginning it may not be so easy, because I believe Ducati and Aprilia will be a bit ahead of everyone else. But the goal is to catch up as quickly as possible.”
Di Giannantonio: Marini’s feedback can be very important for KTM
KTM has signed Alex Marquez and Fabio Di Giannantonio for the factory team. They also believe that Marini is a good choice for further development to advance the project together.
“Definitely,” says Di Giannantonio about Marini. “I am really, really happy for him. I think it is great for MotoGP that he remains in the field. We are friends.”
“And it is also a great commitment for KTM because I believe he can help the factory improve the motorcycle and everything else. Besides, he is a super fast rider, so I am happy for him.”
Di Giannantonio also thinks that Marini can give even better feedback than himself: “I think it is a kind of sensitivity. I would say I am a rider who gives good feedback, but he is much more precise than I am.”
“I would rank myself among riders who give good, quite precise feedback. But he is much better than me. When we train together and talk about racing, I always learn a lot from him. That’s why I say this is really a great commitment by KTM for next year.”
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