RiderTua.com – The opening race of the MotoGP season in Qatar ended in disaster for Luca Marini. The Repsol Honda rider, who signed a 2-year contract, found himself at the back of the track in almost all sessions, finishing last in the sprint and 20th in the main race or penultimate losing 42 seconds to winner and VR46 partner Pecco Bagnaia (Ducati) . What’s worse, Marini even lost 17 seconds to Taka Nakagami (LCR-Honda) who was in front of him.
HRC (Honda Racing Corporation) test rider Stefan Bradl has just completed the test at Jerez. Using the new MotoGP concession rights, Honda held an additional private test at Jerez last week, where Marini tested with Bradl.
Luca Marini and Honda Undertake Private Test in Jerez
Regarding the upcoming race weekend in Portimao, Luca Marini said, “The best thing I can do now is to continue racing. It’s good that we are now on a completely different path compared to the start of the season in Qatar. That’s why I’m excited to see how Honda will work there.”
Valentino Rossi’s younger brother continued, “We are in the development process and continue to collect information and data on various tracks. We want to find a better feeling with the bike to be more competitive.”
In Portimao 2023, Alex Rins (still at LCR) was the best RC213V rider by finishing P10 11 seconds behind winner Pecco Bagnaia.
BTW, a few weeks ago Marini was also on the Algarve circuit. At that time, the VR46 Academy rented the entire race track and Marini drove a CBR 1000 RR-R Fireblade to further internalize the circuit which had a rollercoaster layout.
