RiderTua.com – After becoming a Honda factory racer, Luca Marini ‘s prestige is increasingly fading. He hopes for a much-needed trend reversal at the next MotoGP series in Jerez and is also counting on moral support from his older brother Valentino Rossi.
The newcomer to the Repsol Honda team is trying to reduce the gap in the competition. The rider from Urbino, Italy, has never finished in the top 15 so he has not scored any points for his new manufacturer. The Repsol team, which had been victorious in the past, only recorded 4 points thanks to Joan Mir who finished in 12th position in Portimao.
Luca Marini Hopes to Get Positive Effects from the Jerez Test
In Jerez, competition will be even tougher for Marini. Because Honda test rider Stefan Bradl also took part in the race this time, so did Dani Pedrosa from the Red Bull KTM test team and Lorenzo Savadori (Aprilia test team).
In fact, Bradl showed solid racing last year. The test rider from Germany managed to get points by finishing in 14th position, leaving Raul Fernandez (Aprilia), and two substitute racers, Iker Lecuona (Honda) and Jonas Folger (GasGas) behind him. So Marini has the potential to be able to do a lot of things at the Repsol Honda team’s home race this time.
At least personally, things are going well for Luca Marini. Following his wedding to beauty entrepreneur Marta Vincenzi last summer in 2023, the young couple is expecting their first child who is expected to arrive this fall.
Now Marini is fully focused on the race at Jerez. Jerez is a race weekend to work with the team and work on improvements. For Marini, now is clearly not the right time to stop working. The team needs to continue to collect information (data). And not only improving the current package, but also developing it in the future. Jerez is a good track for this work, the test team has done a lot of work here and will be there again this time, concluded Maro.
