Marini (Honda): Child with hopes of impact test / MotoGP

The MotoGP World Championship is now at the “Circuit de Jerez Angel Nieto” in Jerez de la Frontera. There, Repsol Honda newcomer Luca Marini is again trying to close the gap on the competition. The 26-year-old from Urbino, who was eighth in the World Championship last year with VR46-Ducati, is yet to break into the top 15 and therefore has yet to score a MotoGP World Championship for his new employer. The once-glorious Repsol team have just four World Championship points to their name thanks to Joan Mir’s twelfth place in Portimao.

Marini can hope for moral support from half-brother Valentino Rossi (45) in Spain. Racing will be more difficult for Marini in Jerez, because Honda test rider Stefan Bradl (34) is also riding this time – as is Dani Pedrosa for the Red Bull KTM test team and Lorenzo Savadori (Aprilia test team) .

The truth is: Stefan Bradl showed a solid race last year. He got Marini’s first goal: The Zahlinger managed to enter the points in 14th place, leaving Raul Fernandez (Aprilia), Repsol Honda assistant Iker Lecuona and GASGAS substitute Jonas Folger behind him. So Marini could have plenty to do in his own stable.

At least privately, things are going very well for the tall Luca Marini. After a lavish wedding to beauty entrepreneur Marta Vincenzi last summer in 2023, the young couple is expecting their first child this fall.

Now the full focus is on Jerez. “It’s another weekend to work with the team and try to improve,” says Marini. “Now is not the time to stop working. We need to continue to gather information and not only to improve our current package, but also to work on future developments. Jerez is a good slope for this work, the test team has done a lot of work here and will be there again when this.”