MotoGP | Marini: “Honda listens to me, we have built a great group”

A new season begins for MotoGP and a new adventure for Luca Marini: after the winter spent familiarizing himself with Honda, now we start to get serious starting from the first free practice on Friday. The Qatar Grand Prix will provide the first answers, but the sensations of the driver from Tavullia are already very positive.

“I'm very happy to be here at the first race, it's finally starting,” said Marini on the Thursday before the start of the action on the track. “I have to say I can't wait, I'm very happy at the moment. Looking at the next few days, it will certainly be more difficult to be happy, but we must be objective. We are aware of our current potential, so we must try to work well especially because these first races will help us get comfortable with the new bike.”

The winter tests were positive, considering Honda's situation, which is chasing and is called upon to make up an important gap: “We are still quite far from the real potential of the bike, but we need more time. It's not easy to settle down on race weekends, because now the only good session after which you can try something is the one on Friday afternoon. But you only have twenty minutes to dedicate to fixing the bike, then the rest is to concentrate on the time attack. It won't be easy, but let's try to take the right steps so as to be able to fight for more important positions in the shortest possible time.”

Despite the great work to be done to bring Honda back to the top, Marini feels at ease with his new team, with whom he has established a relationship that he thinks can help him improve technically: “I think we have built a great group, I feel really good in my team, we always spoke during the winter. The relationship I have with all the members of my team is fantastic, even with the Japanese I get along very well. I'm happy that they listen to my feedback a lot, they always brought something new to these tests. I know there will also be updates in the next races. We just need to have the right time to get where we can.”

“I'm very happy with what Joan said, Zarco has always said that too. They are very nice and kind, so I gladly reciprocate. We must be united at this moment, because I think that by working well together we can achieve our goal in less time. Watching Mir will definitely help me a lot because he already drives the Honda the way it wants to be driven. He managed to work on his style last year even though it wasn't an easy season for him, but you can see that he has it in hand and knows where to push, especially on the time attack. Even competing with him will always be interesting this year.”

Going from becoming a rider for an independent team to replacing Marc Marquez in Honda is an important leap, but Marini doesn't give weight to this new situation and doesn't feel extra pressure: “I don't think the pressure is any different, what you want to do is win , whether you start eighth or fourteenth. The goal is always the same, only the team changes. I get along well with everyone, with the Japanese… Together we can do a good job, there's a good atmosphere.”