MotoGP | Marini: “In Jerez I had an identical fall to Marc in 2020”

Luca Marini is willing to continue the development of the Honda RC213V, his new motorcycle, with a lot of dedication. This week, before traveling to Portimao to participate in the Portuguese Grand Prix, he flew to Jerez for a private test, where there were several MotoGP test teams, including KTM, Aprilia and also Honda with Stefan Bradl.

Today, on the eve of the Portimao weekend, Motorsport.com asked the HRC rider how the text went, given that some information reported a bad crash: “After Qatar, we did some tests in Jerez and I gave a terrible. The bike got a little damaged, but they were able to bring it here and fixed it. Luckily I didn't get hurt, but the fall was strong.”

“It was an identical fall to the one Marc Marquez had when he hurt himself in Jerez in 2020, right at Turn 3. Fortunately the bike didn't hit me, but the dynamics were identical,” explained Marini, who now rides Marc's old motorbike.

With concessions open, Honda's regular riders can carry out as many tests as they want and wherever they want, with the only limitation of a certain number of tires per year. “At the moment we don't have a defined program, but I'm open to shooting every day, whenever possible,” says Marini, who admits that “this last test was decided at the last minute, it wasn't planned, regardless of what happened in Qatar. The track had already been rented by the Ducati, Aprilia, KTM and Honda test teams, the logistics were simple.”

“Whenever we get the opportunity, we're going to have to take advantage of it. We are developing the bike from all points of view. Stefan Bradl is doing a great job, but he is alone, he can't do more than 50 or 60 laps a day. There is a limit of tires and if we can help it is always better for the brand. If there are several pilots who say the same thing, it makes the engineers' job easier,” he said.

Marini doesn't think he's in the worst moment of his career

After the tests, Marini is suffering with the adaptation to the Honda and is in a difficult moment, but not the worst of his career. “Absolutely not,” he denied when asked if Qatar was his worst race ever.

Looking ahead to the weekend, the fact that no one has done a test at Portimao may help a little, according to Marini: “It's a different track to the ones we've been on. In the past, Honda has done well, but last year was the first of the season and all the manufacturers then improved a lot. Here we will see what our potential is. I'm curious to get on track on Friday, which will be an important day. We will dedicate part of the day to modifying the bike for fine-tuning. But we also have to keep some time for the time attack and it will be interesting to see who gets into Q2 or not.”