The countdown is over and MotoGP finally starts again for a new season, in which Luca Marini no longer presents himself as a rookie, but with a year of experience on his shoulders. 2021 helped the VR46 team rider to gain experience and learn from mistakes, but this year, riding the GP22, he aims to take the step forward that he expects and that we have already seen in the pre-season tests.
Marini’s winter was decidedly positive, as confirmed by the rider himself. But now it’s time to get serious and get back to the real action. The Pesaro rider can’t wait to get started also to put himself to the test after tests in which he showed great potential with the most up-to-date Ducati, like the factory riders.
“I’m thrilled to get started, the last two weeks have been very long for me”, an impatient Marini begins. “I really want to start from FP1, because I really need to get on the bike and I want to start this new season. I think we worked very well over the last winter and I prepared very well, so I hope to be in good shape from the start. It won’t be easy for anyone, because perhaps this is the first year in which we have many factory bikes and many competitive teams. The drivers are also incredible, we are all world champions or runners-up, the level is crazy. I can’t wait to start this new challenge with everyone ”.
Marini will have the GP2 this year, the most updated version of the Desmosedici with which he has already shown excellent potential. In 2022 he also feels he is more ready to face the season than last year, in which he didn’t have many days of proper testing: “I think I have more potential with the GP22. Last year without pre-season testing was very tough for me as I was in a hurry to set the times. I didn’t work enough on the details, I didn’t prepare too well like this year ”.
“I think I did a good job last year too, but this year has been better. I had a pre-season and also had more experience to feel better on the bike. this can be a good year, but every season in MotoGP becomes more and more difficult, because we are in an era where a lot changes every year. All the bikes and teams are growing a lot, but the riders are also pushing their limits a lot. This year will be interesting and difficult for everyone, but I want to be there, fight for the top positions and show my talent, my speed and my potential on the track ”.
Losail on paper is a track that can favor the Ducatis, given the long straight and the great power of the Desmosedici’s engine. Marini explains what his favorite stretch is and explains which one he found difficulties in last year: “The stretch I like best is that of the three right-hand corners at the end of T3 and the beginning of T4, then curves 12, 13 and 14. There are three fast corners and everyone is fast. It’s hard to make a difference, but it gives me zest every time I make them. Perhaps the most difficult part is the section of direction changes, with the Ducati we suffer a little compared to the others. At least last year it was like that, now I’m curious to see this year because the bike is a whole other story and maybe I’ll have a nice surprise and I hope to be at ease at that point too “.
In light of the excellent performance in the tests and the bike at his disposal, Marini aims to do well in his second season in MotoGP, even if he does not set himself goals and considers it particularly difficult to make predictions, given the great balance of teams and riders: “I would be happy Sunday evening if I win! Now it is more and more difficult to make predictions in MotoGP in my opinion, because the level has risen, but it has also been very balanced between all the teams and riders. So, without even doing laps on this track it will be difficult to make a correct forecast, but I want to stay as far ahead as possible, of course ”.
Everything is therefore ready both for Marini’s second season and for the MotoGP debut of Valentino Rossi’s team. Absent from Losail for the first time since his retirement (he is in Misano to ride with the WRT Team and prepare his debut in the GT World Challenge), he follows the Mooney VR46 Racing Team, which he owns and which this year for the first time he lands in the premier class.
The atmosphere in the paddock may not be the same, but once wearing the Marini suit and helmet he focuses only on himself, as he always did last year, when he shared the track with his older brother: “Honestly I think the feeling on the track, but also in the garage, it will always be the same. Because you are too busy with your job. You are fully focused throughout the day and therefore nothing will change. But the thing that will certainly change the most will be in Europe, because in his motorhome there were always all of us Acadamy drivers and for us he was a point of reference to talk about the track or even just to chat in free time. Maybe this will be missing, I hope we can find another place to be all close, but then with my brother I feel every day, because he wants to participate in this adventure. On the other hand, the team is his “.
#MotoGP #Marini #Sunday #happy #won