“As if I had arthritis”: Luca Marini’s shocking account

Luca Marini returns after a virus forced him to miss the last GP: the Honda rider explains what happened at Phillip Island.

Joan Mir is back, and Honda also welcomes back Luca Marini. After being forced to sit out in Australia, the Italian is ready to race again this weekend at Sepang, Malaysia. He was reportedly affected by a virus from the week before arriving at Phillip Island, and it finally forced him to stop after just a few laps of Australian FP1. On this Thursday ahead of the last night-time GP for Europe, he explained what happened.

"It was as if I had arthritis." The Honda HRC rider pulls no punches in describing how he felt during the two weeks beforehand, then goes on to share some details about the difficulties he is still experiencing. "I had no strength in my muscles, and I really struggled to move my hands, fingers and feet," he said, as reported by crash.net, during Thursday's media session. "I even struggled to type messages on my phone. I'd never experienced anything like it." He now admits he feels much better than he did last week in Australia, but is not completely at ease. He added that he is waiting for the results of all the tests he underwent so he can get a clearer picture of the situation.

Honda has certainly had little luck this year, with health issues affecting its factory team riders and Johann Zarco, an LCR satellite-team rider, still recovering from the terrible crash in Catalunya. Rookie Diogo Moreira is the only one still in good shape; HRC has seen more stand-in riders than regular ones in 2026. But this is not an isolated case: this MotoGP season has been particularly tough in terms of injuries and riders missing races... Now it's time for the Sepang GP. With the end of the year just around the corner, Luca Marini will certainly aim to finish on a high with the Golden Wing before joining KTM and Tech3 in 2027.

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