Marini hits out at Honda: "Engineers should test the bikes"

Luca Marini continues to uphold Honda’s honor in the MotoGP championship, despite the RC213V not being on par with the European bikes. In the latest weekend at Silverstone he clinched ninth place and confirmed tenth in the overall standings. The latest technical developments are bearing fruit, but the Italian rider’s future will be with KTM.

HRC is making small steps forward with its MotoGP project. Part of the credit certainly goes to the work of Romano Albesiano, who has brought significant progress in engine development and aerodynamics. On this second point, the Golden Wing manufacturer must admit to some delays in recent years, which caused them to lose ground to European competitors. "I think the engineers still haven’t realized how important this area is," Luca Marini admitted to Speedweek.com.

The rider from Tavullia boasts, among his athletic attributes, the ability to develop MotoGP prototypes. Aerodynamics is certainly one of the areas he has pushed hardest for over these years with Honda. The results arrived with some delay... "The reason, in my opinion, is that they don’t ride the bike. They should have tested the bike firsthand. I’ve been talking about it since my first year at Honda. At least some engineers should understand how the bike will work with and without wings. Only then will the true picture emerge. There is still so much potential for improvement in this area."

Luca Marini is considered a sure candidate for the French Tech3 team, which will continue to operate as a KTM customer squad. It remains to be seen whether the Austrian technicians will be able to make the most of Valentino Rossi’s brother’s testing skills. From 2027 we will witness a radical change, not only in the regulations, but also in the tires (with the switch to Pirelli) and the entire starting grid. But there is something that, according to the VR46 Academy pupil, should be changed: the calendar. "I think we should bring the races closer together and try to create a wider window in the winter... The fact is that today we don’t have time to recover... I would also like to improve physically from season to season, but that requires time for specific physiological programs."

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