It was already late, around the Malaysian GP in November, when Repsol Honda decided that Luca Marini would be Marc Márquez’s replacement in MotoGP in 2024. With few available riders, the constructor didn’t have much choice, ending up with the Italian as the preferred one – for what will be his fourth season in the premier category.
In an interview with the Por Orejas podcast, Marini ensured that he didn’t have to convince Honda to hire him: ‘Honestly, I didn’t have to convince anyone, at that moment there weren’t many riders on the list to go to Honda. There were some, but they analyzed each season that each one had, in qualifying, in the races, this and that, and in the end they saw that among the available ones I could be the right one‘.
From the moment the contact started, according to the rider, the process unfolded by itself: ‘Then, talking to the Japanese, with Alberto [Puig, team manager] and the others, I just had to let it flow, so they could get to know me, to know the rider I am, but also the person they are hiring. And it was a normal process‘.
