It wasn’t yet confirmed officially but it pretty much close to a certainty at this point: Luca Marini will join Repsol Honda Team next season and pair up with Joan Mir, leaving Valentino Rossi’s team and arguably the best bike on the grid to get one that is having many issues.
Alex Marquez, who took the step in the other way around, leaving LCR Honda to join Gresini, with his results getting a lot better overall after doing so, spoke about the so called Marini’s move while still in Sepang, recalling also Johann Zarco:
– Zarco is obliged, but Marini changes team because he wants to. It’s something that I find surprising, especially because you are in a team that ‘is yours’. It’s a bit of an unnatural step. It’s a team that started with you in MotoGP, where the owner is your brother, and he goes to a project that is struggling right now… It can be interpreted as a separation from your brother’s influence.