The rumors of the past few hours point to Luca Marini moving to Repsol Honda in the 2024 MotoGP season. If confirmed, he will replace Marc Márquez, who is leaving for Gresini.
If the Italian makes this team change, it will certainly be surprising. He is currently with the Mooney VR46 Racing Team – a team he knows well and is led by his brother Valentino Rossi – aboard a Ducati that is the most competitive bike of today.
Honda offers a bike that is far from being able to fight for podiums regularly, requiring a lot of work to regain the lost competitiveness in recent years. Álex Márquez (Gresini/Ducati) even considers it an ‘unnatural’ decision for Marini.
What could lead a rider to exchange the certainty of a season with conditions to be fast for the uncertainty of joining a team that is trying to rebuild and reorganize? In this case, we would say a lot.
At Repsol Honda, Marini would be a factory rider for the first time – something that seems far from happening in the near future in Ducati’s ranks. Despite representing a manufacturer with such a successful history, he would not have the pressure to deliver the best results immediately – at Honda, it is well known that the path ahead is arduous and long. Furthermore, #10 would have the opportunity to take on a renewed project, with the ambition to return to the top positions, being part of the chapter of Honda’s return to the top of MotoGP. It is also a natural prestige to represent the most reputable team in the paddock, replacing someone like Marc Márquez. In the short term, leaving VR46 Racing Team for Repsol Honda may seem like an incomprehensible step. Marini only has a contract until the end of next season, but rumors suggest that the bond with Honda is until 2025, a sign of greater stability. And, thinking in the medium and long term, Marini has an opportunity that rarely arises to be an integral part of a development project that aims to go from the bottom positions to the top – a challenge that may be more enticing than having the guarantees that Marini would have in his current team. After all, it is an exploration of new challenges, which almost all riders need at some point in their career. And on a path that can bring him a lot of prestige, if the change materializes and everything goes well.
