Luca Marini is still far from matching Joan Mir’s level at Repsol Honda – where the Spaniard has been since last year. Until last year, Marini had only ridden Ducati motorcycles in MotoGP, so he is still in a phase of adaptation and learning.
The Italian explained that he believes his colleague’s greater experience and knowledge with the bike allow him to approach the way of riding differently, taking more risks:
– He has a better confidence with the bike. I think that he has more experience, so he understands much better the front feeling of the bike, and the rear in the entry phase of the corner. He can be more aggressive, risking more in the last phase of the lean angle and trying to make the difference there. At the end he’s faster than me there.
Marini believes that, otherwise, they are on a more similar level, although he faces some other difficulties: ‘Then, it’s very similar. I’m struggling on braking, but sometimes I arrive in the corners a little bit on the limit and I cannot make the bike turn as them. When you release the brake with a quite consistent pressure, the bike turns well. But you need to trust the Michelin tyre’.
Marini’s season started with a 20th place finish in the Qatar GP, and in Portugal, he finished 17th – just two positions away from scoring points. However, in both rounds, he was the least well-positioned of the Honda riders.