This year, Marini will be riding for Repsol Honda in MotoGP. It marks his first time riding for a factory team, but to achieve this, he had to depart from his brother’s team, Valentino Rossi’s… and join a manufacturer that is a strong rival of Yamaha – the brand Rossi became notably associated with.
In an interview with Sport, rider #10 discussed Il Dottore’s reaction to the possibility of joining Honda: ‘It was… interesting. We talked a lot about this; he was the first person I called. He was torn between recognizing a great opportunity and understanding that we are a great team that fought for most of the championship to win the title against the best team. It would have been a shame to lose that’.
After Marc Márquez’s departure was announced quite late, in October last year, Marini was hired after he had already renewed his contract with the VR46 Racing Team. The announcement came just a day before the Valencia test in November.