The rumors of recent hours suggest that Luca Marini is set to move to Repsol Honda in the 2024 MotoGP season. If confirmed, he would replace Marc Márquez, who is heading to Gresini.
If the Italian makes this team switch, it will undoubtedly be surprising. He is currently with the Mooney VR46 Racing Team — a team he knows well, led by his brother Valentino Rossi — riding a Ducati, which is currently the most competitive bike.
Honda offers a bike that is far from being able to regularly fight for podiums, requiring a lot of work to regain 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 — a prospect that seems distant in the Ducati ranks for the near future. Despite representing a manufacturer with such a successful history, he wouldn’t have the pressure to deliver the best results immediately. In Honda, it is well known that the path ahead is tough and long.
Furthermore, the #10 would have the opportunity to take on a renewed project, with the ambition to return to the top positions, becoming part of Honda’s comeback in 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 might seem like an incomprehensible step. Marini’s contract is only until the end of the next season, but rumors suggest that the agreement with Honda is until 2025, indicating greater stability.
Thinking in the medium and long term, the Italian rider has a rare opportunity to be an integral part of a development project aiming to go from the bottom to the top — a challenge possibly more exciting than he would have in his current team.
In the end, it’s an exploration of new challenges, something almost all riders need at some point in their careers. And a path that could bring him a lot of prestige if the change materializes and everything goes well.