Luca Marini was the pilot chosen by Repsol Honda Team to fill the vacancy left by Marc Márquez when he accepted the invitation from Gresini. Valentino Rossi’s younger brother and Joan Mir will try to put the Japanese brand back on track with good results, which has not happened for three seasons. In Jorge Lorenzo’s opinion, Luca should not have accepted this invitation.
‘Sportingly, I believe it was a mistake. Honda’s desperate situation created an opportunity for Marini, both contractually and economically. Surely he would have continued at Mooney VR46, but it was an offer difficult to refuse’, highlighted the Spanish rider in statements to the newspaper AS.
‘Exchanging money for a challenge with a bike that, in principle, is worse than the one you have is… complicated. Many riders have done the same’, recalled Lorenzo, who in 2019 went through Honda, in a season marked by several crashes, one of which in Assen, which ultimately led to the premature withdrawal of the Majorcan from the two-wheel circuit of the premier class of speed.
Despite the good results that Joan Mir achieved in Valencia, the former rider asserts that the RC213V is still not ready to fight for titles.
‘There is still a lot of work ahead. Marini is a very tall rider and Honda has one of the smallest bikes on the circuit. I don’t know how he will fit on their bike. They will have to make serious changes because of Marini, who is almost 1.90 cm tall. I am 1.72 cm tall and I was very uncomfortable with my legs on the bike, they didn’t fit. It’s hard to imagine Luca Marini on a Honda, but it’s something they will have to do’, he added.
At the Cheste circuit, Marini completed 72 laps at the controls of the new machine and achieved the tenth best time.
‘Ducati and Honda are the opposite in terms of confidence with the front wheel. Marini will have a hard time with that. For me, it’s a mistake in terms of results, he will struggle and will have many crashes. But I could be wrong’, alluding to the 29 crashes that Marc Márquez had this season.
