Honda has used up a quota of its permitted extra days of in-season MotoGP testing after hastily arranging a session between Rounds 1 and 2 in order to help Luca Marini get up to speed on its machine
The Italian, who famously left his brother Valentino Rossi’s VR46 Racing Ducati to join the official Repsol Honda Team in 2024, will take over for six-time MotoGP World Champion Marc Marquez.
Along with fellow Ducati fugitive Johann Zarco, Marini is one of the two new faces in the Honda camp this year. Marini had a lot of trouble with his RC213V equipment during the Qatar opening round.
Marini was comfortably last in the Sprint Race and ended almost 17 seconds behind the rider ahead in the full-length feature after qualifying in 21st place, ahead of only Franco Morbidelli, who did not participate in pre-season testing, and roughly 0.7 seconds behind the leader.
While Marini maintains that he “deliberately slowed” to follow Jack Miller (who had fallen and remounted) in an attempt to learn from the Australian, the Moto2 race winner—who qualified first on the Ducati GP22 at the 2023 Qatar MotoGP round in November—appears to have raised red flags for Honda nonetheless.
To build trust in the RC213V ahead of this weekend’s Portuguese MotoGP, Honda organized a one-day test at Jerez with just Marini and Stefan Bradl present.
We’re working with Honda to enhance the bike and are collecting data at various tracks to make improvements. To become more competitive, our goal is to improve our riding sensation.
To help them become more competitive after a challenging 2023 season, Honda and Yamaha have been given concessions for the 2024 MotoGP, including the ability to have private test days.