Honda rider Luca Marini ahead of the Indonesian GP: “Aprilia will be unbeatable”

Honda works rider Luca Marini continues to enjoy mixed results in his final season with the world’s largest motorbike manufacturer. After a poor start to the season, things improved; Marini came close to the top six on several occasions and established himself as the best Honda rider.

Then his form dipped again, and Rossi’s half-brother struggled to hold onto a place in the top 10. In Austria, he finished only 14th behind wildcard rider Nakagami, and at the last event – Honda’s crucial home race at Motegi – he could not manage better than 10th place. Nevertheless, Marini remains the best Honda rider, sitting 12th in the World Championship standings.

A year ago, Marini put on a great show in the heat of Indonesia. The RC213V bearing his number crossed the line in 5th place. Speaking to the media, however, Marini remained cautious about making bold claims – the competition simply won’t allow for anything more. Marini: “Last year was fantastic. Everything clicked – the combination of bike and tyres on a track I really like. But just repeating that alone is going to be pretty much impossible now.”

Werksfahrer Marini trat zuletzt für Honda im Jubiläumsdesign an

Foto: Gold and Goose

The future KTM Tech3 rider continued: “I think the four Aprilias will be unbeatable. Then there are riders like Marc and other Ducati riders, who I’m also thinking about. If I were to finish around 7th place, that would be a dream result.”

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Marini on the revised schedule: “It’s the result of a lengthy debate. It was initiated by the teams. To be honest, the desire for a separate qualifying session for the sprint has been there ever since the sprint races were introduced. Ultimately, it’s about improving the show, and I think it could be better for the fans too. The fact that we riders will have more pressure and have to manage more time trials is a challenge we’ll have to rise to.”

And what about the reduced track time and the scrapping of the warm-up? Luca Marini in Mandalika: “It’s not quite easy to get to grips with that yet. Given that there will be a lot of technical changes in 2027 and experience is important, that could well be a disadvantage. In particular, though, I see it as difficult for the fans – especially at circuits like Jerez, where people arrive very early because they want to see as much action on the track as possible.”