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Riders have been gagged: Luca Marini (Honda) is not allowed to talk about it

Honda had the pace to get all four of its MotoGP riders into the top 10 at the Malaysian Grand Prix. But Zarco retired, Joan Mir had to pull out and Moreira crashed – leaving Luca Marini in 7th place.

MotoGP

02.11.2026 - 09:16

This article is an automatically generated English version. The Original Article was published in German.

Luca Marini in Malaysia
© Gold and Goose Photography

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After eight laps, whilst all four Honda riders were still in the race, we saw Johann Zarco, Luca Marini, Joan Mir and Diogo Moreira in 7th, 8th, 10th and 11th places respectively. Then Mir was forced to retire due to dizziness following a prolonged illness; Zarco’s RC213V broke down; and Moreira crashed whilst running in 10th place partway through the race.

That left Marini, who crossed the finish line in a respectable seventh place, albeit 17.724 seconds behind winner Marc Marquez (Ducati). “It’s a miracle,” said Valentino Rossi’s half-brother, summing up his result. After Saturday’s sprint race, in which he finished 13th and came away empty-handed, he was “completely shattered” and subsequently “slept a lot” and rested. “That’s how I put myself in the best position for the Grand Prix; the team spurred me on and kept me highly motivated. It’s been a pleasure to have spent my three years with Honda. We can look back on this result with fondness. Even though it’s only seventh place, we put in an amazing performance in difficult conditions. That was only possible because we worked together in the way I like.”

Luca Marini laid the foundations on the first lap

Marini, who started from 13th on the grid, laid the foundations for his result early on in the tropical heat. “I risked everything on the first lap,” explained the Honda works rider, who will ride for Tech3 KTM in 2027 and 2028. “I gave it my all and tried to overtake as many riders as possible. I needed some motivation to take my physical condition out of my mind, something I could build on. I overtook so many that I can’t even remember how many. Then I was behind Zarco and wanted to get the better of him, but he was suddenly gone. Those could have been some entertaining final laps.”

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