Luca Marini (7th) was happy and baffled: “I didn’t do anything differently!”

The San Marino Grand Prix is also very important for Honda rider Luca Marini. In front of his home fans, the Italian is keen to put in another strong performance on the RC213V. In 2027, he will be racing on the Misano World Circuit Marco Simoncelli on a KTM.

Marini laid the foundations for a good race weekend in Friday’s MotoGP qualifying session. With his fastest time of 1:30.640, he secured direct entry into Q2 for the first time since the US Grand Prix in March. “It was a positive Friday. The bike worked well here right from the start. This track offers incredible rear-wheel grip. I didn’t do anything differently, and we’re closer to the top riders here. We can enjoy this weekend,” said Valentino Rossi’s half-brother. “I think we can take another small step forward in qualifying on Saturday morning. The pole time will certainly be in the 1:29 range, so we’ll need to be in the low 1:30s to secure a good starting position. If we can start right up front, a good result is possible. It’s very difficult to overtake on this track. With the hard braking zones and the fast third sector, where you get a lot of slipstream from the rider in front, it’s a bit tricky with our bike.”

Luca Marini

Foto: Gold & Goose

Marini: “For some manufacturers, the grip might be too high; for us, it’s perfect”

Because of the high-grip tarmac, riders at Misano have a great deal of rear-wheel grip. Too much of it can become a problem, as the rear of the motorbike then pushes across the front wheel in the corners. “For some manufacturers, the grip might be too high; for us, it’s perfect,” Marini is certain. “This means we have a lot of confidence in the rear tyre going into corners. The motorbike turns in more easily than usual. It’s not too bad for us coming out of corners either. On a single lap, though, a bit more grip would be good – so that we can make better use of the rear tyre on a fast lap.”

In FP1 this morning, the temperature was perfect for the rear tyre, but not for the front tyre. “I think everyone felt very good about the rear, but not quite so fantastic about the front. That’s why it was good not to take any crazy risks in FP1,” explained Marini. “That’s also why the lap times in that session weren’t so fast.”

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A stuttering start to the Bahrain Grand Prix: the FIA narrowly avoids a fiasco like the one in Indianapolis in 2005

Fans could hardly believe their eyes at what they witnessed at the Bahrain Grand Prix: cars crawling along, racing cars that simply came to a standstill. The FIA narrowly avoided a fiasco like the one at Indy in 2005.

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