Luca Marini ‘open minded’ ahead of Honda spell

Luca Marini says he is going into his Honda era with an open mind.

Marini has joined the Repsol Honda team for 2024, after they saw Marc Marquez jump ship at the end of the 2023 campaign, following on from a barren spell for the factory.

Indeed, Marini will be aware that there is a big challenge ahead for him and his new team, but he sounds ready to meet it head on:

“I start with an open mind,” he said. 

“We need to see our speed and potential after the first official test and we need to find our balance to find a way to beat my direct opponents, my team-mates, that is my first goal. 

“But also I want to look forward and to try and find the podium and a victory on this bike. I know it might be tough but we need to look ahead.

“It was a shock when Marc announced his change, so my manager tried to find a way to approach this new project to improve together and to try to build a better performance, a better bike to win races and to come back and win titles. This is our goal, this is our target. 

“The history, numbers, statistics prove themselves, it’s a difficult moment [now] but I will give my energy to this project and ensure that if we find the correct direction then we have the power to stay at the top for many years.”