Worse than expected: This is how Luca Marini summarizes the current Honda performance – Nevertheless, he and his colleagues are practicing perseverance
After the MotoGP test in Jerez, Honda is still treading water. The new prototype, which Stefan Bradl rode in his wildcard outing, received scathing criticism from the regular riders. After Le Mans, another private test is scheduled for Mugello – with the Repsol duo and Johann Zarco
So you can’t accuse Honda of being inactive. And that is precisely what is currently keeping the riders interested, even if the results are (still) lacking.
Zarco compares the situation with his time at KTM, where he prematurely ended the 2019 season due to a lack of success and left the team, saying: “Five years ago, I went to KTM. Back then, I wasn’t ready to accept less performance and try to develop the project, stay calm and analyze the potential of the rider and the bike.”
“Now, after this experience, I have more confidence in myself and can better analyze what I’m doing on the bike. It’s a way to make up for what I missed five years ago and to be part of this development.”
He had expected it to be difficult when he switched from Pramac-Ducati to LCR-Honda. He admits: “When it gets tougher and you can’t finish a race or follow the others, that’s obviously the worst feeling. But I stay calm because I can see how hard Honda is working.”
“That gives me the motivation to improve myself too and to be ready when the bike is ready,” says Zarco, looking ahead. His contract runs until the end of 2025, just like that of Luca Marini in the Honda works team. Unlike previously with VR46-Ducati, he also has to accept significantly poorer results
Marini: He took the wrong direction at the beginning
When asked if this is how he imagined being a Honda factory rider, the Italian says: “Yes, but not in terms of performance, because nobody expected it to be like this.”
“I think the new project that Honda wanted to equip us with at the start of the season didn’t really work out. Nobody expected that. Now we are rebuilding it based on our feedback. We need some time to do that. The problem is that we lost time due to these circumstances,” explains Marini.
“We started from even further back than last season. As far as the work in the team is concerned, however, the relationship between me, the Japanese and all the engineers is very good. We have a good connection, but we still need more time. “
Where does he hope to be with Honda at the end of the season? “I’m not thinking about Valencia at the moment. That’s still too far away,” emphasizes Marini. “I’m just trying to pass on my feedback as best I can to improve the bike.”
“Then, when we are able to perform better and fight for better results, we can talk about goals. But at the moment, it’s just about always doing my best, from practice to practice.” Joan Mir also knows that this is not always easy given the ongoing form crisis.
“It’s difficult,” says Marini’s team-mate about the current situation. He joined Honda in 2023 after Suzuki withdrew from MotoGP. His first year as a Repsol rider was just as difficult as Marini’s is now
Mir: First Honda year was mentally very hard for me
“I came from two title wins in five years and was always at the front. A bad year meant fighting for fifth place. The motivation is of course to keep fighting for good results. Now the situation is completely different, which is why you have to motivate yourself differently,” says Mir.
“You have to work with what you have and continue to give 100 percent. Finding this motivation is difficult – all the more difficult the more successful you have been in the past. That’s why last year was mentally very tough for me. But now I’m in a different mood. I’m trying to do my best and be professional, give good feedback so that we can improve. “
He also emphasizes: “Honda is working very hard, but at the moment we are not getting the updates we need. I don’t know what to expect at the end of the season. I’m taking it step by step and not expecting too much. Because if you expect too much and are disappointed, it can be disillusioning.”
Unlike Marini and Zarco, Mir’s contract expires at the end of this season. He himself does not yet know what his future in MotoGP will look like: “I can’t answer that at the moment. I have options on the table, but I don’t know what I’m going to do yet. That’s the reality at the moment.”
“I need a little more time to understand and make a good decision for the future,” says Mir. According to Motosprint.it, one of the options is Trackhouse-Aprilia. There he would meet Davide Brivio, an old acquaintance from Suzuki
