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Luca Marini Joins Repsol Honda, Leaves VR46

Written by Owen Bradley

Credit: GPOne


Can Luca Marini replicate this image with Repsol Honda?


In a shocking twist in the MotoGP Championship, Luca Marini will be leaving Team VR46 Ducati, and replacing Marc Marquez at Repsol Honda. Marini’s brother is the 9-Time World Champion Valentino Rossi, who is the Team Owner of VR46 Ducati. This is why the news comes as such a surprise, because he is not only leaving a team which he has spent multiple years with and achieved podiums with, but he is also leaving his own family team, for a major rival in Repsol Honda.


Credit: Motorsport.Com


Marini Joined MotoGP in 2021, spending the first year in the premier class, alongside his brother’s final season in the premier class. Marini has two podiums so far in his MotoGP career, coming third in America and then second in Qatar just last week. Marini, riding a Ducati bike, has had great chances to score podiums and pole positions. Leaving a Ducati bike, for the Honda bike seems like career suicide, one of the worst decisions a rider could ever make right now.


Repsol Honda has been a major championship-winning team, last taking the Team’s Championship in 2019. However, since 2020 and Marquez’ injuries, the team has only once managed to take a Top 5 in the Teams Championship. Currently with one round remaining in the MotoGP championship, they sit in P10 in the Team’s Championship and have only scored 108 points despite having four riders to fill in for injured riders. It has been a poignant year for Repsol Honda, clearly not impressing Marc Marquez, who has made the decision to leave the team after being with them for a decade.


Luca Marini will have a massive job on his hands, the Honda bike has seemingly been run on a knife’s edge and looks incredibly nervous as a motorcycle, therefore he will need to work extremely hard in the Valencia test on Tuesday, and the Sepang Test in early 2024 as well.


But what do you think of this move? Should Marini have stayed with VR46 or is he trying to forge his own path, stepping out of the shadow of his brother? Let us know your thoughts, in the comments.


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