Marini: MotoGP title ‘has to be won by a factory team’

Fastest in both winter tests so far, Luca Marini looks to have a fighting chance of replicating Enea Bastianini’s satellite Ducati MotoGP wins in 2023.

Peter McLaren

07 Mar 2023

The VR46 rider hopes to exploit the proven form of last year’s title-winning GP22 to his advantage in the opening rounds - “we have a bike that you take out of the flight case and is ready to win” - before the factory teams get to grips with their new machines.

But in overall terms the Italian believes it's important for the business side of MotoGP that "the championship has to be won by a factory team" and that official riders always have a "small advantage" over the satellite riders, citing the example of Suzuki’s shock exit at the end of last year.

An Independent rider has never won the ‘MotoGP’ title although Sete Gibernau (2003, 2004), Marco Melandri (2005) and Franco Morbidelli (2020) finished runner-up. Bastianini was third overall in last year’s standings on a year-old Ducati at Gresini.

Asked if he felt satellite MotoGP riders should have some technical concessions, such as an extra new tyre or a little more fuel, to help compensate for the added human and technical resources available to factory teams, Marini replied:

“No, no. Because factory teams need to win.

“They put a lot of money [into MotoGP], so they need to win races and championships because [otherwise] it will be a big problem for the manufacturers and we don't want that any manufacturers retire from MotoGP.

“We already suffered from Suzuki [leaving]. We want more manufacturers to compete in MotoGP at this level, because our sport is so beautiful also because of this fight between different bikes.

“The goal of every rider is to try to go in a factory team and then try to win with that bike. We need to perform well on the satellite team to achieve this target, not try to change the regulations to perform and try to win with the satellite team.

“It's a pity for the satellite team, I know, but we need to think also on the business side. “

‘MotoGP is better than F1’

Pressed on if he was saying that the satellite teams are almost too competitive now, the 25-year-old explained:

“I prefer this level [of competition between factory and satellite] for sure! For me, it’s a better show now. But I know that from a different position, you want more gap between the satellite team and factory team.

“Because when you arrive [in a factory team] you reach your dream to compete in MotoGP for a factory team, you want to have this small gap, this small advantage.

“Because you make a big effort to arrive there. You show your potential, you sacrifice a lot for a ride there and if you have the same bike as another rider on the satellite team you are not happy, in my opinion.

“I don't feel this now, for sure, but the championship has to be won by a factory team.

“It needs to be like this for the future because we need more manufacturers fighting for victory. In the future, we don't want that also other [brands] to retire from this paddock because we need all the support we can to put this beautiful sport as the best sport in the world after football.

“I think it's impossible to fight with [football], but try to fight with Formula One and beat them because our motorsport is better than their motorsport!”

Marini's factory team target for 2024

Given Marini’s comments about the need to retain a level of advantage for the factory teams, he unsurprisingly confirmed that his target is to secure an official seat for 2024: “Yeah, exactly.”

Complicating Marini’s factory quest is that he would be in competition with the likes of team-mate Marco Bezzecchi, while the only known factory seat available for next season is in place of their fellow VR46 Academy member Franco Morbidelli at Yamaha.

Asked about going head-to-head with not only his friends, but riders under the same management structure, Marini admitted:

“Yeah, it's very, very complicated. It's very difficult. My only strategy is to try to have good results and then we will see. I just try to do my best and be better than the others.”

Can Marini repeat Bastianini’s round 1 win?

It may not be ideal for the business side of MotoGP, but Marini’s consistent speed over the four days of official testing since last year’s Valencia finale suggests he could well be a thorn in the side of the five factories this year.

But while he needs to strike sooner rather than later, before the factories unlock more speed from their new bikes, round one in Portimao could be the exception.

“This season [with the GP22] the tests were really relaxed, much easier,” Marini said. “But I know that for the rest of the season it will be a little bit worse because we don't have any [planned] upgrades I think.

“But if I can be fast and fight for the victory, I expect Gigi [Dall’Igna] will support me with something new, like they did with Bastianini last year.”

The six-time Moto2 race winner, yet to stand on the MotoGP podium, believes his chances of repeating Bastianini’s round one victory will be harder this year due to the presence of this weekend’s test ahead of the March 24-26 Portimao race weekend.

“We need to wait until the test in Portimao to see our potential because I was really strong in Valencia and in Sepang but they are completely different tracks compared to Portimao,” Marini said.

“But everybody will be ready to fight for the victory. In this moment all the Ducati bikes are strong and all the Ducati riders can fight for the podium and for the victory. For sure, I will be one of them and I will try to do my best to reach this goal,

“But it's not as easy as we can think because with the test the situation is completely different compared to a normal GP [since] everybody will have two more days to prepare their bikes before the weekend.

“So it will be even more difficult on this side because we have a package that you take out the flight case and our bike is ready to win, I think.

“But with two more days of testing on the same track, everybody will be ready for the race on the 26th of March. So it will be not so easy."