Luca Marini “had to slow down” to manage pain, fights back for best Honda finish

Luca Marini battled through pain and limited strength at the Sachsenring and was rewarded with his best Honda MotoGP result.

Marini, Binder, 2025 German MotoGP
Marini, Binder, 2025 German MotoGP

Luca Marini battled through pain and limited strength to claim his best MotoGP race result as a Honda rider at the German MotoGP, finishing sixth despite arriving at Sachsenring only “80% fit.”

The Italian had missed the previous three rounds due to injuries on a superbike at Suzuka but made a strong return, rocketing from 15th on the grid to ninth by the end of lap one.

Though he slipped to 11th during the middle phase of the 30-lap race, Marini clawed his way back into the top six by the chequered flag, capitalising on tyre management and a series of crashes ahead.

Luca Marini 'careful where everyone was falling'

“Really happy with my performance in the race,” Marini said.

“A lot of riders crashed when the front tyre dropped, so I was especially careful with this at Turn 1 where everyone was falling.

“I made a really good start and gained a lot, but with new tyres I was not able to defend myself. We are not so competitive at the beginning of the race.”

Then, from lap seven onwards, Marini began to feel the physical toll.

“I had some pain, so I needed to slow down a bit. But this meant I had a lot of tyre left in the end of the race and I could overtake well.”

The final laps saw Marini move past Pramac Yamaha’s Jack Miller for sixth, then hold off KTM's Brad Binder at the chequered flag.

“I would like to have overtaken Brad and Jack as soon as possible, but I didn't have enough strength in the left arm to push more in braking.

“So it was not possible until they lost some grip in the rear tyre.

“In my opinion, my pace could be much better and I could finish much closer to Aldeguer [5th] and Fabio [Quartararo, 4th].

“We’ve done a good job to improve the bike since Friday, but we need to keep working on our one-lap speed and the first laps of a race.”

Marini has just a few days to recover before MotoGP heads straight to Brno for the Czech Grand Prix, a track where the Honda rider recently took part in a private test.

HRC team-mate Joan Mir failed to finish after being taken out by Ai Ogura, while two places behind Marini in ninth.

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