Luca Marini: Every race “a good opportunity” for Honda MotoGP podium

Luca Marini is chasing a MotoGP podium after Joan Mir’s top-three finish at Motegi.

Marini DNF’d the Japanese Grand Prix last week with clutch issues, but his Honda HRC teammate Joan Mir went on to finish third, behind the factory Ducati duo of Francesco Bagnaia and Marc Marquez.

The Italian hasn’t been on the podium in MotoGP since he was third at the 2023 Qatar Grand Prix, but recent improvements from Honda have allowed both himself and Mir to improve their performance.

“If we arrive in a good situation with good speed, good grid position – why not?” Luca Marini responded when asked before the Indonesian Grand Prix if he believes a podium is possible for him with Honda.

“As Joan [Mir] showed, but also as I showed in the past races, the bike improved a bit and we are able now to ride better. 

“In certain circumstances now I think it’s possible to fight for the podium.”

He added: “Every time is a good option, every time is a good opportunity.”

Indonesia, however, is an uncertainty for Marini because of the stark contrast it offers to Motegi.

“Here is a little bit of a question mark,” the Honda HRC Castrol rider said.

“This track changes many things compared to Motegi, especially the casing of the rear tyre but also the temperature, the track layout – everything is different so we need to see. 

“After FP1 we will understand a little bit more our potential. 

“Hopefully we can enjoy this weekend and try to achieve another good result like in the past races.”

As ever in MotoGP, qualifying will be important to be able to achieve a strong result in Indonesia, regardless of a rider’s race pace or a bike’s performance level.

“Every bike is able to fight with a good qualifying,” Marini said.

“Even Quartararo made fantastic races starting from pole position even if the potential of the package is not that. 

“I think now, with the bike that we have, especially for the Sprint race but also for the long race, if you start in the first row it’s a very easy race compared to starting in the back and recover, even if you have a good pace, because it’s very difficult to overtake. 

“Now, every bike is super-competitive and the qualifying lap is very important; we try to do it well every time and Joan did it very well in Japan.”

Marini added that the pressure on qualifying is forcing the riders to change how they approach the race weekends.

“Now we are pushing at the very limit in the practice to stay in the top-10 because this can change your weekend,” he said.

“For the moment, it’s like this. If you don’t have the pace but you start in the front you can achieve a very good result; if you have the best pace of the grid but you start 12th I think the race will be tough.”