Luca Marini sets sights on Honda MotoGP podium: “It’s time to deliver”

Luca Marini says it’s “time to deliver” as the 2025 MotoGP World Championship enters its final four rounds, starting this weekend at Phillip Island.

The Italian has made a big leap in his second season with Honda, collecting 108 points so far compared to just 14 in his debut year, despite missing several races through injury.

Marini’s form has also brought him within 20 points of LCR’s Le Mans winner Johann Zarco, currently the top Honda rider in tenth place overall.

However, while Zarco and factory team-mate Joan Mir have already reached the podium this season, Marini’s best finishes are fourth (Sprint) and fifth (GP).

That includes last time at Mandalika, where Marini was in the top three for the first half of the grand prix before crossing the line 1.2s behind Alex Marquez and a place on the rostrum.

“Back to work with the same focus as the last couple of rounds,” Marini said ahead of this weekend.

“In Lombok we learned a lot about many things and now we arrive in Australia ready to apply them.

“Phillip Island is one of the most unique circuits on the calendar in terms of the location and layout, you can arrive there to find yourself in a different place to other rounds.

“When the weather is good it’s a pleasure to ride so hopefully the forecast improves a bit.

“Our objective does not change for this weekend, myself and the Honda HRC Castrol team know what we are capable of with the package we have and it’s time to deliver.”

Marini’s best MotoGP result at Phillip Island remains sixth place in 2022, during his VR46 Ducati season, while the last time he stood on a MotoGP podium was at Qatar 2023.

Joan Mir wants “to fight for something… like in Japan and Indonesia”

Joan Mir’s roller-coaster season continued in Indonesia, where he arrived fresh from the Motegi podium, took fifth in the Sprint, but crashed early in the grand prix after struggling to generate heat in the medium rear tyre.

“I have a lot of good memories in Australia, I always look forward to going back there and riding Phillip Island every year,” said Mir.

“It’s a circuit where always the rider can have a really big impact on the result, and coming there with a much stronger package compared to the previous years, I want to fight for something like we did in Japan and Indonesia.

“Good qualifying, see what the wind is doing on race day and get ready to battle – that’s the plan.”

Mir, who made his grand prix debut at Phillip Island in 2015 and won the Moto3 title there in 2017, sits 15th in the championship with 77 points.