Honda MotoGP star details worrying illness effects after Phillip Island withdrawal

Honda’s Luca Marini has revealed the virus that ruled him out of the MotoGP Australian Grand Prix left him feeling like “I had arthritis” as he couldn’t move his limbs.

The Italian pulled out of last weekend’s Australian Grand Prix at Phillip Island due to a virus, leaving the factory Honda squad with no riders on the grid.

Ahead of his return at the Malaysian Grand Prix, Marini has now detailed what was wrong with him and opened up on the concerning symptoms he experienced.

“I literally had no strength or power in my muscles”

“The sensations were very strange; I had never experienced anything like that,” he told reporters on Thursday at Sepang.

“I literally had no strength or power in my muscles. I had a lot of difficulty moving my hands, fingers and feet.

“It was as if I had arthritis. I was even struggling to type messages on my phone.”

Marini isn’t sure what the virus was that struck him down at Phillip Island and is still waiting on the results from tests.

However, he says he feels much better already coming into the Sepang weekend.

“I’m waiting for the results of the tests they did here,” he added.

“The initial parameters seem normal, and everything looks good. In fact, I’m already starting to feel much better.”

Honda’s factory line-up back together

Honda should be back to full strength this weekend at the Malaysian Grand Prix, with Joan Mir cleared to stage his return.

The 2020 world champion has been absent since after the San Marino Grand Prix due to a medical issue.

Speaking on Thursday at Sepang, having missed the last four rounds, Mir said he was suffering from vision problems brought on by extreme fatigue.

Mir didn’t go into detail about how the fatigue issues developed, though he noted that this year has been harder than he expected.

Honda went strongly at Sepang last year, with Mir scoring the second of his podium finishes in third place.