What’s behind Marini’s disastrous Honda MotoGP debut in Qatar

Despite the “small technical problem” that affected Luca Marini’s race in Qatar’s MotoGP season-opener, in recent days there have been several events that suggest the Italian’s adaptation to the Honda is proving more complicated than anticipated.

The stopwatch can’t be influenced and doesn’t lie. Marini’s regression at Losail is unquestionable. Last November, in his penultimate race on a Ducati, he took pole position in Qatar with a time of 1m51.7s. Last Saturday, on his debut as an HRC rider at the same venue, Marini failed to progress beyond Q1. His time of 1m52.9s placed him second to last on the grid and was 1.2 seconds slower than the effort that put him at the front of the pack in 2023’s penultimate round.

That difference becomes even more pronounced if we consider that, in those four months, most of his rivals improved their lap times. Jorge Martin gained a second on his 2023 time as he took the first pole position of the new season. World champion Francesco Bagnaia improved by 1.1s, and Brad Binder by 1.8s.

Marini finished 21st and last of the classified runners in the sprint race, more than 25s behind winner Martin, and was even beaten by Franco Morbidelli, who arrived at Losail without completing a single lap in pre-season testing due to the accident he suffered at Portimao. Then in Sunday’s grand prix Marini crossed the finish line 20th, ahead only of Jack Miller, more than 42s behind the victorious Bagnaia.

That means the Pesaro-born rider lapped an average of two seconds per lap slower than his VR46 Academy colleague. Marini’s Honda factory team-mate Joan Mir outpaced him at every stage of the weekend, the clearest indication of that being his 23.8s advantage on Sunday as the 2020 world champion finished 13th. That deficit equates to more than a second per lap over the 21-tour duration.

After the race, Marini said he had a “small technical problem” that made things a little more difficult for him. But he also pointed out that, without it, he wouldn’t have been able to do much more. “In any case, without that problem, I wouldn’t have been able to fight for the positions my team-mate moved up to [having started 17th],” admitted the Honda newcomer.

Marini was unable to progress beyond Q1 on his Honda bow and struggled in the grand prix too

Photo by: Gold and Goose / Motorsport Images

As for the “problem” that further complicated Marini’s life, Motorsport.com understands that it had to do with the management of the different electronic maps of the RC213V, the result of the moments of confusion that were experienced right before the start, delayed by a failure on Raul Fernandez’s bike.

In any case, this failure in the configuration of the #10 bike does not mask the obvious delay Valentino Rossi’s brother is suffering to adapt to his new machinery. In fact, HRC considered it appropriate for Marini to travel to Jerez on Wednesday, where Honda’s test team was running with Stefan Bradl, with…