After returning to the podium in the Qatar GP, Luca Marini faces the MotoGP Valencian GP with high ambitions. Currently, he is ten points away from fifth place in the championship standings.

While it’s uncertain if this will be his last round with the Mooney VR46 Racing Team, the Italian highlighted his aim to end the season among the strongest riders, aiming for the top five in the World Championship.

– We arrive in Valencia for the last race of 2023, a very particular track, after a great weekend in Qatar. Let’s check the weather and temperatures, let’s not forget that we are now at the end of November. The goal is to finish on top, be able to show a good performance here too and be there in the leading group. The top 5 in the overall standings would be fantastic.

O conteúdo Luca Marini aiming for the top 5 in the championship aparece primeiro em Motorcycle Sports.

Luca Marini returned to the podium with a third-place finish at the MotoGP Qatar Grand Prix. He was unable to contend for the win against Fabio di Giannantonio (Gresini/Ducati) and Francesco Bagnaia (Ducati), but he believes that his pace was sufficient and that he fell victim to race circumstances.

The Mooney VR46 Racing Team rider stated in a press conference that Bagnaia taking the lead early on thwarted his plans: ‘I’m really satisfied with the weekend, we’ve made a very solid work. The feeling with the bike was good. I knew that probably I wasn’t the fastest because Fabio showed us a very good pace from Friday. It’s just a pity because Pecco made an amazing start and my plan was to start well and be first at the end of the first lap and try to open a gap with them because I knew that with the soft front [tyre] I had something more maybe on the left corners in the first two laps. But then when I saw Pecco in front I said: «OK. Let’s manage a little bit the tyres»’.

Subsequently, Marini said that he ended up losing time behind other rivals, which cost him the chance of winning: ‘Fabio and Álex [Márquez] behind me were pushing a lot, they overtook me, and then I’ve lost a lot of time with Álex and Brad [Binder], so the opportunities of the victory were gone. But I was just trying to manage the tyres in the best way because with the soft front when you reach too much temperature it’s very difficult to ride. For my starting position the choice was to put the soft. I could also do the race with the hard, but the plan was another. But I’m very satisfied with my performance, my tyre management was good and I think had the pace to fight with them for the victory. But I’ve lost too much time during the race’.

O conteúdo ‘I had the pace to fight for the victory, but I’ve lost too much time’ – Luca Marini aparece primeiro em Motorcycle Sports.

Luca Marini secured a podium finish this Sunday at the MotoGP Qatar GP. Starting from pole position, the Mooney VR46 Racing Team rider wasn’t always in the top three, but managed to recover and clinch the final third place.

In the flash interview with the official broadcast, the Italian expressed the need for this type of result and performance but believes he could have contended for the win. Now, he sets his sights on the last round of the year:

– Fantastic. It was an amazing weekend, I really needed it. It’s just a pity because I’ve lost a lot of time with Álex [Márquez] and Brad [Binder], because I think that I had the pace to stay with Fabio [Quartararo] and Pecco [Bagnaia] and maybe try to win at the end of the race. But anyway, a great podium, a great weekend, so thank you to my team. We worked very well. We have just another weekend, so let’s enjoy and try to do our best also in Valencia.

O conteúdo ‘I had the pace to try to win; we have just another weekend…’ – Luca Marini aparece primeiro em Motorcycle Sports.

After the Repsol Honda possibility fell through, Fermin Aldeguer’s future may well still to have MotoGP at the end of the tunnel, but at the wheel of a Desmosedici. The Mooney VR46 Racing Team seems to be the main candidate to sign the rider, but there are other names on the table.

Although there has been no official confirmation, everything suggests that the deal has been finalised between Honda and Luca Marini, which leaves an open MotoGP seat in Valentino Rossi’s team.

About two days ago Uccio Salucci admitted that the #10 would not be with the team next year, and even admitted that he would be interested in securing a rider for the vacancy from Moto2: ‘When you lose a rider like Marini in november, it’s difficult. We have to discuss and talk to the different teams. Our option isn’t just Aldeguer, there are more riders and teams. Tony Arbolino is an option. I like Tony, he’s fast and he’s Italian. He’s another name, but he’s not the only one. We’ll see in the next four days’.

The italian team headmaster even spoke about Pramac’s alleged interest in the 18-year-old Beta Tools SpeedUp rider, speaking to Sky, while guaranteeing that Valentino Rossi’s team had already made an initial enquiry: ‘Pramac’s interest in Aldeguer? I understand them very well. He’s talented. I’m sorry to talk about a rider who has a contract with another team, it’s not our style, but this also happens in sport. For now, we’ve just had a chat, but we’ll be able to get to the heart of things soon’.

The rider himself spoke to DAZN about the alleged interest, which is nothing new to him: ‘I’ve heard that it’s a possible option, but nothing has been decided yet. It doesn’t just depend on me, on my decision, but also on the decision of my current team and Mooney VR46’.

What is certain is that with only one MotoGP seat open at the moment, it’s likely that Aldeguer will take it, which leaves Fabio Di Giannantonio’s future in the class in doubt, as he has been one of the standout riders over the last two rounds (including the Qatar GP).

O conteúdo Mooney VR46 confirms approach for Aldeguer; Rider aware of interest but says that for now ‘it was just a conversation’ aparece primeiro em Motorcycle Sports.

After starting from pole position, Luca Marini finished the Qatar MotoGP Sprint race in third place. The Mooney VR46 Racing Team rider couldn’t hold off Jorge Martín (Prima Pramac/Ducati) and Fabio Di Giannantonio (Gresini/Ducati).

In the flash interview with the official broadcast, the Italian rider expressed his sactisfation with the result, but admitted that he was lacking some race pace: ‘It’s great. I told you after the qualifying that I knew I was missing some tenths on the race pace and in fact this is what happened during the race. I tried to push a lot in the beginning, I tried to put a gap and fight with all the other riders for not let them go, but they were faster than me today, so I was just trying to manage to achieve this podium because it’s a fantastic result’.

Ahead of Sunday’s race, Marini explained he had some troubles with the rear tyre and he needs to figure out what happened: ‘Let’s keep pushing like this, we need to find something for tomorrow’s race because today with the grip of the rear tyre I was struggling too much. I didn’t expect, sincerely, because the hard rear during the practice was better every lap, but today it was a disaster from the lap four until the end. So we need to understand why. Everytime when there is low grip on the ground Jorge is riding very well. He has a good set-up for this kind of conditions and congratulations to him because he is doing an amazing weekend’.

O conteúdo ‘I told I knew I was missing some tenths on the race pace’ – Luca Marini aparece primeiro em Motorcycle Sports.

Luca Marini secured the pole position for the MotoGP Qatar Grand Prix this Saturday. In the qualifying session at Losail, the rider from Mooney VR46 Racing Team set a new lap record to edge out Fabio di Giannantonio (Gresini/Ducati) by just 67 milliseconds.

The Italian rider spoke to the official broadcasting and he revealed that the lap could be even better: ‘It wasn’t perfect; sincerely I think every time you can do something more. Maybe I had something in sector three – I went wide maybe in two corners, in turn seven especially. Anyway it was a fantastic lap, I really enjoyed riding the bike today’.

As for the races, Marini feels he has to do better, when he still has doubts about the tyre choice: ‘I think that for the races we need to find two tenths in the race pace, but let’s see after the tyre choice of everybody, because for me the soft front is working is working very well. But I saw a lot of hards on the front. So we will see. And about the rear for sure the hard is working very well, even for the Sprint maybe is the correct choice’.

O conteúdo ‘The lap wasn’t perfect; I went wide in two corners’ – Luca Marini aparece primeiro em Motorcycle Sports.

Luca Marini will start from pole position in the MotoGP Qatar Grand Prix races. The Italian was the strongest in Saturday’s qualifying, setting a new lap record at Losail with 1m51.762s.

After the initial laps, Fabio di Giannantonio (Gresini/Ducati) led, with Marini (Mooney VR46 Racing Team/Ducati) 0.164s behind. Maverick Viñales (Aprilia) held the third position.

Following a subdued start, Jorge Martín (Prima Pramac/Ducati) climbed to third on his second attempt, pushing Viñales to fourth.

In the final five minutes, Marini and Martín were overtaken by Francesco Bagnaia (Ducati) and Marc Márquez (Repsol Honda). The Spaniard closely followed the reigning champion’s wheel and took advantage.

However, much changed until the end. Marini claimed the top spot, edging Di Giannantonio by 67 thousandths of a second just ten seconds before the checkered flag. Thus, he secured the pole position ahead of #49, while Álex Márquez obtained third place. Bagnaia will start fourth ahead of Martín, who settled for fifth.

Q2 results:

Overall results of the qualifying:

O conteúdo Luca Marini secures second career pole position with a new lap record in Losail aparece primeiro em Motorcycle Sports.

The move of Luca Marini to Repsol Honda in MotoGP now seems to be just a matter of an official announcement. The Mooney VR46 Racing Team considers the rider as lost as it is already looking for a replacement at the Moto2 grid.

Uccio Salucci, one of the leaders at VR46, stated to MotoGP.com that a decision will soon be made: ‘We want to recruit a young rider from Moto2. There are some potential candidates. A decision will be made in the next three to four days’.

Thus, Fabio Di Giannantonio is excluded from the list of options, and regardless of the chosen one, Salucci is aware that payment will be necessary: ‘If you lose a rider of Marini’s caliber in November, then you have to buy back riders from the Moto2 teams. We’ve talked to everyone and not just one team, not just [Fermín] Aldeguer. Definitely, we have to pay something, but that’s how it works in our sport’.

Valentino Rossi’s friend also addressed the possibility of Tony Arbolino being the chosen one: ‘I like Tony. He’s a very good rider. He’s very young and Italian. He is one of the candidates. But we’re not just talking about Tony and Fermín. There are other fast riders that I really like. This will become clear in the next few days. We won’t have to wait long’.

O conteúdo VR46 «confirms» Luca Marini at Honda: ‘We want to recruit a young rider from Moto2’ aparece primeiro em Motorcycle Sports.

The first free practice session of the Qatar MotoGP Grand Prix nearly ended in a mishap for Marco Bezzecchi and Pol Espargaró, who had a dispute on the track and narrowly avoided a collision.

The first incident occurred in a corner, where Espargaró (GasGas Tech3/KTM) was running slower, and Bezzecchi (Mooney VR46 Racing Team/Ducati) caught up with him on the trajectory. A collision was narrowly avoided.

Unhappy with the situation, later during the start practices, the Italian made more than one contact with the rear wheel of Espargaró. An action that could very well lead to scrutiny and penalties from the race stewards. Watch the moment below.

O conteúdo Video: Marco Bezzecchi touched Pol Espargaró’s bike after a disagreement on the track aparece primeiro em Motorcycle Sports.

Luca Marini enters the MotoGP Qatar Grand Prix after finishing tenth in the main race at the Malaysian GP. The Mooney VR46 Racing Team rider is currently fighting for a spot in the top ten of the championship, currently occupying eighth place.

In the preview, the Italian stated: ‘I really like the Doha the track, not only the track which is fast, but at the same time really technical, but also the whole atmosphere you can breathe here. Racing at night is always special and for the first time this circuit will not be the scene of the first race of the season, but could even be decisive for the title’.

After races in Malaysia fell short of expectations, Marini emphasized the importance of the Qatar round, saying: ‘In Sepang I had excellent feelings, but in the two races I collected less than expected. This weekend we are fighting for important points for the final positions in the general standings’.

O conteúdo ‘In Losail we are fighting for important points’ – Luca Marini aparece primeiro em Motorcycle Sports.