Luca Marini: “I tried to learn Japanese!” - Exclusive

Luca Marini’s determination to help revive Honda’s MotoGP project includes trying to learn Japanese.

Communication between Japanese manufacturers and their European race teams is critical, especially when interpreting rider feedback for bike development.

“When I arrived here, many people told me ‘communication with the Japanese is more difficult. Try to explain yourself in a very clear and calm way’,” Marini said in an interview with Crash.net.

“So I do that in the best way I can.

“I tried to learn Japanese, I won't give up, but it's super difficult!”

While the Italian’s Japanese is a work in progress, he has established strong communication with the HRC engineers.

“At the beginning, it was necessary to build confidence between us. But now they really trust me and I really appreciate this responsibility,” Marini said.

“I try to give very precise feedback to them, also because what a rider feels on the bike is difficult sometimes to see on the data.

“I really appreciate their culture and their way of working. It’s about trying to create a good connection, to also understand how they think.

“Because sometimes it's a little bit different, because of their culture and their experiences. So we try to all be on the same side.”

Marini joined Repsol Honda this season in the aftermath of eight-time world champion Marc Marquez’s departure to Gresini Ducati.

The six-time Moto2 winner was coming off his best MotoGP campaign with two podiums, two poles and eighth in the world championship for older brother Valentino Rossi’s VR46 Ducati team.

But Repsol Honda is in a very different position from when Rossi won back-to-back titles for the team, with 20 race wins, in 2002 and 2003.

Marini took until round nine to score a single point, in the aftermath of tyre pressure penalties at Sachsenring. But his results took a clear step forward after Misano.

Marini, who had been ‘really angry’ at early season rumours he wanted a way out of the team, scored points in five out of the last seven rounds, including a pair of 12th places.

The other two GPs saw him caught up in a first-lap pile-up at Mandalika - one of only four accidents for Marini this year, the lowest number of falls by any full-time rider - and 16th place in the Barcelona finale.

"Always be focused on the target: Bringing Honda back to the top"

Asked if his debut Honda season had been as he had imagined, Marini replied: “I want to start by saying it's a really positive season for me.

“I could improve myself a lot and also my riding. I'm a better rider and a better person. So for this, I'm fully satisfied about my personal growth this year.

“I expected to struggle a little bit less, sincerely, at the beginning of the season,” he admitted.

“While it was really tough, I never gave up and worked in a very good way with all my team and the Japanese engineers.

“Now we’ve reached, for me, a good level. For sure, the performance is still not enough, but we have to look at where we started and see all the jumps ahead we have made.”

LCR’s Johann Zarco was Honda’s top rider, in 17th overall and with a best race result of eighth. Takaaki Nakagami was 19th, Joan Mir 21st and Marini 22nd.

Honda remained last in the MotoGP constructors’ standings, despite access to new technical concessions.

But the quartet were playing catch-up from the opening round after an engine design picked at the opening Sepang test proved a mistake.

“We've been a bit unlucky because the engine character looked pretty good in the Sepang test but then gave a lot of unexpected problems,” Marini’s team-mate Mir explained.

Marini emphasised the need not to be distracted by such setbacks.

“I think one of the most important things was to stay calm and to keep motivation high,” he said.

“Just try to enjoy every situation, even if the result was bad.

“Try to find something to see in a positive way. And always be very focused on the target, to bring Honda back to the top.

“I knew this will take time, but we’ve started to take now a good direction.”

Although professional racing can be selfish sport, Marini insisted he also felt ‘satisfaction’ when other Honda riders benefited from changes he had requested.

“Every time the Japanese bring us a new update, at my request, that works better also for the other riders, it gives me a lot of satisfaction,” he said.

“Because we all have the same target.

“We must keep working hard like this and I’ll keep trying to show my talent and my potential on and off the racetrack.”

Marini will have a new crew chief for his second HRC season with Cristhian Pupulin, who worked with Jack Miller at Ducati and KTM, replacing Giacomo Guidotti.

With the winter testing ban in place for full-time riders, Marini will start his 2025 MotoGP preparations at the Sepang Shakedown test on January 31.