Luca Marini offers contrasting Honda verdict to Joan Mir

Luca Marini has countered claims from MotoGP team-mate Joan Mir that Honda didn’t bring anything new to the post-season test, but warned progress will still take time.

Mir was left unhappy after last week’s test at Barcelona, which he felt was “not productive”, as everything Honda had brought to try had already been used before.

LCR’s Johann Zarco said he tried a new bike from Honda but it was “nothing positive”, though also stressed that there was no need to hit the panic button yet.

Marini, by contrast, said he had more to test than he expected, with the 2025 prototype “for sure being the base for the Sepang test”.

The Italian felt the new chassis improved the front-end of the bike, but didn’t do anything to improve the rear traction issues the Honda has faced all year.

“On my side I had quite many things to try, sincerely.

“I also expected to have not many things to try because this was the plan, but finally I had quite a lot of things: a new prototype bike that will for sure be the base for the Sepang test.

“Obviously it’s still not as fast as the standard bike we had during the weekend but something positive found.

“ For sure we still need to work on the weaknesses of the bike that are always the same, but some things went fine and other things went bad.

“But this is quite normal as the first test of the 25 [bike].”

On the new chassis, he added: “I think it changed quite a lot, because the frame is a huge change.

“On the front part there is something good, something positive.

“On the rear part still we need to improve, but there are quite a lot more settings we need to try because the frame is a very big change.

“They didn’t make a small change; they made a huge change to understand the direction for the future. But maybe something is good, something not.”

Marini noted that the test of the chassis “was not made perfectly”, so any negatives may not have actually related to the frame and could be more to do with overall bike set-up.

Honda will be at Jerez this week for a final test of 2024, where Marini says “there is also new stuff, more interesting I would say.”

But when asked if it was realistic to expect Honda, who finished last in the constructors’ table in 2024, can make a significant step for the first test of 2025, he said: “I don’t know. Before Sepang I think it’s a little bit early. We wait till maybe mid-season to make a very good step.”