Luca Marini: Repsol Honda inspiration? Valentino... and Dani Pedrosa

New factory Honda MotoGP signing Luca Marini didn’t have to think for long when asked to pick a Repsol rider from the past who has inspired him the most.

“My brother, it’s easy! He had a great history with these colours,” Marini told MotoGP.com during today’s Madrid team launch.

Valentino Rossi won the 2002 and 2003 MotoGP titles for Repsol Honda before switching to Yamaha.

But Marini’s second choice of inspiration was not a Repsol champion.

“For sure also Dani Pedrosa, who worked a lot of time with this team,” Marini said.

“I like him a lot, he's a good guy and when we talk in the test it's very interesting every time. So I will try to take some inspiration from him also.”

Pedrosa won 31 races as a Repsol Honda rider from 2006 to 2018, making him the most successful premier-class competitor not to claim the world title.

Marini steps into the revised factory Honda colours, in place of Marc Marquez, for what will be his fourth premier-class season.

“It's like a childhood dream,” Marini said. “I'm really pleased to work with this factory, I think we made a good step forward in this test.

“Sure, we will have something more to do more in the Qatar test but we'll be ready for the first race.

“It will be a long season, very interesting in my opinion. I want to arrive at a good level in the middle part of the season. I think we can improve a lot.

“There is a lot of margin on all the areas of the bike and also I can adapt better to the bike.”

Marini feels the new colours also represent the start of a new era.

"When I was a child, I always saw a lot of orange and a big Repsol logo, so it's something new. But also it represents the start of a new project, a new era of Honda, fighting to come back on top."

Marini, whose Ducati experience is highly valued by HRC, was 19th in the opening Sepang test. 

The final pre-season test takes place in Qatar on Monday and Tuesday.