Luca Marini “super angry with myself” as Honda 1-2 chance slips away
Luca Marini believes he had the pace to join Johann Zarco in a Honda 1-2 at the French MotoGP.
While Johann Zarco was celebrating Honda’s first MotoGP victory since 2023, Luca Marini was “super angry with myself” after also starting on wet tyres - but then making a pit stop.
It proved a costly misjudgement.
With the rain worsening, Marini was forced to swap bikes again on lap 8. Although he went on to match the pace of the frontrunners, it was too late to salvage more than 11th.
“Today was a big opportunity and I am honestly really frustrated because I made almost every decision in the opposite way,” Marini admitted. “It’s a big pity. Of course after the race it’s easy to say ‘staying on wets would have been the best’.”
The Italian explained that his call to pit was triggered by the speed of slick-shod rivals in the early laps.
“I made a really good start and was behind the riders on slick tyres. Everybody was so fast with slicks, the tarmac was completely dry and I said ‘with these tyres I cannot do 26 laps’…. But four laps [after pitting for slicks] it started to rain again!”
From that point, Marini could only focus on damage limitation.
“In wet conditions, when I restarted again and I was so far behind on my own, the feeling was not so bad. But I just need to think more about every scenario that can happen and trust my decision until the end,” he reflected.
“Before the race I made the decision to go on wets, because the forecast was saying that it could rain. But then during the first lap I changed this idea and this was the mistake in my opinion.”
"Johann was last... I was P8"
If he had stuck to his original plan, Marini believes he had the pace to follow Zarco onto the podium or even fight for victory.
“For sure, because Johann was last at the end of the first sector. I was like P8, something like this,” he highlighted. “So if I didn't crash, as happened to Miller [also starting on wets], we could fight maybe for the victory or for sure second place, because the pace was very, very good.”
Zarco dropped to the back of the field after being forced wide in a Turn 1 incident involving Marini’s team-mate Joan Mir, who later revealed he sustained a right-hand fracture and neck pain from the crash.
Marini’s 11th place sees him sit 13th in the world championship standings heading into the British MotoGP at Silverstone.
Peter has been in the paddock for 20 years and has seen Valentino Rossi come and go. He is at the forefront of the Suzuki exit story and Marc Marquez’s injury issues.
