Sprint races, a final round title showdown, trials, tribulations and sensations - that was the year 2023 in MotoGP... but who were the big standouts? This is BSN's Top 10 MotoGP Riders of the 2023.

Moving on up to seventh and step in the right direction for Luca Marini

It can’t be easy for Luca Marini sometimes. While being brother to Valentino Rossi certainly has its benefits, his is a particularly dense shadow from which to make one’s own impression, a complex dynamic emphasised yet further by racing for his VR46 Racing team as well.

Then on top of that, having team-mate Marco Bezzecchi regularly lauding VR46 Racing as his ‘family’ in MotoGP - when it is literally that for Marini - might seem a touch undermining too.

In short, while those connections may have helped to set Marini on the right path in his Grand Prix, he is arguably now having to work doubly hard to ensure it is his name up there in lights by its own rite.

He is certainly heading in the right direction though. After a wobbly rookie campaign in 2021 was followed by a solid if not sparkling 2022 campaign, Marini found his groove in 2023 aboard the year-old VR46 Racing Ducati GP22.

Standing his ground even as team-mate Bezzecchi soaked up all of the attention during the first-half of the season, Marini proved a fairly close match for his fellow Italian in terms of raw pace at most venues. 

A strong qualifier - a trait that led to his first MotoGP pole positions in Indonesia and then Qatar - Marini’s best results were often found in the Sprint encounters, the shorter distance negating a tendency to slip back over longer distances.

Even so, Marini stepped foot on the podium for the first time this season, breaking his duck early on at Circuit of The Americas with his run to second, before adding a third place finish during the penultimate round in Qatar too.

Taking him all the way to eighth in the standings, it’s the platform he will use to launch his new chapter with Repsol Honda for 2024… time will tell if he can echo his brother’s success in his own way.

8 - Johann Zarco

9 - Fabio di Giannantonio

10 - Aleix Espargaro