Luca Marini says he will keep his initial targets fairly modest for when he begins his new chapter with the Repsol Honda Team in the 2024 MotoGP World Championship.

Replacing six-time MotoGP World Champion Marc Marquez in the decorated HRC squad, the two-year deal sees Marini throw his leg over full factory machinery for the first time since making his MotoGP debut in 2021.

The move sees Marini emulate his brother, nine-time World Champion Valentino Rossi, in forging a relationship with Honda, the Italian two-wheel legend having won three of his seven premier class titles [2001, 2002, 2003] with the Japanese firm.

However, Marini - who switches from Rossi’s VR46 Racing Ducati team - joins Honda in the midst of a relative crisis by its high standards. Indeed, the manufacturer has suffered a protracted decline in competitiveness since 2020, a trend fuelled by a catalogue of injury woes for riders at both the HRC Repsol team and the satellite LCR set-up.

It’s a situation Marini is openly aware of, prompting him to keep his early targets for 2024 restricted to attaining team lead status by out-performing his Honda counterparts, among them HRC Repsol team-mate  Joan Mir, plus LCR pairing Johann Zarco and Takaaki Nakagami.

“I start with an open mind,” he commented. 

“We need to see our speed and potential after the first official test and we need to find our balance to find a way to beat my direct opponents, my team-mates, that is my first goal. 

“But also I want to look forward and to try and find the podium and a victory on this bike. I know it might be tough but we need to look ahead.”

"Honda has power to stay top for many years"

Despite this, Marini has faith in Honda’s rich heritage and legacy for success in the premier class, saying it has the means and resources to both reassert its authority in MotoGP and dominate for years to come.

“It was a shock when Marc announced his change, so my manager tried to find a way to approach this new project to improve together and to try to build a better performance, a better bike to win races and to come back and win titles. This is our goal, this is our target. 

“The history, numbers, statistics prove themselves, it’s a difficult moment [now] but I will give my energy to this project and ensure that if we find the correct direction then we have the power to stay at the top for many years.”