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Luca Marini

Luca Marini
Marini in 2015
NationalityItalian
Born (1997-08-10) 10 August 1997 (age 27)
Urbino, Italy
Current teamHonda HRC
Bike number10
Motorcycle racing career statistics
MotoGP World Championship
Active years2021
ManufacturersDucati
(20212023)
Honda (2024–)
Championships0
2024 championship position22nd (14 pts)
Starts Wins Podiums Poles F. laps Points
75 0 2 2 1 376
Moto2 World Championship
Active years20152020
ManufacturersKalex
Championships0
2020 championship position2nd (196 pts)
Starts Wins Podiums Poles F. laps Points
87 6 15 5 5 626
Moto3 World Championship
Active years2013
ManufacturersFTR Honda
Championships0
2013 championship positionNC (0 pts)
Starts Wins Podiums Poles F. laps Points
1 0 0 0 0 0

Luca Marini (born 10 August 1997) is an Italian Grand Prix motorcycle racer contracted to race with Repsol Honda Team during 2024 and 2025.[1][2]

Marini competed for Mooney VR46 Racing Team in the 2023 MotoGP World Championship, finishing the season in eighth position. He finished as runner-up in the 2020 Moto2 World Championship. He is the maternal half-brother of Valentino Rossi.[3]

Career

Moto3 World Championship

Marini made his début in the Moto3 World Championship at the 2013 San Marino and Rimini Riviera motorcycle Grand Prix as a wildcard, failing to finish the race.

Moto2 World Championship

In 2015, he got another wildcard entry at the same place, this time in the Moto2 class with Pons Racing Junior Team aboard a Kalex, finishing the race in 21st place.

Forward Team (2016–2017)

2016

In 2016, Marini was signed by the Forward Team to compete full-time in the same class; he got his first Grand Prix points in Qatar, where he finished in 10th place, and his best result in Germany, where he had a 6th-place finish. Marini still remained with the team for

2017

In 2017, Marini was signed Forward Team. Finished in 4th place, Czech Republic.

Sky Racing Team VR46 (2018–2020)

2018
Marini at Brno in 2018

In 2018, Marini achieved his first podium in Germany and his first victory in Malaysia.

2019

In 2019, he secured two podiums in Mugello and Assen, leading to back-to-back wins at Thailand and Japan.

2020

In 2020 Marini became a contender for the championship title along with Enea Bastianini and Sam Lowes, the first round of the season saw Marini retire at Qatar but would clinch his first win at the second round at the Spanish Grand Prix and claim a second-place finish in the second Jerez round (the Andalusian GP), with more point scoring finishes at Brno (4th place) and another second-place finish at the Austrian Grand Prix and a point finish in Styria before claiming his second win and a 4th place respectively at the two Misano rounds before adding a third win at Catalunya.

Marini finished the French Grand Prix outside the points in 18th and at the first Aragon round he highsided off his bike and retired from the race with Lowes taking first place in the next three rounds with Marini finishing the same three rounds (Teruel, Europe, and Valencia) in 11th, 6th and 5th place respectively and finishing 2nd in Portugal behind Remy Gardner who would claimed his first win.

Marini finished the 2020 Moto2 season as the championship runner up with 196 points with over three wins and three 2nd place finishes which put Marini ahead of Lowes who had scored exactly the same points as Marini but Lowes claimed third and Marini second at the final race which meant that Marini was ahead of Lowes on countback, with Bastianini being nine points ahead of both of them.

MotoGP World Championship

Sky VR46 Avintia (2021)

For 2021, Marini moved to the MotoGP class joining the Esponsorama Avintia team along with 2020 Moto2 Champion Enea Bastianini, Marini however would use the Sky VR46 livery on his bike while Bastianini would use the Avintia livery.

For the first two rounds of his rookie season at Qatar, Marini ended up finishing 16th and 18th respectively while his teammate Bastianini finished 10th and 11th in the first two rounds. Portimao saw improvement for Marini as he managed to make it into Q2 of Qualifying through free practice and started 8th on the grid, he finished the race in 12th place.

Mooney VR46 Racing Team (2022–2023)

For 2022, Marini was confirmed to be staying in the premier class, partnering his 2020 teammate at Mooney VR46 Racing Team, Marco Bezzecchi.

For 2023, Marini finished the season for Mooney VR46 Racing Team in eighth place. He took his first premier class podium at Austin, and his first pole position at the Indonesian Grand Prix.

Repsol Honda Team (2024–)

Marini at the 2024 Malaysian Grand Prix

Marini initially signed one year extension with the VR46 team,[4] however rumors began circulating the paddock about Marini being linked to a vacant seat at the Repsol Honda team left by the 8-time world champion, Marc Márquez. The VR46 team subsequently confirmed Marini's departure, with Honda confirming the signing of Marini two days later.[5]

Career statistics

FIM CEV Moto3 Junior World Championship

Races by year

(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position, races in italics indicate fastest lap)

Year Bike 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 Pos Pts
2013 FTR Honda CAT1 CAT2 ARA ALB1 ALB2
7
NAV VAL1 VAL1 JER
14
25th 11
2014 Kalex KTM JER1
Ret
JER2
14
LMS
10
ARA
15
CAT1
15
CAT2
16
ALB
10
NAV
Ret
ALG
18
VAL1
8
VAL1
8
16th 32

FIM CEV Moto2 European Championship

Races by year

(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position, races in italics indicate fastest lap)

Year Bike 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 Pos Pts
2015 Kalex ALG1
5
ALG2
4
CAT
2
ARA1
Ret
ARA2
7
ALB
4
NAV1
4
NAV2
4
JER
4
VAL1
Ret
VAL2
6
5th 115

Grand Prix motorcycle racing

By season

Season Class Motorcycle Team Race Win Podium Pole FLap Pts Plcd
2013 Moto3 FTR Honda Twelve Racing 1 0 0 0 0 0 NC
2015 Moto2 Kalex Pons Racing Junior Team 1 0 0 0 0 0 NC
2016 Moto2 Kalex Forward Racing Team 18 0 0 0 1 34 23rd
2017 Moto2 Kalex Forward Racing Team 16 0 0 0 0 59 15th
2018 Moto2 Kalex Sky Racing Team VR46 18 1 5 2 1 147 7th
2019 Moto2 Kalex Sky Racing Team VR46 19 2 4 1 2 190 6th
2020 Moto2 Kalex Sky Racing Team VR46 15 3 6 2 1 196 2nd
2021 MotoGP Ducati Sky VR46 Avintia 18 0 0 0 0 41 19th
2022 MotoGP Ducati Mooney VR46 Racing Team 20 0 0 0 1 120 12th
2023 MotoGP Ducati Mooney VR46 Racing Team 18 0 2 2 0 201 8th
2024 MotoGP Honda Repsol Honda Team 19 0 0 0 0 14 22nd
Total 163 6 17 7 6 1002

By class

Class Seasons 1st GP 1st Pod 1st Win Race Win Podiums Pole FLap Pts WChmp
Moto3 2013 2013 San Marino 1 0 0 0 0 0 0
Moto2 2015–2020 2015 San Marino 2018 Germany 2018 Malaysia 87 6 15 5 5 626 0
MotoGP 2021–present 2021 Qatar 2023 Americas 75 0 2 2 1 376 0
Total 2013, 2015–present 163 6 17 7 6 1002 0

Races by year

(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position; races in italics indicate fastest lap)

Year Class Bike 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 Pos Pts
2013 Moto3 FTR Honda QAT AME SPA FRA ITA CAT NED GER IND CZE GBR RSM
Ret
ARA MAL AUS JPN VAL NC 0
2015 Moto2 Kalex QAT AME ARG SPA FRA ITA CAT NED GER IND CZE GBR RSM
21
ARA JPN AUS MAL VAL NC 0
2016 Moto2 Kalex QAT
10
ARG
18
AME
Ret
SPA
16
FRA
12
ITA
Ret
CAT
Ret
NED
Ret
GER
6
AUT
17
CZE
Ret
GBR
Ret
RSM
13
ARA
25
JPN
12
AUS
16
MAL
9
VAL
22
23rd 34
2017 Moto2 Kalex QAT
6
ARG
12
AME
10
SPA
5
FRA
Ret
ITA
6
CAT
DNS
NED
Ret
GER
DNS
CZE
4
AUT
Ret
GBR
11
RSM
Ret
ARA
Ret
JPN
Ret
AUS
23
MAL
Ret
VAL
23
15th 59
2018 Moto2 Kalex QAT
9
ARG
16
AME
13
SPA
Ret
FRA
Ret
ITA
7
CAT
17
NED
8
GER
3
CZE
2
AUT
3
GBR
C
RSM
Ret
ARA
11
THA
2
JPN
9
AUS
5
MAL
1
VAL
Ret
7th 147
2019 Moto2 Kalex QAT
8
ARG
7
AME
6
SPA
8
FRA
13
ITA
2
CAT
6
NED
3
GER
10
CZE
5
AUT
Ret
GBR
9
RSM
11
ARA
4
THA
1
JPN
1
AUS
Ret
MAL
10
VAL
8
6th 190
2020 Moto2 Kalex QAT
Ret
SPA
1
ANC
2
CZE
4
AUT
2
STY
7
RSM
1
EMI
4
CAT
1
FRA
17
ARA
Ret
TER
11
EUR
6
VAL
5
POR
2
2nd 196
2021 MotoGP Ducati QAT
16
DOH
18
POR
12
SPA
15
FRA
12
ITA
17
CAT
12
GER
15
NED
18
STY
14
AUT
5
GBR
15
ARA
20
RSM
19
AME
14
EMI
9
ALR
12
VAL
17
19th 41
2022 MotoGP Ducati QAT
13
INA
14
ARG
11
AME
17
POR
12
SPA
16
FRA
9
ITA
6
CAT
6
GER
5
NED
17
GBR
12
AUT
4
RSM
4
ARA
7
JPN
6
THA
23
AUS
6
MAL
Ret
VAL
7
12th 120
2023 MotoGP Ducati POR
Ret
ARG
83
AME
27
SPA
6
FRA
Ret4
ITA
45
GER
54
NED
7
GBR
7
AUT
4
CAT
11
RSM
97
IND
DNS
JPN INA
Ret2
AUS
12
THA
73
MAL
109
QAT
33
VAL
9
8th 201
2024 MotoGP Honda QAT
20
POR
17
AME
16
SPA
17
FRA
16
CAT
17
ITA
20
NED
17
GER
15
GBR
17
AUT
Ret
ARA
17
RSM
DNS
EMI
12
INA
Ret
JPN
14
AUS
14
THA
12
MAL
15
SLD
16
22nd 14

* Season still in progress.

References

  1. ^ MotoGP™, Moto2™, Moto3™ FIM Grand Prix World Championship: 2024 Provisional Entry Lists fim-moto.com, 27 November 2023. Retrieved 28 November 2023
  2. ^ Honda announces 'off-sequence' MotoGP contract for Marini the-race.com, 27 November 2023. Retrieved 28 November 2023
  3. ^ "San Marino MotoGP: Rossi 'can't wait' for half-brother Luca's GP debut". Crash.net. Crash Media Group. 12 September 2013. Retrieved 24 January 2016.
  4. ^ "Marini to continue with Mooney VR46 in 2024". The Official Home of MotoGP. 7 September 2023. Retrieved 1 December 2023.
  5. ^ "HRC sign Luca Marini". The Official Home of MotoGP. 27 November 2023. Retrieved 1 December 2023.