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Luca Marini put his helmet and overalls back on to take his RC213-V to the track on this test day in Misano, after skipping the San Marino and Riviera di Rimini GPs due to a high fever. Although still not in the best physical condition, the rider from Tavullia could not miss the opportunity to test the new components brought to Romagna by Honda and gritted his teeth in order to also provide his impressions to the engineers.
"I'm still very sick. I no longer have a fever, but I'm out of energy. It's really hard, but I have to try some important elements for future development, so it's important to be here. I will try to do a few runs in the afternoon as well, and then I will stop," Luca said in the middle of the day. "The important thing is not that I am fit or not, but that I can at least feel the changes made to the bike. Whether it's fast or not, I want to try to understand the situation well and give the best feedback I can to the engineers. For sure Mir and Zarco will do more laps than me and provide more information. I hope we will make the same comments and follow the same direction and I think it will go like that."
Of all the work to be done, the most important thing for Marini was to test the new aerodynamic package.
"The new aerodynamics is a step forward to be able to make the bike corner better and I liked it. We have different specs, so we still have to figure out what is the best compromise but these are things we can also do during the sessions," he explained, emphasizing the difference an aerodynamic package can make: "From the outside it looks like little, but riding you can feel the difference so much. Even the fins on the tail, which look very small, make a lot of difference. At least until 2027, a lot of the manufacturers' development will be on aerodynamics, so we have to try to do them better than the others to try to limit and solve our weaknesses, where you can, with the aerodynamics. Because it's easy, cheap and allows you to do great things if you can understand it well."
The Honda rider then explained in more detail the differences found using the fins on the tail and the new fairing.
"The fins on the tail give more stability to the rear, especially entering fast corners. Every time we try to take them off it gets worse, whether it's the vertical ones or the horizontal ones. We have to keep them, and I think everyone will now use the ones on the tail, because they are very helpful," he said. "On the other hand, as far as the fairing is concerned, it is a different compromise that aims to find more 'turning,' because now everyone is able to corner so much thanks to aerodynamics. Especially the Ducatis, which have taken a big step forward from last year. I think our engineers have done a good job, although we definitely still have room to improve the fairing for next year, as this is our first prototype with this type of concept and after homologating this one we will have finished the homologations for this year."
Having given the thumbs up to the new solution, the goal is to adopt the fairing as early as the next round here in Misano.
"We are trying, although we don't know how many pieces we will have available. Maybe it will only be one per rider, because it takes a while to produce the parts in Japan and we weren't sure if the fairing was perfect. Instead, in my opinion, we can safely homologate it for the next race," Luca pointed out, explaining in more detail the layout of the new fairing: "Now the fairings are all bigger, so that the fairing almost scrapes when you lean at the maximum angle and generate some ground effect. Like you do in cars. I think Aprilia was the first to introduce this concept, then Ducati perfected it, and now they all have it a little bit. This year, Yamaha's biggest updates I think are also related to aerodynamics, which was our weakest side until the last race."
Marini does not want to go out on a limb and say that this was the best upgrade brought by Honda, but he acknowledges that he felt an improvement right away.
"It is impossible to rank the upgrades, although the best thing for me was the arrival of the engine we are using now. In terms of performance it can definitely give us a few tenths, but it's not enough: if we start from 1"7 it's hard to get under a second," he noted, admitting that he immediately received good feedback from the new solution. "If we look at it from that point of view, it's true. Although it had been that way with the engine as well. The fact is that with aerodynamics, you don't need counterevidence, because from where we were before to now the difference can be felt so much. The rider can tell already from the exit lap if it's working, because you can feel it a lot. Especially on a fast circuit."
Talking then about what the Honda still lacks, the Marche rider explained what areas he loses in comparison to his old teammate Marco Bezzecchi.
"In the whole braking phase, especially because we have to slow down a lot in the first phase while they can be gentle on the brakes and brake the bike when they are leaning. Then in the first moment they open the throttle and raise the bike, also because they have more grip and more horsepower," he concluded, glossing over Repsol's farewell at the end of the season: "What do I think? I don't know. I have nothing to say."
