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Following the 16-second penalty inflicted on Maverick Vinales for tire pressure irregularities, Luca Marini nabbed his third consecutive top 10 on the HRC team's RC213V, a confirmation of the steady path of improvement finally undertaken in 2025 by the Japanese manufacturer. The race saw him as the protagonist of a "first half" on the attack, in which the Italian climbed from the his P15 starting position up to ninth, finding himself close to undermining the M1 of Fabio Quartararo; and a "second half" on the defence, aimed at holding off the return of the opponents behind him. This reversal of the trend found a technical explanation in the problems of vibration at the rear, which Marini claimed was giving him more problems than his brand mates.
Zarco's fifth position would indeed hint at least at a manageable handicap on the LCR team's Honda. In any case, the #10's assessment of the last race of the opening overseas quartet is by no means negative, as he awaits his return to Europe at the Jerez track, which will host a crucial collective test session after the Grand Prix on Monday, April 28.
"It was very difficult again today. Compared to yesterday the vibrations decreased, the changes we made today in the warm-up a little bit helped us but still it's a really important limit for us. What I understand is that all the Hondas suffer from this vibration problem, but it really hinders me on the race pace. I have to go two to three tenths slower every lap because in almost every corner it spins behind me and starts vibrating so much. When that happens the only solution is to take the corners slower. It's an obstacle that we have to overcome sooner or later. Already this morning we made some progress and we have some ideas to try in the Jerez test. Aside from that, I think it was a positive race, the pace in the low 53s is good, the problem is that fighting with the other bikes right now is still complicated, especially on a track like Lusail, with such a long straight where top speed matters so much, and we certainly don't shine in that."
Following your race there was a first phase where you could be seen moving up the leaderboard and a second phase where instead you started to lose something. Is the motivation really due to the vibrations you complain about?
"Exactly. As long as it doesn't vibrate I can try to fight, to climb up. I felt like I had more than Acosta or Quartararo in front of me. Then slowly the tire behind drops, the vibrations start to increase and I lose time, until the riders behind me come back again. Another issue is that it would be good to be in Q2 to be able to start in front, because in my opinion on Sunday in the race we always go quite strong. We suffer more at other times of the weekend and that's another thing to solve."
In addition, the RC213V's limitation of not yet being able to develop a high top speed we imagine complicates overtaking even more.
"Yes absolutely. Because you may have a little bit more, but then they all pass you back on the straight. In modern MotoGP there are fewer and fewer overtaking points, and if you can rely on the engine and good aerodynamics clearly the straight is the easiest place to overtake."
In two weeks it's off to Jerez. Race and test Monday on a track that because of its characteristics we know historically is a very truthful test bed. Of this weekend in Qatar what will you take there?
"We go to Jerez with the idea of trying to put everything together to be effective in qualifying. The expectations we had before coming here were not high. We knew it was going to be a track where we were going to suffer a lot, as happened yesterday in the Sprint, while today was a positive race, I was able to have a good fight with riders from other brands like Bez, Ogura, Quartararo, Binder and I had fun. It would be better to start further ahead to get the best out of the potential of the bike in corner entry and braking, because when you are in the group these phases of riding get dirty."
