Luca Marini is not happy at the end of Friday’s session at Barcelona. There are two Hondas in the Top 10, but neither of them is his. Joan Mir and Johann Zarco have secured their spots in Q2, while Luca ’s 12th-place finish will force him into a very difficult Q1, where he’ll find himself battling against tough opponents like Jorge Martin and Pecco Bagnaia.
However, his lack of success in the time attack reveals much deeper issues, the causes of which Marini at least seems to understand: tyres, temperatures, and the track surface. Grip is traditionally low in Barcelona, but today “it was impossible to try to do anything”; on corner entry, the RC312V resisted, on exit it wouldn’t turn, and the tyres wouldn’t come up to temperature even by accident.
“Tough conditions for everyone. A real nightmare,” the Italian declared gloomily. “The front tyre spec we have here is designed for warmer conditions, so it was really tough.”
So the main problem was the feel with the tyres?
“Yes, the tyres weren’t working. Not at all. They weren’t in the right window. From my perspective, especially, it was practically impossible to try to do anything. The feeling I get while riding is that the tyres aren’t working, they aren’t functioning properly. I expected a much better start.”
We saw a lot of crashes in the left-hand turns.
“You definitely crash on the left, but even on the right they aren’t working perfectly.”
In the time attack, we imagine, did the situation get even worse?
“As soon as you pushed even a little, you’d lose the front in every corner. Really complicated. And if I wasn’t already strong enough on entry, then on exit, as soon as I touched the throttle, the bike hadn’t turned enough yet.”
So the problem persisted throughout the entire corner?
“Exactly. Here, rear grip is always very low, so during acceleration it was almost zero. But compared to last year, what we’re really lacking is corner entry, due to the cold temperature on the front tyre. And that’s where all the problems in the rest of the corner stem from.”
Are you hoping for better conditions tomorrow for qualifying?
“Yes, let’s hope so. Maybe a little sun, a bit warmer. I think the weather will be slightly better, but Q2 will be very difficult. There are two very strong Aprilias and Pecco too, so it won’t be easy.”
What track temperature would be needed for the front tyre to work well?
“Higher than today. Take today’s temperature and add a few degrees," joked the #10. “The air temperature also makes a difference, because there’s a long straight here and the temperature drops a lot on every lap.”
Zarco and Mir managed to get the Honda into Q2.
“Zarco and Mir were very strong to get it in. I want to understand what they did differently, because I really couldn’t do anything in terms of riding. I’m disappointed, especially because I never had any fun today. But we’ll analyze the data, have a meeting tonight, and try to take a step forward for tomorrow.”
Did you and Joan start with two very different setups?
“I don’t know anything. I imagine we started from our base settings, which differ in a few things but not too much. But during the day today, I don’t know what they did compared to me.”
If conditions stay like this on Sunday, will it be a race of survival?
“When you’re in the slipstream of a lot of bikes, it’s not a problem because the tyre temperature rises a lot.”
There’s a test on Monday. Could it be important to test on a track with low grip?
“It would be important to find something good. We’ll see; we have a few things to try. But in the meantime, there are still two days to make the most of,” Luca concluded.