Castrol Honda HRC rider Luca Marini believes that pre‑season testing times at the Sepang International Circuit do not necessarily reflect the true competitive order for the upcoming 2026 MotoGP season. Marini finished 13th overall at the Malaysian test, a gap of just over a second behind pace‑setter Alex Marquez.
While the Italian acknowledged improvements in areas such as braking and corner entry, he stressed that there is still significant work to be done as all manufacturers have made gains. “We can be satisfied with what we have done because we improved the bike in many areas,” Marini said. “Still, there is a lot of work to do because it looks like every manufacturer improved, so the gap is a little bit the same as in the GP here, and we need to keep pushing and keep working like this.”
Source: Autosports
Marini’s performance in sprint simulation runs showed a larger gap to the front runners, with some riders inside the top five setting notably quicker laps. However, he reminded that testing results can be influenced by several variables that differ between teams, including tyre selection, fuel load and session timing. “You never know the tyres, the fuel, even in the sprint simulations. So it is not easy to understand,” he said.
Looking ahead, Marini pointed to the final pre‑season test in Buriram, Thailand, as a more telling measure of where the team stands before the first race of the season. He said the Thailand test will be crucial for fine‑tuning the RC213V and evaluating new parts ahead of the opening round on March 1. “Thailand will be very important to set up the bike well for the first race, but still, we also have some new items to try there,” he explained.
Marini’s measured assessment reflects a broader theme emerging from early testing: while there has been progress, the real performance picture will only become clearer once the season enters its competitive phase.
