Aleix Espargaró will become a Honda test rider at the end of this season, and Luca Marini can’t wait to see the experienced rider at the helm of the Honda RC213V. However, the Italian doesn’t want the rider to come to the Japanese team on his own, saying that he wants engineers to come along with the #41.
Marini explained in Germany that he is very keen to see A. Espargaró on his bike: ‘I want to see when he will test the bike. I hope he does it right after the last race [in Valencia]’.
The Italian, who will have his second season with the Japanese manufacturer next year, also recalled a true MotoGP icon, Dani Pedrosa, bridging the gap between what the Spaniard did and the hope that Espargaró can do perhaps the same, adding that he would like to see the rider accompanied by others in the garage:
– It will be impossible to say whether he will have an impact like Pedrosa did at KTM, but he will certainly bring a lot of know-how from Aprilia. He has first-hand experience of the whole growth of Aprilia, and I hope that engineers can come too, not just Aleix.
Pedrosa is seen as one of the people largely responsible for KTM’s growth in recent years, as the KTM RC16 has seen a huge increase in performance since he took on the role of test rider at the Austrian manufacturer, and that is also Marini’s wish for Espargaró’s impact.