This year, Luca Marini joined Repsol Honda, where he encountered a different working environment – due to the cultural differences with the Japanese engineers, after previously working with an Italian team until 2023.
The rider explained that working in a factory team – where he is for the first time – is fundamentally different: ‘I was in a satellite team, so it was completely different. When you go testing in a satellite team you just focus on the pure performance – you try settings, you try to be faster. So now the job it’s completely different’.
Having said this, Marini places his trust in the Honda engineers and their qualities: ‘We need to trust in the Japanese. Their method is different compared to the Italian engineers, but they are really precise, really strong, they want to understand everything very well. So it’s part of the job of the rider to try to explain also the problems and share the feedback in the best way. I think we have a very good connection and we are growing a lot together’.
The Italian further elaborated on this different method he found: ‘The approach is that they want to understand everything and they want to be sure that everything works before putting it on the track and maybe break something and cause a problem to the rider. It’s super OK for me. They just need the rider explaining everything very well and the rider that can understand the situation and can share the feedback in the best way explaining also the feeling over the bike – not just shouting about the problems’.