MARINI STRUGGLES IN AUSTRIA AS NAKAGAMI IMPRESSES

Luca Marini arrived in Austria with expectations raised after finishing ninth at his home Grand Prix the previous weekend. But the Honda rider’s promising start in Spielberg gave way to a difficult event, with replacement teammate Taka Nakagami emerging as a benchmark.

Marini narrowly missed direct entry to Q2 and was only four-tenths of a second off the pace early on. He qualified 15th, while Johann Zarco led Honda’s riders in 10th. Marini finished ahead of Nakagami in the sprint, but the Grand Prix proved tougher: he came home 14th, 22 seconds behind winner Pedro Acosta and immediately behind the Japanese test rider.

Marini was quick to praise Nakagami’s performance rather than treat the result as a slight. “Taka rides constantly, most recently on the 1000cc bike as well. He’s in excellent physical and mental shape, and we know he’s a very good rider and an excellent tester,” he said. “He proved he’s ready for Grand Prix events. His performance was strong. No crashes, no points—he did a very good job and prepared well for Motegi.”

Marini, by contrast, described his own weekend as a disaster. He said the bike worked better when track grip was low, but as conditions improved, his rivals found speed and he did not. The team tried extensive setup changes, including making the bike shorter and raising it in an effort to improve rear grip, but nothing solved the problem.

The race also began badly. Marini said his first lap was difficult and unsettled, partly because of a poor start. He only began to feel more comfortable after refocusing on his riding and managing the rear tyre carefully.

The result had little immediate effect on the championship standings: Marini remains the leading Honda rider in 11th. However, KTM Tech3’s Pedro Acosta has closed to within four points of him ahead of the next round in Honda’s home country.