Marini ‘at peace with handicap’, hoped WorldSBK held the key

Luca Marini is ready and raring to go as his third season in MotoGP kicks off at the end of March on the Mooney VR46 Ducati.

While the coming year brings unknown elements such as the introduction of Saturday Sprint races, Marini will be competing on the proven championship-winning GP22, after the Bologna factory decided to run just four upgraded machines - utilised by Ducati Lenovo’s Pecco Bagnaia and Enea Bastianini and Prima Pramac’s Jorge Martin and Johann Zarco - for 2023.

“This season the test was really relaxed for everybody,” Marini said of his current situation, compared to last season’s promotion to a factory-spec prototype. “Also I saw the people working on the bike feeling better, and this also helps my job because the bike every time is ready, every time is at 100 per cent. So for me is much easier, but I know that for the rest of the season will be a little bit the worse because we don’t have any upgrade.

“If I can be fast and fight for the victory, for sure Gigi will support me with something new, I expect, like they did with Bastianini last year.”

A promising start in preseason testing saw Marini head the Sepang combined times, just as he had at Valencia back in November. A total of seven Ducati riders making up the top nine ahead of Portugal’s final two days of preparation this coming weekend.

“I think we need to wait to the test in Portimao to see our potential also on that track because I was really strong in Valencia and in Sepang, but they are completely different tracks compared to Portimao,” the Italian confirmed. “So I think this Saturday and Sunday we can work well on the bike and prepare everything for the weekend but everybody will be ready for a fight for the victory.

“In this moment, all the