Luca Marini (born 10 August 1997) is an Italian Grand Prix motorcycle racer contracted to race with Honda HRC Castrol.MotoGP™, Moto2™, Moto3™ FIM Grand Prix World Championship: 2024 Provisional Entry Lists fim-moto.com, 27 November 2023. Retrieved 28 November 2023Honda announces 'off-sequence' MotoGP contract for Marini the-race.com, 27 November 2023. Retrieved 28 November 2023 Marini will leave Honda at the end of the season to join Red Bull KTM Tech3 in .

Marini competed for Mooney VR46 Racing Team in the 2023 MotoGP World Championship, finishing the season in eighth position. He finished as runner-up in the 2020 Moto2 World Championship. He is the maternal half-brother of Valentino Rossi. Marini was the 2011 Italian MiniGP 80 Champion.

Career Moto3 World Championship Marini made his début in the Moto3 World Championship at the 2013 San Marino and Rimini Riviera motorcycle Grand Prix as a wildcard, failing to finish the race.

Moto2 World Championship In , Marini got another wildcard entry at the same place, this time in the Moto2 class with Pons Racing Junior Team aboard a Kalex, finishing the race in 21st place.

Forward Team (2016–2017) 2016 In , Marini was signed by the Forward Team to compete full-time in the same class; he got his first Grand Prix points in Qatar, where he finished in tenth place, and his best result in Germany, where he had a sixth-place finish. Marini still remained with the team for the following year.

2017 In , Marini was signed Forward Team. He finished in fourth place at the Czech Republic.

Sky Racing Team VR46 (2018–2020) 2018

In , Marini achieved his first podium in Germany and his first victory in Malaysia.

2019 In , Marini secured two podiums in Mugello and Assen, leading to back-to-back wins at Thailand and Japan.

2020 In , Marini became a contender for the championship title along with Enea Bastianini and Sam Lowes, the first round of the season saw Marini retire at Qatar but would clinch his first win at the second round at the Spanish Grand Prix and claim a second-place finish in the second Jerez round (the Andalusian GP), with more point scoring finishes at Brno (fourth place) and another second-place finish at the Austrian Grand Prix and a point finish in Styria before claiming his second win and a fourth place respectively at the two Misano rounds before adding a third win at Catalunya.

Marini finished the French Grand Prix outside the points in 18th and at the first Aragon round he highsided off his bike and retired from the race with Lowes taking first place in the next three rounds with Marini finishing the same three rounds (Teruel, Europe, and Valencia) in 11th, sixth and fifth place respectively and finishing second in Portugal behind Remy Gardner who would claimed his first win.

Marini finished the 2020 Moto2 season as the championship runner up with 196 points with over three wins and three second place finishes which put Marini ahead of Lowes who had scored exactly the same points as Marini but Lowes claimed third and Marini second at the final race which meant that Marini was ahead of Lowes on countback, with Bastianini being nine points ahead of both of them.

MotoGP World Championship Sky VR46 Avintia (2021) For 2021, Marini moved to the MotoGP class joining the Esponsorama Avintia team along with 2020 Moto2 Champion Enea Bastianini, Marini however would use the Sky VR46 livery on his bike while Bastianini would use the Avintia livery.

For the first two rounds of his rookie season at Qatar, Marini ended up finishing 16th and 18th respectively while his teammate Bastianini finished tenth and 11th in the first two rounds. Portimao saw improvement for Marini as he managed to make it into Q2 of Qualifying through free practice and started eighth on the grid, he finished the race in 12th place.

Mooney VR46 Racing Team (2022–2023) For 2022, Marini was confirmed to be staying in the premier class, partnering his 2020 teammate at Mooney VR46 Racing Team, Marco Bezzecchi.

For 2023, Marini finished the season for Mooney VR46 Racing Team in eighth place. He took his first premier class podium at Austin, and his first pole position at the Indonesian Grand Prix. A standout performance at the Qatar Grand Prix with pole position and third place finishes in both the sprint and feature race was his last podium as a Ducati rider.

Repsol Honda Team (2024–2026)

Marini initially signed one year extension with the VR46 team, however rumors began circulating the paddock about Marini being linked to a vacant seat at the Repsol Honda team left by the 8-time world champion, Marc Márquez. The VR46 team subsequently confirmed Marini's departure, with Honda confirming the signing of Marini two days later.

Marini had a successful start to his 2025 campaign, scoring points in the first seven races with a best finish of eighth at the Circuit of the Americas. However, after successfully undergoing the first day of testing the Suzuka 8 Hours at the Suzuka circuit, Marini had a serious crash on the second day of testing or on 28 May 2025. The Honda factory team rider suffered a dislocated left hip, ligament injury in the left knee, fractures of the sternum and left collarbone, and a right-sided pneumothorax. The Italian rider was immediately taken to a local hospital and but was in stable condition. Spending the next three races absent due to recovering from his injuries, Marini made his return at the German Grand Prix with a remarkable sixth place finish in the main race. His best weekend with the team came a few races later at the Hungarian Grand Prix, where he earned a best finish of fourth in the sprint before coming home fifth in the main race. After two more top-ten finishes in Catalunya and Misano, a clutch problem on the opening lap saw Marini suffer his first race retirement of the year in Japan.

Marini continued with Honda for the 2026 season alongside Mir.

Red Bull KTM Tech3 (2027–) Marini is set to switch to Red Bull KTM Tech3 in on a two-year contract.

Career statistics FIM CEV Moto3 Junior World Championship

Races by year (key) (Races in bold indicate pole position, races in italics indicate fastest lap) Year Bike 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 Pos Pts 2013 FTR Honda CAT1 CAT2 ARA ALB1 ALB2 NAV VAL1 VAL1 JER 25th 11 2014 Kalex KTM JER1 JER2 LMS ARA CAT1 CAT2 ALB NAV ALG VAL1 VAL1 16th 32

FIM CEV Moto2 European Championship

Races by year (key) (Races in bold indicate pole position, races in italics indicate fastest lap) Year Bike 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 Pos Pts 2015 Kalex ALG1 ALG2 CAT ARA1 ARA2 ALB NAV1 NAV2 JER VAL1 VAL2 5th 115

Grand Prix motorcycle racing

By season Season Class Motorcycle Team Race Win Podium Pole FLap Pts Plcd Moto3 FTR Honda Twelve Racing 1 0 0 0 0 0 NC Moto2 Kalex Pons Racing Junior Team 1 0 0 0 0 0 NC Moto2 Kalex Forward Racing Team 18 0 0 0 1 34 23rd Moto2 Kalex Forward Racing Team 16 0 0 0 0 59 15th Moto2 Kalex Sky Racing Team VR46 18 1 5 2 1 147 7th Moto2 Kalex Sky Racing Team VR46 19 2 4 1 2 190 6th Moto2 Kalex Sky Racing Team VR46 15 3 6 2 1 196 2nd MotoGP Ducati Sky VR46 Avintia 18 0 0 0 0 41 19th MotoGP Ducati Mooney VR46 Racing Team 20 0 0 0 1 120 12th MotoGP Ducati Mooney VR46 Racing Team 18 0 2 2 0 201 8th MotoGP Honda Repsol Honda Team 19 0 0 0 0 14 22nd MotoGP Honda Honda HRC Castrol 19 0 0 0 0 142 13th MotoGP Honda Honda HRC Castrol 6 0 0 0 0 43 11th* Total 188 6 17 7 6 1187

By class Class Seasons 1st GP 1st pod 1st win Race Win Podiums Pole FLap Pts WChmp Moto3 2013 2013 San Marino 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 Moto2 2015–2020 2015 San Marino 2018 Germany 2018 Malaysia 87 6 15 5 5 626 0 MotoGP 2021–present 2021 Qatar 2023 Americas 100 0 2 2 1 561 0 Total 2013, 2015–present 188 6 17 7 6 1187 0 Updated as of 30 May 2026.

Races by year

(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position; races in italics indicate fastest lap) Year Class Bike 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 Pos Pts Moto3 FTR Honda QAT AME SPA FRA ITA CAT NED GER IND CZE GBR RSM ARA MAL AUS JPN VAL NC 0 Moto2 Kalex QAT AME ARG SPA FRA ITA CAT NED GER IND CZE GBR RSM ARA JPN AUS MAL VAL NC 0 Moto2 Kalex QAT ARG AME SPA FRA ITA CAT NED GER AUT CZE GBR RSM ARA JPN AUS MAL VAL 23rd 34 Moto2 Kalex QAT ARG AME SPA FRA ITA CAT NED GER CZE AUT GBR RSM ARA JPN AUS MAL VAL 15th 59 Moto2 Kalex QAT ARG AME SPA FRA ITA CAT NED GER CZE AUT GBR RSM ARA THA JPN AUS MAL VAL 7th 147 Moto2 Kalex QAT ARG AME SPA FRA ITA CAT NED GER CZE AUT GBR RSM ARA THA JPN AUS MAL VAL 6th 190 Moto2 Kalex QAT SPA ANC CZE AUT STY RSM EMI CAT FRA ARA TER EUR VAL POR 2nd 196 MotoGP Ducati QAT DOH POR SPA FRA ITA CAT GER NED STY AUT GBR ARA RSM AME EMI ALR VAL 19th 41 MotoGP Ducati QAT INA ARG AME POR SPA FRA ITA CAT GER NED GBR AUT RSM ARA JPN THA AUS MAL VAL 12th 120 MotoGP Ducati POR ARG AME SPA FRA ITA GER NED GBR AUT CAT RSM IND JPN INA AUS THA MAL QAT VAL 8th 201 MotoGP Honda QAT POR AME SPA FRA CAT ITA NED GER GBR AUT ARA RSM EMI INA JPN AUS THA MAL SLD 22nd 14 MotoGP Honda THA ARG AME QAT SPA FRA GBR ARA ITA NED GER CZE AUT HUN CAT RSM JPN INA AUS MAL POR VAL 13th 142 MotoGP Honda THA BRA USA SPA FRA CATITAHUNCZENED GER GBR ARA RSM AUT JPN INA AUS MAL QAT POR VAL 11th* 71* Season still in progress.

References

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