Honda suffered a real bloodbath during yesterday's Grand Prix with Joan Mir's withdrawal due to her health problems, the fall of Diogo Moreira and the abandonment of Johann Zarco on technical problemBut the Japanese manufacturer was nevertheless able to count on Luca mariniwho achieved one of his finest races on the RC213V, even though he is not yet fully recovered physically.
Having fallen ill in Australia the previous weekend, he was forced to withdraw to recover but hadn't arrived in Malaysia fully fit. Far down the standings on Friday, he improved on Saturday, coming very close to securing a place in Q2. Qualifying 13th, he crossed the finish line of the sprint race in the same position, but visibly weakened.
Like his teammate, Luca Marini didn't know if he'd be able to reach the finish line on Sunday, but ultimately proved to be very competitive with the Honda. After an excellent start, he gained five places on the first lap and spent the entire race in eighth position, before benefiting from Zarco's retirement, who had been just ahead of him.
Exhausted when he crossed the checkered flag, the Italian driver did not hide his joy and was thus able to celebrate his 200th Grand Prix with a solid seventh place.
“I wouldn’t have bet on this result, but I think it all came down to my start and the first few corners. My strategy was to give it my all on the first lap, attack like crazy, and try to position myself well to be able to fight for a good result. If I had had a bad start and found myself 16th, not even being at my best, it would have been difficult to finish the race. Instead, I risked everything in the first four or five corners, and it paid off, because I was already well placed, considering our level ,” he said during his debriefing.
“I wasn’t expecting this result, I thought I’d have to give up. Instead, everything went very well. It’s a miracle, a real miracle! I’m exhausted, completely destroyed, but I’m so happy that it’s still okay. Yesterday, after the sprint race, I really didn’t know if I was going to be able to finish the race.”
“I really want to thank my entire team, because they motivated me tremendously before the race ,” he added. “Looking back on the three years we’ve spent together, I wanted to give them a great performance and live up to their constant efforts. This day will remain etched in my memory, even if it’s only seventh place.”
Results of the Malaysian MotoGP Grand Prix :
Ranking credit: MotoGP.com
