MotoGP 2024
We received a statement direct from HRC this evening confirming the signing of Luca Marini for the 2024 and 2025 MotoGP World Championship seasons.
The 26-year-old joined the premier class in 2021 after claiming six wins and 15 podiums in the Moto2 World Championship, finishing runner up in 2020. Since joining the premier class, Marini has taken two Grand Prix podiums, two pole positions and four Sprint podiums in 2023.
Marini will join Joan Mir in the Factory Team on a two-year contract.
The HRC statement follows on from a statement we received from the Mooney VR46 Racing Team a couple of days ago confirming their parting.
Luca joined the VR46 Moto2 Team at the end of 2017 and has achieved his most prestigious results within this family. First podium in the Moto2 World Championship (German GP) in 2018 and first win in the middle class in the same year (Malaysian GP 2018 – 6 victories in Moto2). Best overall result in the 2020 Championship when he is a contender for the Moto2 World title until the last race (final P2). Luca was the first rider to have brought the VR46 brand to MotoGP on the Ducati Desmosedici GP in 2021.
Luca Marini
“I spent most of my Championship career in this Team, so many of the most significant moments of my career so far are linked to this group of people. We have grown a lot together and have gained a lot of satisfactions. This will be my last race with the Mooney VR46 Racing Team: I thought a lot before making this decision and evaluated the new challenges I will face. I leave behind a fantastic Team that contributed to my growth and knowledge of the technical aspects and complexity that characterises this kind sport. It’s time to embrace a new path with enthusiasm, without denying what has been, but with the eyes focused on the future.”
Alessio Salucci – VR46 Team Director
“I have really seen Luca grow, since he was a child, then from a motorsport point of view I had the pleasure of seeing him become one of the strongest riders in MotoGP. I’m happy to have shared six beautiful seasons with him in this project. From the first satisfactions in Moto2, the second place in the Championship in 2020, then the debut in MotoGP, the birth of our Team in the Top class and a 2023 where he managed to be a real protagonist. Luca is a professional with few equals, a technician, a true passionate enthusiast before being a rider and then a great worker. It is a pity to let him go, he will be a really tough opponent in the future, but an opportunity of this type is too much important not to be considered and I sincerely I wish him, together with the whole Team, the very best of luck.”