Marco Bezzecchi
Luca Marini says he would relish the prospect of going up against Fabio Quartararo at Honda’s MotoGP team in 2027. Marini’s future is currently unknown as he approaches the end of his contract.
It emerged during the off-season that Quartararo has signed for Honda, though the announcement hasn’t yet arrived. With Johann Zarco and Diogo Moreira both contracted for 2027, this could leave Marini and Joan Mir battling for the final spot in the roster.
To add another layer of intrigue, Marini was linked with Yamaha during the Thailand Grand Prix weekend. In fact, he was openly speaking to members of the team in the paddock.
Who do you want as Fabio Quartararo’s 2027 Honda teammate?
Luca Marini would love to be Fabio Quartararo’s Honda teammate
Based on Marini’s comments in an interview with MOW, his preference would be to remain at Honda and partner Quartararo. The 2021 world champion is widely regarded as one of the top riders on the grid.
Marini raced alongside Enea Bastianini and Marco Bezzecchi during his time at VR46, then joined Mir at Honda in 2024. In that time, the Italian has scored 160 points to his teammate’s 120.
Mir is a MotoGP champion but Marini is regarded as one of the best development riders in the field.
The Quartararo deal launched a wave of rider-market stories that also included Jorge Martin to Yamaha, Pedro Acosta to Ducati and Francesco Bagnaia to Aprilia. Again, none of those moves have been confirmed.
Marini said: “Oh, God! If I can stay and see Fabio with me in HRC… that would be fantastic, thinking mostly of myself. But the truth is that nothing is known, there’s a lot of speculation even before we set foot in 2026, so I think it’s a bit… it’s all still premature, we’ll see.
“It’s fine for me, I like it. It’s obvious that nothing interesting was happening in other sports and all these bombshells about motorcycles went off. But that’s okay, in the end it’s part of the game.”
How will Yamaha find a teammate for Jorge Martin?
Yamaha are expected to let Alex Rins go when his contract expires, paving the way for a brand-new line-up.
Toprak Razgatlioglu is likely to stay at Pramac, while Jack Miller isn’t seen as a contender for a factory seat.
Bagnaia was Yamaha’s top target to partner Martin but, as stated above, he has chosen to join Aprilia instead.
The problem now is that the desperate performances of Yamaha’s V4-powered motorcycle will only hurt their stock in the rider market. Indeed, there are already indications that Martin is regretting his decision, particularly after Aprilia’s dream start.
It may be that Yamaha turn to a Moto2 rider to join Martin, although Mir could also be a candidate if he loses the battle with Marini.
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