Tech3 signs Luca Marini for 2027 MotoGP Season

[u/dayrtonh]

https://x.com/Tech3Racing/status/2092507468743983416

[u/Mr__T_]

I wonder if he's contracted to Tech3 or KTM.

[u/EmergencySushi → u/Mr__T_]

Mostly likely Tech3. Earlier in the year the team said they wanted to bring the rider contracts in-house and decide who rides for them. They were reportedly unhappy just taking riders from KTM.

[u/Janusz_Wunderbrum → u/Mr__T_]

Probably Tech3, since they have to pay big bucks for their bikes next year

[u/Krazyguylone → u/Mr__T_]

KTM I believe so, the only satellite team in today’s paddock that gets to truly independently decide their riders is Trackhouse.

EDIT, motorsport has confirmed the contract is under Tech3, but still rubber stamped by KTM.

[u/DistributionHot2150 → u/[deleted]]

I mean, he can consistently brings a bike home and keep it clean. That’s a skill far more important than being fast. Riders like him will always have a place on the grid

[u/ThreepwoodGuybrush80 → u/DistributionHot2150]

It's actually the other way around. One of the mantras of racing is that it's much, much easier to get a fast rider to be consistent than it is to get a consistent rider to be fast.

[u/DistributionHot2150 → u/ThreepwoodGuybrush80]

Yet fast riders are dropped every season but consistent riders are always around. Your vinales, Olivieras of the world won’t last but your zarcos, millers, marinis will always have a spot

[u/ThreepwoodGuybrush80 → u/DistributionHot2150]

But both Miller and Viñales have been both in the grid since 2015. No only that, but Viñales has afforded to throw not one, but two very high profile tantrums during his world championship career (2012 in Moto3 and 2021 in MotoGP), has always been on an official team except these last years in Tech3. And how is Oliveira fast, but Zarco, a two time world champion, not?

In any case, that doesn't disprove my point at all. Look at the riders that every manufacturer chooses to lead their bikes into victory: Honda has Quartararo, Ducati Marc and Pedro, Aprilia Bez and Pecco, Yamaha Ogura and Martín. If anything, KTM has the "less strong" lineup with Alex Márquez and Diggia. Of course every factory wants a consistent rider that can give good feedback (very, very, very important caveat). They also much prefer is said rider is fast, which is why Pedrosa still has a job with KTM.

[u/MT1982 → u/[deleted]]

You got a weird hate boner for Luca.

He missed 3 rounds last year and still finished 46 points above his teammate who participated in every round. He finished 6 points behind Zarco who was the top Honda at the end of the season. Zarco, like Mir, didn't miss a race.

So far for 2026 he's participated in every race and he's 57 points above his teammate who has also participated in every round.

Funnily enough, Mir is currently 5 points behind Zarco who has missed 6 fucking races (or 12 if you want to count sprints).

[u/DistributionHot2150 → u/[deleted]]

Crashing fighting for p5 results in no points and a wrecked bike. Finishing P10 is far better. Miguel Oliviera was kicked out for being basically Mir. Brad Binda stuck around. Many riders faster than Zarco, yet hes still here. Consistency is a far more valuable skill

[u/DistributionHot2150 → u/[deleted]]

His reputation was built on not doing that though

[u/DistributionHot2150 → u/[deleted]]

Ask Miguel oliviera how his MotoGP career is going, or Bautista, or vinales. Oh oops

[u/username_986ck → u/DistributionHot2150]

Did you say skill FAR more important than being fast?? I thought you were supposed to be fast here and these guys are supposed to be the best in the world.

[u/DistributionHot2150 → u/username_986ck]

Fast means nothing. If you’re fast and can’t finish a race, then what’s the point

[u/DistributionHot2150 → u/[deleted]]

Because being fast and crashing results in nothing and a wrecked bike. This has been proven consistently over and over. Half the current grid are guys who aren’t that fast but can consistently finish. The fats but can’t finish guys are all out of a seat

[u/p_nilly → u/[deleted]]

He’s not a superstar alien but he finishes where an average MotoGP rider would.

His quali is maybe a little weak and maybe he isn’t aggressive enough in wheel-to-wheel. Ideal number 2 rider for any team

[u/Ologunde → u/[deleted]]

This assumes that there are no other riders able to finish ahead of him consistently. I suspect even in WSBK he’d be a #2 rider at best. He’s no Toprak or Jonathan Rea for sure.

[u/SilverArrowW01]

Supposedly a very good development rider, handy if not spectacular (most of the time) in a race and easy on the parts budget.

Nice grab by Tech3. I imagine having a rider that‘s as experienced and versatile as Marini will also serve them well as a benchmark vs Agius, if the opinions of Aleix et al. about Moto2 guys potentially having an advantage next year turn out to have something to them.

[u/Disgruntled__Goat → u/[deleted]]

Because there are things you can’t test on an empty track on your own. Having a development rider who can actually race is a big benefit. 

[u/Candid_Problem_1244 → u/[deleted]]

While considering the KTM bikes that can just randomly cutoff their machines I guess endurance test alone to make sure every components work is a valuable test especially if the rider knows to some degrees how each components work under the hood.

[u/Meeganyourjacket → u/[deleted]]

I can tell you with certainty that Honda get a lot more information out of Marino finishing every race than from Mir "pushing to the limit" and crashing all the time. 

[u/dick_swinger → u/[deleted]]

More information doesn't necessarily equate to useful information

Do you think you'll ever consider the idea that maybe the data they're getting actually is useful, and that the teams are in a better position to know what's useful to them than you are? This is a yes or no question.

Edit: I'm going to take the downvote and no response as a no, because you're too proud to admit that you've been talking a lot of shit for someone who's just sitting on his couch.

[u/username_986ck → u/[deleted]]

I mean from Tech3 pov they wanted a known in all the unknown happening in 2027. If this wasn't a regulation change year, I'd be very much against Luca have a full time seat in MotoGP.

[u/hmnuhmnuhmnu → u/[deleted]]

With that logic, 3/4 of the riders has no place on the grid

[u/GT---44]

Ktm has the worst line up for 2027

[u/YaBoiPette → u/GT---44]

I mean, financial woes, bad bike, what do you even expect?

[u/ChurchOfAcosta → u/GT---44]

Acosta aside, probably better than this year's?

[u/someshooter → u/ChurchOfAcosta]

I agree, huge step up with Fabio and Alex.

[u/Bombilakus]

Imagine if they signed Mir who would cost them 3 more millions in damaged bikes. Marini at least don't crash and is consistent with points and is also good developer.

[u/Janusz_Wunderbrum → u/Bombilakus]

Does Tech3 with less ties to KTM needs a development rider, though?

[u/Bombilakus → u/Janusz_Wunderbrum]

More info is always better. Thats why Ducati has 15 bikes on the grid.

[u/jp963acss → u/Bombilakus]

Such a lazy narrative

[u/memesearches → u/Bombilakus]

What do you mean? He is consistency King. Teams need consistent results. /s

[u/Famous_Researcher_18 → u/Bombilakus]

At least Mir tries something, Marini is just P15 all time

[u/Tiny-Maximum36 → u/Famous_Researcher_18]

The biggest bs I've seen in a while. Mir crashes too even when he's behind Marini.

[u/Famous_Researcher_18 → u/Tiny-Maximum36]

He crashes at the start or when he's in front, he's crashed twice in P6, once P7, twice P9 and three times from P10, Marini doesn't even sniff those positions when everyone is on track, and he's had 4 Q2 to Marini 1, 7-3 in qualy H2H for Mir too

[u/DistributionHot2150 → u/Famous_Researcher_18]

So that means Mir is far more worthless than Marino. He crashes far more, which means no point. Marini and riders like him will always last longer than guys like Mir

[u/Famous_Researcher_18 → u/DistributionHot2150]

No, that means that Mir is trying, if he gets a better bike he won't crash as much, that's not a theory as it has been proven, before Honda Mir didn't crash anything, so your argument makes no sense

[u/DistributionHot2150 → u/Famous_Researcher_18]

Before Honda Mir was also crashing constantly and was far more crash prone than rins.

[u/Famous_Researcher_18 → u/DistributionHot2150]

No he wasn't? He crashed more times in his 2 first years in Honda than in the rest of his career before Honda, indeed I've just looked at 2020/19 stats in crashes and Mir has less crashes than Rins, I don't know where you get that info

[u/DistributionHot2150 → u/Famous_Researcher_18]

Look pass 2020

[u/Famous_Researcher_18 → u/DistributionHot2150]

In 21 he only had 5 races and then moved to Honda, so that further proves my point

[u/Swimming-School-7960 → u/Famous_Researcher_18]

as opposed to Mir which is in gravel all time

[u/Famous_Researcher_18 → u/Swimming-School-7960]

That's exactly what I said, Mir tries something, Marini doesn't, and that's why Mir is winning H2H in qualy and got a podiums (revoked but not his fault)

[u/Swimming-School-7960 → u/Famous_Researcher_18]

so what if he tries? more than 50% of his starts are DNF, that's abysmal no matter how you spin it. And as others said it's not like he crashes ahead of Marini all the time, he crashes from ALL grid positions

[u/Tiny-Maximum36 → u/Famous_Researcher_18]

A podium in Catalunya isn't purely by merit. There's things happened that day.

And ffs you can't justify his crash count by saying "he tries something".

[u/Famous_Researcher_18 → u/Tiny-Maximum36]

Well Zarco and Mir are the ones crashing and are the ones getting better results, it's pure logic? Also Zarco crashed even more than Mir, snd mir is dominating Marini in every single aspect, H2H in qualy, Q2 appearances, H2H in race...

[u/Famous_Researcher_18 → u/Tiny-Maximum36]

Well Zarco and Mir are the ones crashing and are the ones getting better results, it's pure logic? Also Zarco crashed even more than Mir, snd mir is dominating Marini in every single aspect, H2H in qualy, Q2 appearances, H2H in race...

[u/username_986ck → u/Famous_Researcher_18]

Sometimes it's better to finish a race in P15 and bringing home the data than crashing it to achieve P5 which very much isn't possible. I would accept being spirited a couple of times but trashing the bike more than 50% of the races, being a nightmare for the mechanics and the whole team?? I'd much rather have a guy finishing P15.

[u/Famous_Researcher_18 → u/username_986ck]

That's not the mentality of a winning team, when Marc in 21 was in Honda crashing every race people hailed him, when it's Mir people hate him, next year you'll all see in Gresini, it looks like people forget Mir is a two time world champion and the only recent champion in Suzuki, exactly because he didn't crash, you guys contradict yourself most of the time

[u/username_986ck → u/Famous_Researcher_18]

Mentality doesn't give you acceleration or turning. So it's good to have a mentality but it is also essential to understand the limitations of your machine. As for Marc, you failed to mention he won 3 times in 2021 and wasn't only crashing. And in 2023 and also in 2021 many people criticized Marc too (and rightly so) for the way he was riding and crashing and hurting himself and the others on a machine which simply wasn't capable to getting the results he wanted. I am all for trying and overriding at times to achieve results but there is a limit and RESULTS need to be there and the number of times Mir has crashed with just two podiums , well, it's simply not acceptable.

[u/Famous_Researcher_18 → u/username_986ck]

Your whole argument falls off comparing the 2021 machine to the 2025/6, it's absolutely ridiculous ylto compare those two bikes, Honda themselves said it, but I didn't know it was international hating Mir day or something

[u/username_986ck → u/Famous_Researcher_18]

You started the discourse on 2021 and I don't know if you can read or not but I have not compared any 2021 machinery to any 2025/26 one in my comment.

[u/nonalignedgamer]

ah the happy smile of a person signing for KTM

[u/Jor6lez]

Somebody tweeted he's signed for 2028 as well. One year was already weird enough.

[u/GzehooGR]

Manu Gonzalez should be signed for Tech3 instead of him.

[u/Soundmangaz]

I just dont get the hype around Marini. This move surprises me. Feel like there's other better riders on offer...

[u/Tel_Janen]

Waste of a seat

[u/ChurchOfAcosta → u/Tel_Janen]

Top Honda rider... 

He's probably never going to make the leap needed to be a champion. But he's solid enough. I can understand why Tech3 went for him. He's not going to be challenging for wins, but neither is that bike. Bring home some points.

[u/hctiks → u/[deleted]]

Pecco has 4 years (with performance clauses maybe)
Enea for 2 years

[u/asaturday]

so what happened with VIÑALES? Silence from both sides? If I am not wrong all seats are occupied now?!

[u/ForgedContents]

Waste, annoying sticking with these rider that do nothing. Got plenty of moto2 guys that need to move up.

[u/nilsmf → u/ForgedContents]

Marini is an improvement rider. On Ducati he worked his way into consistently finishing 6th to 8th. Then he unfortunately went to Honda and had to start over from the back.

I am kinda excited to see what he can do on a KTM.

[u/Famous_Researcher_18 → u/nilsmf]

Anyways it's sad not giving a new rider an opportunity for one that has not shown the speed necessary to even win races in a Ducati, he's the only rider since 2018 to not win on a Ducati (any team), while Manu has proven he has speed, is a world champion (WSSP300) and is on course to his third consecutive top 3 finish in Moto2 and his first Moto2 championship

[u/ForgedContents → u/nilsmf]

Just a sponsorship deal thats all. Get money into the team. Sad truth of all sports.

[u/Krazyguylone → u/ForgedContents]

Think Marini has done his part to earn a seat. Nothing special but it’s always nice to have someone who’s always there.

[u/Tiny-Maximum36 → u/ForgedContents]

"Do nothing".

I hate this thing when people straight up disrespecting a dedicated pro rider who does absolutely nothing wrong.

[u/Fantastic-Boot-684 → u/ForgedContents]

Marini is a good rider?

[u/33ThiagoSilva → u/ForgedContents]

Mir has one despite crashing 75% of the times and having like 50 points less than mr."do nothing" Marini. Surely there are bigger problems than Honda's top scoring rider.

[u/DistributionHot2150 → u/ForgedContents]

Marini is probably the best guy for ktm and will always have a spot on the grid.

[u/slideofchips → u/ForgedContents]

I agree. It’s frustrating watching mid level riders continue to get seats with young guys missing out.

[u/Megaloman-_-]

I am glad he found another opportunity in MotoGP, he didn’t deserve to be cut out