Luca Marini
Luca Marini (born 10 August 1997) is an Italian Grand Prix motorcycle racer, competing for Mooney VR46 Racing Team in the 2023 MotoGP World Championship. He finished as runner-up in the 2020 Moto2 World Championship. He is the maternal half-brother of Valentino Rossi.[1]
Luca Marini | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
![]() Marini in 2015 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Nationality | Italian | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Born | Urbino, Italy | 10 August 1997||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Current team | Mooney VR46 Racing | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Bike number | 10 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
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 2015, he 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.
2016
In 2016, 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 10th place, and his best result in Germany, where he had a 6th-place finish. Marini still remained with the team for
2017
In 2017, Marini was signed Forward Team. Finished in 4th place, Czech Republic.
2018
.jpg.webp)
In 2018, Marini achieved his first podium in Germany and his first victory in Malaysia.
2019
In 2019, he secured two podiums in Mugello and Assen, leading to back-to-back wins at Thailand and Japan.
2020
In 2020 Marini became a contender for the championship title along with Enea Bastianini and Sam Lowes, first round of the moto2 season saw Marini Retire at Qatar but would clinch his first place win at the second round at the Spanish Grand Prix and claim a second-place finish in Jerez, with point scores at Brno in 4th place and another second-place finish at the Austrian Grand Prix and a point finish in Styria before claiming his second win at Misano and a third win at the Catalan Grand Prix with the previous round being a 4th-place finish.
Marini finished the French Grand Prix outside the points area in 18th and at Aragon saw the Italian high side off his bike and retiring from the race with Lowes taking the first place win and two more wins the next rounds with Marini finishing the same three rounds of the Teruel motorcycle Grand Prix, the European Grand Prix and Valencian Grand Prix in 11th, 6th and 5th place respectively and finishing 2nd in Portugal behind Remy Gardner who would claim first place
Marini finished the 2020 Moto2 season as the championship runner up with 196 points with over three wins and three 2nd 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 by rule, with Bastianini being nine points ahead of both Lowes and Marini respectively.
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 Avintia Liveries
For the first two rounds of his rookie season at Qatar, Marini ended up finishing 16th and 18th respectively on the grid outside the points area while his teammate Bastianini finished 10th and 11th the first two rounds. Portimao saw improvement for Marini as he managed to make it into Q2 of Qualifying through free practice and started 8th on the grid, he finished the race in 12th place.
Mooney VR46 Racing Team (2022–)
For 2022, Marini was confirmed to be moving up to the premier class, partnering his 2020 teammate at Mooney VR46 Racing Team, Marco Bezzecchi.
For 2023, Marini was confirmed for the Mooney VR46 Racing Team.
Career statistics
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 7 |
NAV | VAL1 | VAL1 | JER 14 |
25th | 11 | ||
2014 | Kalex KTM | JER1 Ret |
JER2 14 |
LMS 10 |
ARA 15 |
CAT1 15 |
CAT2 16 |
ALB 10 |
NAV Ret |
ALG 18 |
VAL1 8 |
VAL1 8 |
16th | 32 |
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 5 |
ALG2 4 |
CAT 2 |
ARA1 Ret |
ARA2 7 |
ALB 4 |
NAV1 4 |
NAV2 4 |
JER 4 |
VAL1 Ret |
VAL2 6 |
5th | 115 |
By season
Season | Class | Motorcycle | Team | Race | Win | Podium | Pole | FLap | Pts | Plcd |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
2013 | Moto3 | FTR Honda | Twelve Racing | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | NC |
2015 | Moto2 | Kalex | Pons Racing Junior Team | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | NC |
2016 | Moto2 | Kalex | Forward Racing Team | 18 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 34 | 23rd |
2017 | Moto2 | Kalex | Forward Racing Team | 16 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 59 | 15th |
2018 | Moto2 | Kalex | Sky Racing Team VR46 | 18 | 1 | 5 | 2 | 1 | 147 | 7th |
2019 | Moto2 | Kalex | Sky Racing Team VR46 | 19 | 2 | 4 | 1 | 2 | 190 | 6th |
2020 | Moto2 | Kalex | Sky Racing Team VR46 | 15 | 3 | 6 | 2 | 1 | 196 | 2nd |
2021 | MotoGP | Ducati | Sky VR46 Avintia | 18 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 41 | 19th |
2022 | MotoGP | Ducati | Mooney VR46 Racing Team | 20 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 120 | 12th |
2023 | MotoGP | Ducati | Mooney VR46 Racing Team | 14 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 148* | 8th* |
Total | 140 | 6 | 16 | 6 | 6 | 935 |
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 | 52 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 309 | 0 | |
Total | 2013, 2015–present | 140 | 6 | 16 | 6 | 6 | 935 | 0 |
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 | Pos | Pts |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
2013 | Moto3 | FTR Honda | QAT | AME | SPA | FRA | ITA | CAT | NED | GER | IND | CZE | GBR | RSM Ret |
ARA | MAL | AUS | JPN | VAL | NC | 0 | |||
2015 | Moto2 | Kalex | QAT | AME | ARG | SPA | FRA | ITA | CAT | NED | GER | IND | CZE | GBR | RSM 21 |
ARA | JPN | AUS | MAL | VAL | NC | 0 | ||
2016 | Moto2 | Kalex | QAT 10 |
ARG 18 |
AME Ret |
SPA 16 |
FRA 12 |
ITA Ret |
CAT Ret |
NED Ret |
GER 6 |
AUT 17 |
CZE Ret |
GBR Ret |
RSM 13 |
ARA 25 |
JPN 12 |
AUS 16 |
MAL 9 |
VAL 22 |
23rd | 34 | ||
2017 | Moto2 | Kalex | QAT 6 |
ARG 12 |
AME 10 |
SPA 5 |
FRA Ret |
ITA 6 |
CAT DNS |
NED Ret |
GER DNS |
CZE 4 |
AUT Ret |
GBR 11 |
RSM Ret |
ARA Ret |
JPN Ret |
AUS 23 |
MAL Ret |
VAL 23 |
15th | 59 | ||
2018 | Moto2 | Kalex | QAT 9 |
ARG 16 |
AME 13 |
SPA Ret |
FRA Ret |
ITA 7 |
CAT 17 |
NED 8 |
GER 3 |
CZE 2 |
AUT 3 |
GBR C |
RSM Ret |
ARA 11 |
THA 2 |
JPN 9 |
AUS 5 |
MAL 1 |
VAL Ret |
7th | 147 | |
2019 | Moto2 | Kalex | QAT 8 |
ARG 7 |
AME 6 |
SPA 8 |
FRA 13 |
ITA 2 |
CAT 6 |
NED 3 |
GER 10 |
CZE 5 |
AUT Ret |
GBR 9 |
RSM 11 |
ARA 4 |
THA 1 |
JPN 1 |
AUS Ret |
MAL 10 |
VAL 8 |
6th | 190 | |
2020 | Moto2 | Kalex | QAT Ret |
SPA 1 |
ANC 2 |
CZE 4 |
AUT 2 |
STY 7 |
RSM 1 |
EMI 4 |
CAT 1 |
FRA 17 |
ARA Ret |
TER 11 |
EUR 6 |
VAL 5 |
POR 2 |
2nd | 196 | |||||
2021 | MotoGP | Ducati | QAT 16 |
DOH 18 |
POR 12 |
SPA 15 |
FRA 12 |
ITA 17 |
CAT 12 |
GER 15 |
NED 18 |
STY 14 |
AUT 5 |
GBR 15 |
ARA 20 |
RSM 19 |
AME 14 |
EMI 9 |
ALR 12 |
VAL 17 |
19th | 41 | ||
2022 | MotoGP | Ducati | QAT 13 |
INA 14 |
ARG 11 |
AME 17 |
POR 12 |
SPA 16 |
FRA 9 |
ITA 6 |
CAT 6 |
GER 5 |
NED 17 |
GBR 12 |
AUT 4 |
RSM 4 |
ARA 7 |
JPN 6 |
THA 23 |
AUS 6 |
MAL Ret |
VAL 7 |
12th | 120 |
2023 | MotoGP | Ducati | POR Ret |
ARG 83 |
AME 27 |
SPA 6 |
FRA Ret4 |
ITA 45 |
GER 54 |
NED 7 |
GBR 7 |
AUT 4 |
CAT 11 |
RSM 97 |
IND DNS |
JPN | INA Ret2 |
AUS 12 |
THA | MAL | QAT | VAL | 8th* | 148* |
* Season still in progress.
References
- "San Marino MotoGP: Rossi 'can't wait' for half-brother Luca's GP debut". Crash.net. Crash Media Group. 12 September 2013. Retrieved 24 January 2016.
External links

- Luca Marini at MotoGP.com
- Luca Marini at AS.com (in Spanish)