Luca Marini has called on the MotoGP grid to “stay united” over health and safety measures after a chaotic Barcelona weekend.
The race was red-flagged twice after two scary incidents, the first with Alex Marquez and the second involving Marini, Francesco Bagnaia and Johann Zarco.
Zarco outbraked himself going into Turn 1 on the red flag restart and wiped out both Marini and Bagnaia, although both riders were able to rejoin on the third race start as Marini finished sixth.
The Italian pair immediately assisted Zarco after the Frenchman appeared to get stuck between the rear wheel and seat of Bagnaia’s Ducati after the violent crash – with LCR Honda later confirming he suffered ligament damage in his left leg.
Marini admitted that Zarco’s crash reminded him of his own accident in Suzuka last year, where he suffered multiple fractures and a collapsed lung, and admitted he “felt really bad” after the adrenaline wore off post-race.
“I think today the first thing to say is to wish Zarco and Marquez a speedy recovery,” Marini said via GPOne.
“Especially for Zarco I feel very sorry. I saw the leg, it’s clearly visible what happened, and I saw myself again in Suzuka after the accident.
“Now that the tension of the race has passed, with the concentration and everything else, I really feel bad about this.
“Obviously, unlike Suzuka, here the interventions came immediately. Fortunately, there were doctors, an ambulance, everything.
“Let’s hope he can feel less pain as soon as possible, which I think is the most important thing right now. The recovery will then take its time.”
Luca Marini reveals incentive to ban ride height devices at certain MotoGP tracks in 2026
One of the safety issues that has continued to concern fans, riders and some teams is the inclusion of ride height devices – which will be banned in the new regulations cycle in 2027.
MotoGP riders have spoken about banning ride height devices at specific circuits, including Silverstone, for 2026.
However, any proposal would have to be agreed to by the teams, which proved to be a roadblock for the riders’ first attempts for a ban at Le Mans.
Marini admitted he was uncertain if all teams would agree to a ride height device ban, but called on the grid to stay united after multiple riders criticised the lack of action taken by the MotoGP Safety Commission.
“We have already talked about it. It will come up, we’ll see,” Marini said.
“We are trying to get all the teams to agree. In my opinion, as we have also said in the Safety Commission and as Pecco [Bagnaia] said, it’s a shame that often there are very few of us there.
“I think it’s important that we riders stay united. We need to get everyone to agree and make it a step towards safety.”
After Enea Bastianini admitted he no longer attends safety meetings as he feels the riders are not listened to, Marini confirmed only three riders often attend meetings.
Alongside himself and Jack Miller, Marini admitted Bagnaia is seen as the riders’ representative and believes he is “the right figure” to lead the process.
“Very often there are three of us, yes. We can say that 90% of the time Jack is there.
“This Friday there were also Franco [Morbidelli], [Jorge] Martin, and [Marco] Bezzecchi, and it was a pleasure to have them with me. Pecco is our representative and in my opinion, he is the right figure.”
“For me, it’s better to have everyone. The problem is we need to all agree and have a bit more communication among ourselves.
“The truth is we are increasingly stressed. It’s very difficult, during a race weekend, to have the mental energy to dedicate to things that are not the track”.
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