Luca Marini will be Honda’s only factory rider at the Australian MotoGP round, with Joan Mir set to miss another weekend. Mir continues to deal with illness, leaving Honda without another available rider for the Phillip Island race.

Honda has already turned to several substitutes during Mir’s absence. Aleix Espargaro took the seat in Indonesia but could not complete that weekend and will not race in Australia. Somkiat Chantra rode for Mir in Japan, but is occupied this weekend with testing for Honda’s WorldSBK programme at Jerez. Before that, Takaaki Nakagami was used in Austria and then appeared as a wildcard at Motegi, where he was injured and suffered a broken collarbone.

Australia starts Marini’s final five races with Honda before his move to Tech3 KTM for 2027. The Italian has missed only five races since stepping up to MotoGP in 2021. The schedule then moves to Malaysia and Qatar, creating a run of three consecutive rounds.

Marini’s immediate aim is to enjoy a circuit he regards as distinctive while taking as many points as possible. He also said Honda had continued working on performance between race weekends, giving him a final chance to turn that effort into results before the partnership ends.