Zarco: Talks progressing to claim Marini's Honda seat…

Satellite Honda rider Johann Zarco has spoken in the clearest terms yet about his desire to take Luca Marini’s factory seat in 2026.

While the Frenchman did not use Marini’s name in an interview with Dorna ahead of his home race at Le Mans this weekend, the Italian’s contract is up at the end of this season. Honda’s other factory rider, Joan Mir, is contracted until the end of 2026.

Following an impressive start to 2025 aboard the LCR Honda, Zarco was as forthright as ever about his desire to step up – and also offered strong hints about the direction negotiations are taking.

“Talks are very, very positive with Honda,” said the 34-year-old. “But [being] so clear with Lucio [Cecchinello, his current boss at LCR] is so nice… to [be able to] speak with him and be 100% honest. He knows that a chance to move up to the factory team is important for a rider; for a career also.”

Despite riding an independent RC213V, Zarco has been de facto leader of Honda’s resurgence under new technical director Romano Albesiano in 2025.

His haul of 43 points puts him seventh in the championship. It’s also 11 more than that of the consistent Marini and 32 clear of the crash-prone Mir’s. His highlights thus far have been qualifying on the front row for the Argentina Grand Prix in March and fourth place at last month’s Qatar GP.

“As a fast rider [on a] Honda, it can be interesting to become this number one rider and I would like to make this step,” continued Zarco, whose only grand prix victory came at Australia in 2023.

Luca Marini, Honda HRC (Photo by: Honda Racing)

“So we are really speaking and trying to understand what can be the best. I know that I'm feeling super good here [at LCR] and that I have full support from Honda too.

“But we need to evaluate if this prestigious seat in the factory team is what I need. It’s something I want… but also [we have to] see how [it would work] for Lucio. It’s pretty nice to have this free speech between Lucio, Honda and me.”

While speculation about a Zarco switch to the factory bike ramps up, a calm Marini told Italian media on Thursday that his negotiations with Honda had also begun and that it was still early days. Negotiations with Honda could, of course, include topics such as Marini taking over Zarco’s LCR seat.

While there is close co-operation between the factory Honda team and LCR, the pecking order has been exposed ahead of the Le Mans weekend. The factory team tested an upgraded engine directly after the last race at Jerez and plans to run it this weekend – but it will not be available to Zarco to race in front of his home fans.

“I couldn’t try the new engine yet because the factory team was working on it and we had other things to do with the LCR team,” he said.

Speaking to French media, Zarco added: “The official team really liked it, and I think that’s why they’re going to continue developing it this weekend.

“[But] we’ve got enough [other improvements] to perform well.”

Zarco’s LCR Honda team-mate Somkiat Chantra, who has had a challenging first few races in his rookie MotoGP season, will not ride this weekend following surgery for arm-pump.