Just over three months on from suffering a whole inventory of injuries in a Suzuka 8 Hours testing crash, Luca Marini has not only returned and thrived - but is making a genuine play for being the top Honda MotoGP rider.
Johann Zarco had been the unquestioned Honda standout in the year and a half since both he and Marini came on board, switching over from satellite Ducati rides, and this was reflected in Zarco recently signing a two-year contract with Honda (admittedly to stay at satellite team LCR), while Marini was only granted a one-year extension.
But the idea of Marini getting another deal down the line beyond 2026 is a lot less fanciful now than it felt at the moment of his injury - so too when you consider he was a last-gap signing in the first place in late-2023 when Marc Marquez left for Ducati.
And it was Marini who was most likely to make way before Jorge Martin changed his mind about leaving Aprilia for Honda for 2026.
"The best solution for everybody to be safe, clear and transparent, and next season we will start to talk about the next two years. It’s like this," he said.
That ambition will be helped by Marini's recent production. While Zarco's confidence has dipped in recent rounds and Joan Mir has continued to find difficulty in converting his obvious race pace potential to points, Marini has been putting up the numbers.
Points scored since Marini's Sachsenring return
Luca Marini - 44
Joan Mir - 18
Johann Zarco - 16
A new Honda RC213V chassis - which Zarco at LCR does not yet have at his disposal - has been mooted as a potential explanation.
Marini seemingly got a head start in adapting to it not only relative to Zarco but to Mir. Test rider Aleix Espargaro is convinced it's a huge improvement, but Zarco was quick in Barcelona without it, and neither Marini nor Mir is totally certain of the laptime gain.
According to Marini, though it's better at full lean angle, it's less effective than the previous spec in the earlier phase - trail-braking.
In any case, since the Sachsenring both of the Honda riders have generally had the performance to at least score the same as Marini. That they have not is also a reflection of the kind of asset that he is.
His season is ironic in that, though he missed multiple races with injury, he's actually yet to crash a MotoGP bike in a race weekend. It's kind of absurd, especially as both Mir and Zarco are firmly in double digits for crashes.
But that's kind of the whole Marini attraction. It would be surprising if he could match Zarco's dizzying single-lap peaks or produce rides like the Frenchman's Le Mans win or second place at Silverstone; it would be surprising if he had as much race pace in his locker as Mir. But he's the "adult in the room" that Honda can increasingly rely on - and it's something that would've been a big part of its reasoning already when it picked him to fill the seat suddenly vacated by Marc Marquez.
"It's been a challenge, no?" Marini said. "Since the beginning of last season. We started from zero, the worst four bikes in some GPs. And now we are getting closer and closer to the top, or to the podium at least.
"I don't want to go away from Honda. I want to be part of this project because I'm feeling super good here, I found a very good ambient, atmosphere of working.
"I didn't expect to feel so good, so comfortable without Honda HRC. I would like to continue like this, in this team, for many years."
Being top Honda as of late, though, "doesn't change anything", he insists.
"Doesn't change, at the moment, my position at the end of the race. It's important that all three riders are improving and that we keep developing the bike in the best way together.
"Then when we will have to fight for the podium, it will be more interesting."
What is important is that Marini is really helping his chances of sticking around for when Honda might finally be in that position again.
