Luca Marini joins Tech3 KTM for 2027-28 MotoGP seasons
NXTbets Pro | Published On: August 26, 2026
Marini deal
Tech3 KTM has signed Luca Marini for the 2027 and 2028 MotoGP seasons, giving the team a rider with full factory-class experience as the championship heads into a new era. Marini will leave Honda HRC Castrol after three seasons, ending a stint that began when he joined Honda’s factory squad in 2024. He will join Tech3 directly, not on a factory KTM contract, and the move lines up with MotoGP’s revised regulations and new machinery. Marini also will race in the 850cc regulations era, a change that gives the deal extra weight because the series is about to reset technically. The signing gives Tech3 a clear early move into that next phase and adds a proven rider to a lineup that will be built around the team’s own plans once the new cycle begins. For Marini, the switch opens a new chapter after a run at Honda that brought experience at the front of the premier class but no long-term future with the Japanese manufacturer.
Tech3 ownership
The agreement also fits the broader reset at Tech3, which will operate under a new ownership structure led by Guenther Steiner from 2027. From that point, Tech3 will negotiate and sign its own riders, giving the team more control over its lineup and long-term direction. KTM still must approve rider signings because it supplies Tech3’s bikes and technical support, so the partnership will keep a link to the Austrian manufacturer even as the structure changes. The path to Marini’s deal ran through several key conversations. His agent approached Steiner at the Italian Grand Prix, and a meeting with KTM motorsport boss Pit Beirer in June helped finalize the agreement. That sequence underlines how early Tech3 moved to secure a rider for the new rules cycle. It also shows how the team’s future roster will be shaped by both its new leadership and KTM’s continuing role in the program. The result is a deal that connects Marini to one of MotoGP’s major structural changes and places him at the center of Tech3’s next phase.
Marini record
Marini arrives with a record that gives Tech3 immediate credibility. He made his MotoGP debut in 2021 after building his reputation in Moto2, where he finished runner-up in the 2020 season and won six races before moving up. In MotoGP, his best results are two podium finishes with VR46, proof that he can deliver at the sharp end when the package is right. That background matters for a team preparing for revised regulations and new machinery, because experience carries extra value when a championship changes direction. Marini has already seen MotoGP from several angles, from his first season in the class to his time with Honda’s factory squad and his earlier work with VR46. He now takes on another step in a career that has moved steadily through the paddock. For Tech3, the appeal is clear. Marini brings top-level speed, race experience and a résumé built on success in the support classes before he reached MotoGP. For Marini, the deal offers a fresh start in a new technical era and a place in a team that will have more say over its own future.
