New factory Honda MotoGP signiဣng Luca Marini didn’t have to think for long when asked to pick a Repsol rider from the past who has inspired him the most.

“My brother, it’s easy! He had a great histo😼ry with these colours,” Marini told MotoGP.com during today’s Madrid te﷽am launch.

Valentino Rossi won the 2002 and 2003 MotoGP titl꧂es 𝕴for Repsol Honda before switching to Yamaha.

But Marini’s second choice of inspiration w🉐as not a Repsol champion.

“For sure also Dani Pedros♛a, who worked a lot of time with this team,” Marini saꦫid.

“I like him a lot, he's a good guy and when we talk in the test it's very interesting every time. So I will try to 𓆉take some inspiration from him also.”

Pedrosa won 31 races as a Repsol Honda rider from 2006 to 2018, making him the most successful premier-class c♕ompetitor not to claim the world title.

Marini st🌌eps into t⛦he revised factory Honda colours, in place of Marc Marquez, for what will be his fourth premier-class season.

“It's like a childhood dream,” Marini said. “I'm really pleased to work with this factory, I think we made a good step forward in𓆏 this test.

“Sure, we will have something more to do more in th🍸e Qatar test but we'll🌳 be ready for the first race.

“It will be a long season, very interesting in my🀅 opinion. I w🦋ant to arrive at a good level in the middle part of the season. I think we can improve a lot.

“There is a lot of margin on all th🌳e areas of the bike and also I can adapt better to the bike.”

Marini 💦feels the new colours also represent the start of a new era.

"When I was a 🌺child, I always saw a lot of orange and a big Repsol logo, so it's something new. But also it represents the start of a new project, a new era🃏 of Honda, fighting to come back on top."

Marini, whose Ducati experien🐻ce is highly valued by HRC, was 19th in the opening Sܫepang test. 

Th𓆉e final pre-season test t𒁏akes place in Qatar on Monday and Tuesday.