Nakagami Selected to Replace Marini at Honda for Italian MotoGP

Takaaki Nakagami will return to MotoGP racing — this time as a replacement rider for the Honda HRC Castrol factory team at the 2025 Italian MotoGP series, stepping in for Luca Marini who is still recovering from injury.

This decision comes after Marini’s absence since GP Aragon due to serious injury during the Suzuki 8 Hours test in Japan. The Asaka-based factory team had previously relied solely on Joan Mir as their single rider — but regulations required them to find a replacement.

For Nakagami, this marks his first experience with a factory team after spending his career with the LCR Honda satellite team. The Chiba-born rider achieved his best results with a pole position and fourth-place finish before retiring last season to become Honda’s test rider.