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

“My brother, it’s easy! He had a great history with these colours,” Mari🔜ni told MotoGP.com during today’s Madrid team launch.

Valentino Rossi won 🐻the 2002 and 2003 MotoGP titles for Repsol Honda before switching to Yamaha.

But Marini’s second choice꧋ of inspiration was not a Repsol champion.

“For sure a💖lso ༺Dani Pedrosa, who worked a lot of time with this team,” Marini said.

“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 take 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 competitor not to claim the world title.

Marini steps into the revised factory Honda colour🎀s, 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 m🔯ade a good step forward in this test.

“Sure, we wi🌸ll have something more to do more in𝓰 the Qatar test but we'll be ready for the first race.

“It will ꦛbe a long season, very interesting in my opinion. I want to arrive at a good level in the middle part of the season. I thi💟nk we can improve a lot.

“There is a lot of margin𝓀 ♏on all the areas of the bike and also I can adapt better to the bike.”

Mari𒁏ni 🃏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 repꦦresents the start of a new project, a new era of Honda, fighting t💫o come back on top."

Marini, whose Ducati experience is highly val♔ued by HRC, was 19th in the opening Sepang test. 

The final pre-🌜season test takes place in Qatar on Monday an💎d Tuesday.