Honda enjoyed a rare moment in the sun when a key area of pr🃏omise was uncovered in Buriram.

Luca Marini was responsible for raising some optimism at the manufacturer which lagged b♍ehind its rival last season.

Marini’s pace over a single lap on Day 1 of the MotoGP preseason Buriram test will give Honda something to work witꦕh.

“Four 🌃riders lapped in the low 1.29s - Alex Marquez, Marc Marquez, Pedro Acosta… and Luca Marini,” Dorna’s Louis Suddaby explained.

“Clear from Sepang🉐 that, in terms of race distance and long runs, Honda have a long way to catch up.

“But their single lap pace has closed the gap.”

Jack Appleyard replied: “Two and a half hours i🐼n, with temperatures high, Marini was three tenths of a second adrift of Honda’s best-ever lap around here.

“Which is a very positive sign, indeed.

“Joan Mir and ไJohann Zarco were abℱle to under the fastest-ever times in Sepang.”

Did a Honda experiment fail?

Honda and KTM brought a 🙈new seat unit to the Sepang test, in an attempt to get rid of the rear chatter whichౠ cost them in 2024.

But in Buriram, both manufacturers showed subtle signs of 𝓡ignoring tha🐎t developmental experiment.

“On Honda’s s♔ide, it’s only Somkiat Chantra running it. Mir, Zarco and Marini have moved away from it,” Appleyard said.

“You would have to say that꧋, right now, the direction is to start the season without it.

“Same for KTM. Brad Binder and Acosta haven’t had it, Enea Bꦓastianini hasn’t been seen with it💮.

“Only Mave🐈rick Vinales is cont🌠inuing to work with the seat unit.

“It was one of🍷 the big innovations that came to Sepang, with both Honda and KTM trying to solve the issues that plagued their season [last year].

“But we haven’t seen it on the majority of tౠheir ✤bikes.

“It goes without saying that if🃏 it was a bigꩲ improvement, it’d still be on the bike…”