NAKAGAMI STEPS IN AT RED BULL RING AND OUTRUNS LCR AND FACTORY HONDA RIVALS

Takaaki Nakagami’s Red Bull Ring weekend delivered an unexpected result after he was drafted in as a late replacement when Joan Mir withdrew from the Misano event and then did not take part in the Spielberg round. The HRC test rider had already flown to Austria for the scheduled test, but in recent months he had largely been focused on the 850cc project with Pirelli tyres.

Nakagami, 34, admitted that his physical condition was not ideal. “My physical condition was not perfect,” he said. He explained that he had completed many laps during the test before the race, and that the effort showed when he had to push in qualifying and the sprint. Despite the circumstances, he managed to outperform other Honda riders in the sprint, finishing 15th and beating LCR team regular Diego Moreira. In the main race, Nakagami went one place further to take 13th, ahead of factory rider Luca Marini (14th) and the Brazilian rider (15th).

Nakagami pointed to the positives he and the team found during the sessions. “In the test before this race I rode many laps, so my physical condition wasn’t perfect. And when you have to go to your limits in qualifying or in the race, you feel it,” he said. He added that the team’s work was improving session by session: “In qualifying and the sprint we collected some positive impressions. There’s still a lot to improve, but step by step we’re making progress. From session to session the cooperation with the team is getting better and they’ve helped me compare myself with the other Honda riders.”

For Sunday, Nakagami made a strategic gamble because he felt that no electronics setup was truly working well. “In the sprint we gained some valuable information and made some changes. In particular, I wanted the traction control to interfere less,” he said. He described the 28-lap race as extremely demanding with the chosen plan, saying he had to be very precise, but believed he could extract more from the tyres in the second half. “I didn’t expect to finish ahead of other Honda riders, so I can be satisfied,” Nakagami concluded.