Tetsuta Nagashima won the Qatar Moto2 Grand Prix in fine style, being exceptionally inducted into the premier category of the first meeting of the season. This in the absence of a MotoGP for reasons that we know. Part only 14e, the Japanese showed consistency and calm which gave him the keys to victory, at the same time as some of his opponents experienced a surprising collapse of their tires... An achievement full of emotion, because the Pilot Ajo was not alone on his Kalex in KTM colors. Explanation…
Nagashima, at the closed park of a Qatar Grand Prix which he had just won, did not hide his emotion at having come in first under the checkered flag of Losail. The pressure falling after a trying weekend which did not necessarily suggest such a positive outcome? Without a doubt. But there was something else...
The pilot Garlic thus won a Grand Prix after six years of the World Championship. But this event happened exactly ten years after his good friend, the late Shoya Tomizawa, also did the same to Qatar. " Shoya was like a brother to me “, explained the 27-year-old pilot. “ Early in my career we spent a lot of time together and I learned a lot from him. It's hard to believe I achieved my first victory on the same track he won on ».
Indeed, the connection is astonishing: Tomizawaas an Nagashima, won the opening race of the year and decade in Qatar. For Shoya, it was in 2010, for his compatriot, it is in 2020. And as for Nagashima, it was the first victory for his eldest in the Motorcycle World Championship, before he died the same year at the age of 19, after a fall at the San Marino Grand Prix in Misano.
« It's amazing to have done it and I want to thank Shoya for everything “, declared the winner of Qatar this year with tears at Parc Fermé.
A bit later, Nagashima gave new insight into his friendship with Tomizawa : " he has always been my hero since I started running at the age of three ", remember Nagashima. “ When Shoya won the race back then, I was 17, I think, and I watched it on TV. I knew Shoya well and I always followed him, starting with Pocket Bikes and Mini Bikes and also all the Japanese ones. We participated in championships on the same team. »
« Shoya moved up to the World Championship and I always had a feeling he would be riding here when I came into the paddock. It's hard to explain and a very special feeling. I thank Shoya, my family and my team for the work they have done » concludes the delighted Japanese, who thus offers us a part of the values that are current in the world of motorcycles...
