Since the start of the season, he was the bearer of hope for a Honda factory without its leader Marc Marquez. In full progress, he was promised a future podium which would have been the first for his employers in this difficult season. But in two Grands Prix the Japanese was swept away by Alex Marquez who succeeded in the operation in two successive races at Le Mans and Aragon. During this last event, he finished fifth and first independent. Not bad, but he fell into line.
Takaaki Nakagami discovers that in MotoGP, you should never miss opportunities to stand out. He had a period where he had all the attention of Honda, because he was the fastest of the troop. Then Cal Crutchlow woke up in qualifying and Alex Marquez asserted himself in the race. As a result, although still effective, it is less highlighted.
He still remains in the top 5 in the championship and it is also in this ranking that he honorably completed his Aragon Grand Prix : " the race was difficult in terms of tire management. Some riders used the soft rear compound, some the medium. The soft tire was better for us, but at the end of the race, with about seven laps to go, it was really difficult to maintain the pace and also keep the tires from spinning » comments the 28-year-old Japanese.
“I’m going to look at Alex Marquez’s data”
« Especially in turn 10 and in the last double left turn before the start and finish it was easy to overheat the tires »Says Nakagami, who scored points in all ten races and was never worse than ninth. “ At first I tried to save the tires. I always think about the end of the race. I'm glad I stayed in front of Franco. It was really difficult, in the last corner I tried to stay on the inside and I had the chance to overtake him and be the best rider of the customer team ».
Nakagami also has a thought for Alex Marquez, Repsol Honda rookie: “ I must congratulate him. When he overtook me in the last double left at the start, I couldn't believe how far inside he could stay with the bike. He really had a very strong rhythm. I would like to see his data from this race. I will analyze everything with my team and also look at their data ».
MotoGP Aragon-1 J3: classification
