Tetsuta nagashima, HRC test pilot, will once again replace Takaaki Nakagami within the LCR Honda IDEMITSU Team during the Malaysian Grand Prix this weekend. Having replaced his compatriot at the last two events in Thailand and Australia following his wildcard in Japan, the Japanese driver was once again called up as a replacement for Takaaki Nakagami, while the latter continues to recover from hand surgery.
After passing a new medical check this Monday, the driver of the LCR Honda team IDEMITSU, Takaaki Nakagami, was advised by doctors not to race at Sepang, because the injury he suffered in Aragón last September must continue to be treated.
Tetsuta nagashima, he is still in the learning phase in the MotoGP category and produced a motivating performance at the Australian Grand Prix by finishing the race in 19th position after qualifying 24th and last. The Honda test driver completed all 27 laps of Phillip Island to gather valuable data for HRC in the premier class's first race at the Australian circuit in three years.
In dry and sunny conditions on the spectacular coastal route, Tetsuta nagashima got off to a good start and gained places on the first lap. He then settled into his rhythm and fought with Fabio Di Giannantonio for most of the race, ahead of the Ducati rider on the line to conclude a weekend that he considers positive. Sepang will therefore be his fourth participation in the MotoGP world championship.
Tetsuta nagashima : " Today was a tough day because it was the first time I rode with the group on a fast track like this. It was difficult, but overall this weekend we took a step forward. I couldn't keep up with the group, but I learned a lot and tried a lot of things during the race. At the end I had a good battle with Fabio (Di Giannantonio), I followed him and learned things to finally beat him, which was pretty good. I want to say thank you to the team, they helped me a lot and gave me a good bike and overall I'm really happy »
MotoGP Australian Grand Prix results:
Classification credit: MotoGP.com