MotoGP Indonesia J3, Taka Nakagami (Honda/11): “Michelin clearly advised us against choosing a soft tire”

Taka Nakagami recognizes this: Michelin had warned that its soft compound would never last the distance of a Grand Prix race, doing double the laps of the Sprint competition the day before. Despite everything, quite a few pilots turned a deaf ear. And for some, the end of the ordeal in Mandalika was a real ordeal...

Taka Nakagami finished eleventh and in agony one Indonesian Grand Prix where he even had to lower his flag in front of his teammate alex rins, ninth and better ranked of the two Honda survivors. And the Japanese know why: “ to be honest, it must be said that Michelin clearly advised us against choosing a soft rear tire », declared the Japanese who therefore does not shy away from the responsibility of his choices shared with his team: “ but we thought that the medium tire would not hold up for the whole race either ».

He explains : " the plan was clear. We wanted to catch up as many positions as possible from the start phase. It went well at first. But I realized quite quickly that we had made a gamble... The last ten laps were difficult, especially in the braking phases ».

**Taka Nakagami: “ the balance of the bike was significantly better than before »**

But that doesn't take away from the fact that he felt positive things about his wayward Honda during this fifteenth reed of the championship: “ we can say that we really progressed this weekend. The balance of the bike was noticeably better than before. The conditions were quite extreme, but I'm happy because we still scored a few points ". And he is sure of it: “ with this progress, we can certainly aiming for a top ten place in Australia ».

Tire choice played an important role in Indonesia given the asphalt temperature of 60 degrees and the grueling distance of 27 laps. Aleix Espargaró, Raul Fernández, Oliveira, Martin, Di Giannantonio, Marini, Nakagami, Bezzecchi, Mir, Rins, Miller, Quartararo and Morbidelli chose the soft front tire.

Viñales, Binder, Augusto Fernández and Pol Espargaró opted for the medium front tire.

Only three pilots played it safe and rode the hard compound at the front : the winner Bagnaia, Zarco and the Lenovo Ducati factory rider Bastianini, who came 8th.