Taka Nakagami played with his health, participating until the finish line of the race, in his Japanese Grand Prix on the Motegi track. With fingers affected to the tendons after his accident in Aragon, only eight days ago, he knowingly went to sacrifice. He suffered martyrdom for the paltry result of a last place 43 seconds behind the winner Jack Miller. But the pride of riding in front of his compatriots who never let go of him from the stands was worth it to be, for one Sunday, and according to him, a conqueror of the useless.
Between Nakagami and his Japanese Grand Prix last Sunday was a personal matter to resolve where reason was not part of the equation. With a more than damaged hand, the Japanese was nevertheless declared fit to race on a powerful MotoGP, and he honored this astonishing medical discharge from Friday to Sunday at Motegi. At the end of the suffering and having exceeded the limits of his strength, the pilot Honda LCR commented on this unreasonable scenario: “ It was a difficult weekend and Sunday's race in particular was extremely difficult. Before the race, my only goal was to finish the race. I knew it was going to be a nightmare for the fingers, I wasn't sure I could finish ».
A tough one to endure for home hero @ takanakagami30, who made it to the flag in P20
🏁#JapaneseGP 🇯🇵 pic.twitter.com/eEX8XUttnv- MotoGP @ 🏁 (@MotoGP) September 25, 2022
Taka Nakagami: “ the finger is really very damaged, this is a serious question »
The teammate ofAlex Marquez, 13th in Japan, continues: “ I at least did my best and finished the race. Apart from the result I'm quite happy. My little finger has been looking really bad since Saturday morning's practice. After the race, it's even worse. We still have to decide if I go to Thailand or not because the finger is really badly damaged ».
« I went to the doctor after the race, who told me right away that it looked pretty bad ", said Nakagami. “ This is a serious question. I would also like to race in Thailand, but my health comes first, I have to think about the future. We're not fighting for the championship, so there's no point in taking a big risk ».
« It was clear that it would be a challenge, but my physical condition deteriorated on Saturday and Sunday. I'm still proud of myself for being able to finish the race. There was no good result. I only rode because it was my home race. This would not have been possible elsewhere “, underlined the Japanese. Nakagami then explained: “ It was really difficult, but still one of the best weekends for me, from an emotional point of view. The Japanese fans were there every day, they gave me a lot of energy. Even though I was last in the race, I saw Japanese flags everywhere. I am very happy with it ". He finishes : " I will try to get back into the best physical shape as soon as possible. See you next year, Motegi! ».
MotoGP Japan J3: ranking
Credit classification motogp.com
