Born February 9, 1992 in Chiba, Takaaki Nakagami began racing in Grand Prix in 2007 in 125 in Valencia. He then progressed to Moto2, a category in which he debuted at the Japanese Grand Prix in 2011. He won two 600 Grands Prix at Assen in 2016 and Silverstone in 2017.
He took part in 100 world races in Moto2 and 34 in 125. He had a good season in 2013 with 5 podiums, which earned him eighth place in the championship. He has since improved his position with sixth place in 2016, and 4 podiums. He currently occupies seventh place with already 4 podiums including a victory in the United Kingdom.
This Silverstone victory was punctuated by the announcement of Takaaki's move to MotoGP at LCR for 2018, which suited everyone: Nakagami was over the moon after 6 average seasons in Moto2, the Honda Racing Corporation found a team of welcome for his Japanese rider in MotoGP, and Lucio Cecchinello benefited for LCR from a second rider who was well financed and equipped with good equipment, alongside Cal Crutchlow.
Nakagami is perhaps not the young talent full of talent that many racing fans would have liked to see arrive in MotoGP, but let's recognize that he is not taking anyone's place, and that he will become the twenty-fourth pilot of a grid which only has twenty-three this year. The advantage for Takaaki is that he will not be under any pressure, since no one expects anything from him, except perhaps Honda. But we can think that the Japanese are not fooled, knowing full well that nationality was more determining in the choice of driver than results.
That Nakagami won the Silverstone GP when announcing his move to MotoGP did not surprise Cecchinello: “ As a driver, you are more motivated when you are the center of attention and everyone is interested in you. We couldn't have asked for a better way to celebrate this news. »
What does Lucio expect from his new Japanese recruit? “MotoGP is undoubtedly not a simple category. There are riders like Tito Rabat who were extremely strong in Moto2 and who have problems in MotoGP, but there are also riders who were good in Moto2 and who are also strong in MotoGP, like Johann Zarco, for example. It is not easy to estimate. »
Photos Takaaki Nakagami personal
Source: motorsport total
