It must be admitted that the announcement of shoulder surgery for Takaaki Nakagami surprised the vast majority of the paddock who had never heard the Japanese driver complain about this.
He took advantage of the press conference held as a prelude to the Japanese Grand Prix at Motegi to lift the veil on something that handicapped Marc Márquez for many months.
Takaaki Nakagami : “Tuesday afternoon we announced one positive news and one negative news. The positive news, as you know, is that I have renewed my contract with LCR Honda for next year, which is very positive for me. So I really want to thank LCR Honda and of course HRC. »
“The negative news concerns the injury I sustained in Assen during the race. I don't want to talk about this because I didn't want to tell anyone until the last moment. Before Aragón, I thought it was time to explain it to the team and in particular to the team manager Lucio, and of course to HRC. During the fall in Assen, my right shoulder was very painful, and let's say that, race by race, I lost performance. For me it was a very difficult decision to miss the last three races and of course I wanted to continue racing until Valencia, but that is now almost impossible. In the last few races, I even struggled to finish them. It also depends on the layout of the track: in Aragón it was as if like that but I really struggled to hold the bike in Thailand because I lost strength. After that, I decided it was time for surgery. »
“Of course I'm disappointed to miss Australia, Malaysia and Valencia, but it happened and I have to try to stay positive thinking about next year. »
We therefore understand much better why Takaaki Nakagami, after a very consistent start to the season (which earned him criticism from his mistreated teammate), has been more mixed lately...
The Japanese pilot specifies: “My main problem is that I can't hold the bike when braking, and especially long braking is getting worse and worse. So I shouldn't say it, but it will be a difficult weekend here (laughs) but I will try to do my best, hoping that the pain will not increase. I think I will take painkillers from FP1. »
The doctors having announced a convalescence of at least three months, Takaaki Nakagami hopes to be back for the tests at Sepang, once his national Grand Prix is completed.
Photo credit : MotoGP.com
