COURAGEOUS TAKA AIMING TO FIGHT BACK IN FRONT OF HOME FANS

Takaaki Nakagami will start his home Grand Prix from the back of the grid after a thunderstorm disrupted Saturday’s MotoGP schedule at Motegi. Still suffering with the hand injury he sustained in Aragon, the LCR Honda IDEMITSU rider saw his qualifying hopes ended by a fall in a soaking wet Q1 and will now look to battle back in front of his fans in Sunday’s race.

Having again come through a medical check to compete, Taka bravely fought his way to 17^th in a damp FP2 session with riders unable to improve on Friday’s lap times. FP3 was then cancelled due to the dangerous conditions and, when the action resumed in a delayed Q1 session, Taka was unable to recover after sliding out early on the slippery track.