NAKAGAMI IMPRESSES IN JEREZ QUALIFYING
LCR Honda IDEMITSU rider Takaaki Nakagami followed up his best qualifying effort in the USA last time out with another positive performance in Spain on Saturday. The Japanese rookie will start Sunday’s Spanish Grand Prix from 14th place and the fifth row, after another positive weekend on board his RC213V.
Out in the first qualifying session, the 26 year-old just missed out on progressing to the qualifying final by less than two-tenths of a second. Considering the race pace he has built over the weekend at the Jerez-Angel Nieto Circuit he is hopeful of scoring his best result so far in his debut year amongst the MotoGP elite.
#30 Takaaki Nakagami – 14th (1’38.481)
“I’m really happy for the whole LCR Honda team first of all because my team-mate Cal Crutchlow is on pole position and that’s good for us all. Congratulations to them!
“For myself I’m slightly disappointed because I just missed out on Q2 by about a tenth of a second. I’m really keen to get into that final, but I made a small mistake which cost me my chance. I’m improving with the softer tyre, because yesterday I struggled with using the soft in the rear, but day by day, session by session we are making steps.
“It’s going to be tough in the race because it is very tight between all the riders, and the conditions will be really hot – it’s going to be a long one! We need to think about tyre management, get a good start and try my best over the 25 laps. I hope we can get our best result.”
