NAKAGAMI IMPRESSES WITH TOP TEN IN THAILAND TESTING
LCR Honda IDEMITSU rookie Takaaki Nakagami completed the three-day pre-season test at the Buriram International Circuit in impressive fashion on Sunday, ending up in the top ten overall and eighth-fastest on the final day. The Japanese rider will make his debut in the premier class of MotoGP in a month’s time in Qatar, and will head into that event full of confidence after three excellent days of hard work in Thailand.
The Chiba-born rider stopped the clock in a best time of 1’30.456 today, shaving half a second off his benchmark from Saturday. That lap time put him eighth fastest on the timesheets and meant he was the quickest of the rookies for the third day in a row. It augurs well for the 2018 season for 26 year-old Taka, who has a final three-day test in Qatar in a couple of weeks before the curtain raises on the MotoGP season at the same venue two weeks later.
#30 Takaaki Nakagami – 8th (10th overall – 1’30.456)
“I’m really happy with the three days overall, both in terms of the lap time and the position in the field. We have made lots of improvements, with the bike, with the team – getting to know each other even better. I want to say a big thank you to the LCR Honda IDEMITSU Team because I am very happy with our progress over these days.”
“To finish inside the top ten for the first time is a really good thing, but we still need to work hard in Qatar when we get there. Let’s see what happens, but I hope we can continue in this way and I’m sure it will be a good test over there before the season starts for real.”
