TAKA EYES IMPROVEMENT IN THAILAND

Free practice for the Grand Prix of Thailand got underway on Friday in sweltering conditions at the Chang International Circuit. LCR Honda IDEMITSU rider Takaaki Nakagami found the going tough in the opening two sessions as he ended the day in 14^th, but is confident of improving as the weekend goes on.

With humidity levels oppressively high on the track in Buriram, the Japanese star struggled to find the rhythm he wanted during FP1 as he went 14^th fastest. In the afternoon, Taka tried out the carbon swing arm on his RC213V and was pleased with the results. He improved by half a second in FP2 as he maintained his position and is now looking forward to Saturday’s qualifying.”

#30 Takaaki Nakagami (14^th – 1’31.424)

“It was really tough conditions today, especially in FP2 it was really hot and I struggled to keep the pace. We tried to make a step forward between FP1 and FP2 and in FP2 it was the first time we used the carbon swing arm and there were some positive feelings with it. We know that this is the right way for tomorrow and Sunday, and we need to find a good set-up with it. The grip level was not bad, but in each sector we were generally losing two or three tenths so we need to understand why that is. We’ll look at Marc’s data and then see how we can improve tomorrow.”