TAKA FASTEST IN Q1 AHEAD OF QATAR GP

Takaaki Nakagami will start from the fourth row of the grid for Sunday’s Grand Prix of Qatar after topping the timesheets in Q1 on Saturday. The LCR Honda IDEMITSU rider held his nerve impressively to go fastest on his final flying lap in the first qualifying session for the 2021 MotoGP curtain-raiser.

With hot conditions in FP3 ensuring times from Friday evening weren’t bettered, Taka knew he had to step up in Q1 after showing encouraging race pace by finishing ninth in FP4. He produced when it mattered with a lap time of 1’53.577 to progress to Q2 and then secured 11^th position in the final shoot-out for Sunday’s race.