TAKA ON THE SECOND ROW IN SPIELBERG
Takaaki Nakagami will start the Austrian Grand Prix from the second row of the grid after a superb performance in qualifying on Saturday. Having finished the opening day of free practice in third spot, the LCR Honda IDEMITSU rider maintained his form and is now well-placed to challenge at the front of the field in Sunday’s race.
As the weather held fair in Spielberg, Nakagami ensured his place in Q2 as he improved his overnight time to secure eighth spot in FP3. While world champion Marc Marquez dominated Q2, Nakagami was involved in a close battle for the remaining positions, eventually claiming sixth place and is now full confidence ahead of tomorrow’s test at the Red Bull Ring.
#30 Takaaki Nakagami (6th – 1’23.669)
“We did a great job this weekend so far, we had a good first day yesterday and today we were also able to improve the set-up and feeling of the bike. The lap time is quite good, Marc (Marquez) did the best time, but from second to tenth was very close. I’m quite pleased with the last lap time we did, it was really close to the front row but we improved and I’m happy to be on the second row. As I said yesterday I didn’t expect this on this track, but session by session we’ve improved the feeling with the bike. I want to thank the team and know that everyone is really happy with the second row. We need to keep going like this and now focus on tomorrow’s race.”
