TAKA TAKES TENTH POSITION AHEAD OF THE STYRIAN GP

Takaaki Nakagami claimed tenth place on the grid for the Styrian Grand Prix after a hard-fought day of qualifying at the Red Bull Ring. Leading the way in the premier class overnight, the LCR Honda IDEMITSU rider secured automatic qualification to Q2 and also demonstrated solid race pace ahead of Sunday’s MotoGP showdown in Spielberg.

The Japanese star struggled to improve his time from Friday in FP3, but still progressed to Q2 as he ended a super-competitive session on the bubble in tenth. He showed encouraging signs for Sunday by taking seventh in FP4, but eventually had to settle for a spot on the fourth row after losing places in the closing moments of the qualifying shootout.