TAKA TARGETS QUALIFYING IMPROVEMENT IN ITALY
Takaaki Nakagami endured a mixed opening day at the Italian Grand Prix in what is the home race of his LCR Honda IDEMITSU team. The Japanese rider enjoyed a good start as free practice got underway at scenic Mugello but finished the day down in 14th position on the timesheets, leaving himself work to do in Saturday’s qualifying.
Nakagami again demonstrated his increased confidence and stature in the premier class this season as he went seventh fastest in the morning’s FP1 session. However, as the track heated up under sunny skies, he struggled to maintain his rhythm in FP2 and was unable to find a lap time to crack the top 10. Taka remains confident, though, and is still targeting a place on the front three rows of the grid.
#30 Takaaki Nakagami (14th – 1’47.483)
“It’s difficult to say what tomorrow will bring, because today was a bit of a struggle, especially this afternoon. FP1 in the morning was ok, but when the track temperature rises it’s a bit of a struggle to find the grip and also our strategy was to use the soft tyre to find a lap time, but I made a little mistake. So we’ll try to be strong tomorrow, I think it will be very important to make a lap time in FP3 and try to get into the top 10. If we can get into Q2, our target will be to get on to the third row, so that’s what I’ll be aiming for.”
