After seven years, Takaaki Nakagami is saying goodbye and leaving Europe – in the future, he will be developing Honda’s MotoGP project in Japan
Takaaki Nakagami’s career will come to an end at the MotoGP season finale in Barcelona. Next year, Somkiat Chantra will take over his place in the LCR Honda team. A new phase in Nakagami’s life will also begin at the end of November, when he will move to Japan.
Nakagami spent six years in the Moto2 class. He stood on the podium 14 times. He won two races. In seven years in the premier class, he was unable to build on these successes.
He took pole position once. Nakagami finished fourth three times, but the leap onto the podium eluded him. Given Honda’s current performance, it is likely that this will remain the case.
The Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya is located in Montmelo. For Nakagami, it is a home race, because for many years he has had his European base in Sant Cugat del Valles, a town north of the Catalan metropolis.
On Tuesday after the race weekend, an official test day will take place. Nakagami will then still be in the LCR box and help his successor Chantra. However, the Japanese rider will no longer get on the bike.
After the test, MotoGP packs up, Nakagami packs his bags and moves to his hometown of Chiba, which is located about 40 kilometers east of Tokyo. New tasks await him at Honda in Japan.
In the future, the European test team will consist of Aleix Espargaró, who is taking his crew chief Antonio Jiménez with him from Aprilia, and Stefan Bradl. In addition, Romano Albesiano, the new technical director, is to set up a base in Europe in the medium term.
Nakagami will test developments in Japan in the future. This has been done by Tetsuta Nagashima so far. Nakagami is also supposed to be a link between HRC in Japan and the racing team, especially with regard to communication.
New Life in Japan
His new life will change, except for the daily rounds with his French bulldogs Rin and Kinako. The 32-year-old’s life will be a little quieter in the future. Nakagami does not yet know exactly what to expect in Japan.
“I haven’t discussed that with Honda yet. We will do that at the beginning of December when I visit the Honda headquarters. Then they will explain to me the plan they have in mind for me for the next six months.”
The principal goal is clear. “Honda wants to accelerate the development of the bike in Japan,” says Nakagami. “Nagashima is there, but he’s not fast enough to test parts beyond their functionality.”
“The idea is to shorten the evaluation of new parts. I’m faster than he is. My lap times won’t be five seconds slower than those of the regular drivers.” It is still unclear how Honda will divide the six possible wildcards between the three test drivers.
How often Nakagami will be seen at races in Europe is also still open. ‘My lifestyle will change completely. I’ve lived in Spain for ten years, now I’m going to move to Japan,’ he says, aware of the change.
“First of all, I have to get used to the new environment and the weather. Then I have to see how I stay fit and at speed. It’s good that Honda is always there. I’ll be able to ride their bikes on their tracks.”