Testuta Nagashima joined the Honda team last year after racing for four seasons in Moto2 and closing his path in 2020, finishing eighth overall after winning Qatar in the opening round of the championship. In addition to some presence in the intermediate class with Italtrans as a replacement for the injured Lorenzo Dalla Porta, Nagashima spent most of 2021 out of the game, dedicating himself to preparing for the Suzuka 8 Hours he raced with Honda this year.
Nagashima in fact helped to bring Honda’s first victory at Suzuka since 2014, taking pole with the track record and winning one lap early together with team mate Takumi Takahashi and Iker Lecuona.
Takumi Takahashi, Honda
Photo by: Gold and Goose / Motorsport Images
For this, Honda rewarded Nagashima with the opportunity to line up on the MotoGP starting grid for his home race at Motegi, riding a third RC213V in HRC colors. This will be the first time since 2015 that Honda has fielded a wildcard for its home race, with Takahashi finishing in the points taking 12th place.
“I will race in MotoGP, which I have dreamed of since I was a child,” said Nagashima. “It’s just a wild card for a race, but I’ll really do my best and show my gratitude to HRC for giving me this opportunity with a good result. In the Suzuka 8 Hours everything went well, from the tests to the race, which we won. So I will continue like this for the Japanese Grand Prix ”.
“I feel it having done some development tests as an HRC driver this year, my qualities as a driver are improving, so I hope everyone will see Tetsuta Nagashima as a driver now. I’ll do my best, so I hope everyone on the track and on television will cheer me on ”.
Honda will not be the only brand to have a wild card at Motegi, even Suzuki announced this week that it will give longtime tester Takuya Tsuda the chance to do one last race on his home track ahead of the manufacturer’s farewell. Hamamatsu in MotoGP at the end of this year. This will be only his second MotoGP race for Tsuda, after his debut at Jerez in 2017, when he took to the track to replace the injured Alex Rins.
Takuya Tsuda, Suzuki MotoGP Team
Photo by: Gold and Goose / Motorsport Images
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