In 2021, Takaaki Nakagami reached his fourth year in MotoGP hoping to restart from 2020, in which he had conquered his first pole position, had shown himself capable of fighting for the top six positions and had finished the year in tenth position in the general classification. However, despite having the updated Honda RC213V for the first time, in 2021 Nakagami had a subdued season, in which he only finished in the top 10 six times and finished 15th, still overtaking his teammate Alex Marquez in the standings.
In an interview with the Japanese edition of Motorsport.com, Nakagami gave a very honest assessment of his season: “I would rate myself two out of ten. The reason is that, with the good situation we had last year, both the team and I thought, ‘this year it will happen’, but instead we went backwards. Even though we had a lot of tough races, there were several occasions where I should have gotten better results, which is why I’m giving myself such a low grade. “
The LCR driver’s season started in a bad way, failing to score points in Qatar, but things went better in Jerez, where he finished fourth, and Le Mans, where he finished seventh. During the year he only managed to get back into the top six once, with sixth place in the Styrian GP at the Red Bull Ring.
Takaaki Nakagami, LCR Honda Team
Photo by: Gold and Goose / Motorsport Images
Speaking of his problems, he says: “Like the other Honda riders, we didn’t have enough rear grip and this affected us under braking, making it difficult to find a good balance. Basically, we haven’t been able to solve this problem all season, which is why I was struggling so hard. On some circuits it was better and we were able to do some good races, like in Jerez and Austria, but on other tracks we weren’t able to get results. It has been a season full of difficulties ”.
Nakagami will face a critical 2022 season in terms of renewal, for the first time since he is in MotoGP he is facing a threat to his saddle in the LCR-Idemitsu team and this is named after Ai Ogura, the Japanese who made his debut in Moto2 last year. Nakagami has identified the key to improving mental strength and aims to train in this regard before the winter tests.
“If I continue as I did last year, the results will be the same – acknowledged the LCR driver – I am no longer in the phase where I need more experience, so if I can improve where I need to, the results should be a natural consequence. As for my speed, I am able to show it in practice, I have not been slow and in any case I have had good results in the races. I think the feeling of pressure and adrenaline are quite different between qualifying and races. So, it is important to improve mentally and, in this way, I want to show my speed and strength next year. I have to recover and take a big step forward ”.
Interview by Akira Nishimura
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