Valuable Points for Nakagami in Japan
Mobility Resort MotegiLCR Honda IDEMITSU rider Takaaki Nakagami crossed the line 11th on Sunday in front of the home crowd.
Starting from the 18th spot on the grid, they declared a wet race immediately after the warm-up lap. Nakagami had to enter the pits, swap bikes, and continue his race. After some laps, they showed a red flag due to the severity of the weather conditions and that changed completely the plans as he had to enter again and wait. A further restart and an early race stop saw Nakagami finishing 11th, scoring valuable points.
In the end, it was a roller-coaster race that ended up positively for the Japanese rider and LCR team.
LCR Honda CASTROL replacement rider Stefan Bradl finished 14th on Sunday in Japan after a flag-to-flag race due to weather conditions.
Starting from the 20th spot on the grid, they declared a wet race immediately after the warm-up lap. The German was brave enough to stay on track for three more laps with slick tyres, hoping the rain would stop. However, it rained even harder, and he had to enter the pits to swap bikes. A further red flag and an early race stop due to the conditions ended with Stefan crossing the line 14th, scoring points for the second race in a row while replacing Alex Rins. Good job, Stefan!
It was a crazy race, and difficult to nail the strategy. Overall, I'm happy because we've seen some positives this weekend to help us step forward in the next races. I want to thank the team's job and the fans' support during these days.
I'm happy they stopped the race because it was dangerous. There was no visibility on the straight, so seeing other riders' maneuvers wasn't easy. I'm happy with the job done, and as always, I'd like to thank LCR for another nice weekend together.
