“It was an unlucky accident,” Takaaki Nakagami refuses to blame Marc Marquez over their unfortunate Lap 1 incident in the Aragon GP
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Takaaki Nakagami
Honda hasn’t been providing it’s riders with the best of machinery in the past few seasons. Takaaki Nakagami and Marc Marquez are currently 15th and 16th in the rider’s standings with Marc being the topmost Honda. After winning the title in 2019, Marc Marquez’s accident meant that he wasn’t able to get back to his full pace and was taking a lot of time off. Finally he had returned to MotoGP to compete in his home race but unfortunately it did not end well for the Spaniard.
The opening lap incident at the Aragon GP has an outlasting effect on Takaaki Nakagami more than it did to Marc. After his collision with Fabio Quartararo, the Spaniard continued but had to slow down due to something being stuck in his rear tyre. As a result, Takaaki who was behind him had nowhere to go and the two crashed with Nakagami sliding all over the track and being stranded as all the riders narrowly avoided the Japanese rider.
Although this wasn’t the end for Takaaki Nakagami as he suffered injuries on his right hand which resulted in a surgery taking place on Monday. He was seen in the paddock today for his home race weekend with his hand fully bandaged.
After Friday’s FP1 is over, the rider’s condition will be evaluated and it will be decided if he is fit enough to take part in the race. The Honda rider further went on to talk more about the incident.
‘I tried to abort but it was impossible,’ Takaaki Nakagami on his incident with Marc Marquez
The Japanese rider explained the whole scenario from his side. “Well, it’s really difficult and I tried to overtake Marc under braking at turn seven but I slightly lost the line and he tried to do the overtake again at the exit of turn seven,” he said.
“He was clearly in front of me but then it looks like when he activated the device the bike went to the left. It was such a short time and I tried to abort out of the contact but it was quite impossible,” he continued.
“At that moment I realised it was not Marc, it was totally not Marc’s fault. It was an unlucky accident and 0% I never got angry at him. It was unlucky and I got the injury, but this is life and it could be worse because I hit him twice and the first one I was already out of control,” he said.
“When I was going right I was trying to stay on the bike but I was already 100% throttle. I was lucky because the second [impact] I was already crashing and on the floor and saw that all the riders behind were avoiding to crash,” he concluded.
After Friday’s first practice session, we will have a better idea of Takaaki Nakagami’s condition and whether he will be allowed to race or not. It will be a tough weekend for the home hero if he is permitted to ride as his hand hasn’t fully recovered having done surgery on it less than a week ago. Hopes are high as the Japanese Grand Prix weekend kicks off.
Also read : “Everyone loved Valentino Rossi – it made you feel small” : Jorge Lorenzo
Also read : ‘He’s the best on the grid right now’ : Marc Marquez speaks in support of MotoGP championship leader Fabio Quartararo
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Varad Joshi
(940 Articles Published)