“Emotional, I will never forget today”: Home MotoGP farewell for Takaaki Nakagami
“I'm really proud of myself, it was a good race”
Takaaki Nakagami wheelied over the finish line in 13th place during his final home Japanese MotoGP appearance as a full-time rider.
Just 21st in qualifying and taken out of the Sprint by team-mate Johann Zarco, Nakagami was the only rider to gamble on the soft rear tyre for the grand prix.
It paid off.
Rather than fading, the future HRC test and wild-card rider was hunting down the group of riders ahead in the closing laps, finishing just 1.5s from Aleix Espargaro and ninth place.
“It was a very emotional race,” Nakagami said. “I’ve enjoyed it a lot, and I wanted to give my best to my fans.
“I knew I had nothing to lose starting from the back of the grid and scoring points is always nice.
“I gave my best until the end. If I had 2 laps extra, maybe I can catch that group. But I really enjoyed the end of the race. I'm really proud of myself.
“The soft rear was risky, but I was managing very well.
“It was a good decision. I was able to be consistent and in the very end of the race, I was even recovering a couple of tenths, and that's why I was able to catch the group in front.”
The home fans showed their appreciation for Nakagami’s efforts over the past seven years with rapturous applause on the slowdown lap.
“I will never forget today,” he said. “That cooldown lap was a very nice feeling. I want to thank everybody for supporting me.
“Each corner I saw all the fans and I felt, ‘OK, maybe this is going to be the last one, the last cooldown’.
“Again, I'm proud of myself, I gave my best, so this is a very special Sunday for me.
“When I came back to the pit, I saw all my crew, all the staff, and I was nearly crying.”
Nakagami, who will hand his LCR Honda rider to rookie Somkiat Chantra next season, is 18th in the world championship, 8 points behind Zarco but ahead of both Repsol riders Joan Mir and Luca Marini.
Mir was taken out of Sunday’s race on the opening lap by Alex Marquez, while Marini finished three-seconds behind Nakagami in 14th.
