After six years in Moto2, including a win at the 2016 Dutch TT, 25-year-old Takaaki Nakagami will be racing in the MotoGP class in 2018. After a three-year stint on Idemitsu Honda Team Asia in Moto2, Nakagami will join LCR Honda in MotoGP next year. Nakagami will be a contract rider with HRC.In addition to his victory, Nakagami has been on the Moto2 podium 13 times, and scored four poles. His best overall season finish in Moto2 was in 2016, when he finished the year in sixth place. Nakagami is currently seventh in the Moto2 standings.
“Since riding a pocket bike when I was four years old, I have always aimed to compete with the world’s best,” Nakagami said. “This opportunity has become real thanks to all of my associates and fans. There are still seven Moto2 races left this season, including the Japanese Grand Prix. I’ll be concentrating on these races, while gaining the abilities I need for next year. I hope everyone will continue to support me the way they have up to now.”Takaaki NakagamiHRC President Yoshishige Nomura said, “Nakagami continues his journey into 2018 as an HRC contract rider, and using his passion and riding skills to their fullest, will undoubtedly become a rider that the younger generation from Japan, and the Asia region, will aspire to be like. I believe his dreams will drive him to become a top-class rider who will impress many fans.”Katsuhide Moriyama, Corporate Executive Officer and Director of Brand Communications Division, Honda Motor Company said, “I am very pleased Nakagami will be racing in the premier class. His outstanding performance, serious attitude towards racing and consistently aggressive riding style were all considerations. I believe that by Asian riders competing on the world stage, Honda can make a big contribution to the promotion of motor sports in the Asia region including Japan. I wish him success in his new stage, and hope that he develops into a Grand Prix rider that the younger generation can aspire to.”A sensation early in his career, Nakagami won the Japanese 125cc Championship in 2006 at age 14, the youngest rider to win that title. He came through the ranks as part of the Red Bull MotoGP Academy.
Takaaki Nakagami Photo Gallery
Takaaki Nakagami
Honda’s Takaaki Nakagami at Qatar Moto2 Free Practice
Idemitsu Honda Team Asia Takaaki Nakagami at Jerez Moto2 testing
Hello everyone and welcome once again to Ultimate Motorcycling’s weekly Podcast—Motos and Friends.
My name is Arthur Coldwells.
This week’s Podcast is brought to you by Yamaha motorcycles. Discover how the YZF-R7 provides the perfect balance of rider comfort and true supersport performance by checking it out at YamahaMotorsports.com, or see it for yourself at your local dealer.
This week’s episode features Senior Editor Nic de Sena’s impressions of the beautiful new Harley-Davidson Low Rider ST that is loosely based around the original FXRT Sport Glide from the 1980s. Hailing from The Golden State, these cult-status performance machines became known as West Coast style, with sportier suspension, increased horsepower, and niceties including creature comforts such as a tidy fairing and sporty luggage.
In past episodes you might have heard us mention my best friend, Daniel Schoenewald, and in the second segment I chat with him about some of the really special machines in his 170 or so—and growing—motorcycle collection. He’s always said to me that he doesn’t consider himself the owner, merely the curator of the motorcycles for the next generation.
Yet Daniel is not just a collector, but I can attest a really skilled rider. His bikes are not trailer queens, they’re ridden, and they’re ridden pretty hard. Actually, we have had many, many memorable rides on pretty much all of the machines in the collection at one time or another.
From all of us here at Ultimate Motorcycling, we hope you enjoy this episode!
