Takaaki Nakagami to discuss MotoGP future with Honda at Sachsenring

What was seen as a make-or-break MotoGP campaign for Nakagami prior to the 2023 season getting underway, has continued in the same vein as 2022 which could leave the Japanese rider in trouble.

After Ai Ogura surprisingly turned down the chance to join LCR Honda after feeling as though he wasn’t ready for the step up, Nakagami was given a lifeline as Honda decided to stick with the now 31-year-old.  

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Honda, who have retained an interest in signing Ogura, have since seen the young Japanese rider struggle due to injuries that were picked up in pre-season. 

If Ogura can turn his season around and show the type of form that saw him finish second to Augusto Fernandez last season, then joining Honda could still happen for 2024, however, it remains to be seen whether Honda will make a decision before that happens.

While performances haven’t been great for Nakagami either, the former Moto2 rider has not given up hope of remaining with Honda and plans to discuss his future with Tetsuhiro Kuwata this weekend. 

Nakagami said: "I will sit with him at Sachsenring or Assen at the latest. After Assen comes the long summer break, I have to know in advance which road to take. 

"I want to know what you think about my future. My priority is to stay in my current team in MotoGP. I don't have a plan B or C yet.”

"I should know something during the summer break."

Mugello turned out to be a disastrous weekend for Honda after Joan Mir was ruled out following a crash on Friday, while Alex Rins and Marc Marquez also suffered crashes.

For Nakagami, struggles with acceleration and traction were the main areas of concern during last Sunday’s Italian Grand Prix.

Nakagami said: "It was tough. A really difficult race for us. I knew that the race distance [was going to be] really difficult for us to keep the pace and difficult to push like a qualifying lap. 

"But we need to push because we lose in the acceleration and traction area. 

"Unfortunately we couldn’t find the front-end feeling which is normally my strong point. but , somehow this weekend I was really struggling in that area. 

"The only good area was braking. But the acceleration and traction area was - I was spinning so much and had no drive. It was difficult."