Nakagami resets course for maiden win from third consecutive front row start

Takaaki Nakagami will once again attempt to break his MotoGP podium duck from the front row on Sunday after again shining in qualifying for the second of back-to-back Valencia races.

Landing third on the grid, the Japanese rider has qualified on the front row for each of the last three events now. However, after crashing on the opening lap of the Teruel MotoGP from pole position and landing a fourth place finish last weekend, the LCR Honda rider remains without a podium to his name in the premier class.

In a year that has seen his performance take a notable upswing during the second of the back-to-back events this year, Nakagami is confident it can come together now for him to step foot on the podium for the first time. 

“It’s good because it’s another front row, I think that’s three races in a row, so I’m pretty happy with another P3. It’s really important for tomorrow’s race because normally it’s not easy to overtake on this track. 

“I’m happy and I want to say thanks to my team because it was tricky conditions and the team prepared the best bike and I just kept pushing. It’s a great result, I’m looking forward to tomorrow and we hope to bring home a great result.”

“I rode with the hard front last weekend as a safer option but I feel that because we didn’t have any dry time on track, knowing what we know now about the medium front, I feel quite confident with my tyre selection for tomorrow. 

“The other boys will be really fast but hopefully we can get off the line nice and cleanly, run our own race and pace to manage the rear tyre to the end.”