Lap time graph shows “Johann Zarco was super fast” even if “we made same decision”

Takaaki Nakagami joined French MotoGP winner Johann Zarco as the only rider to complete Sunday’s race without crashing or making a bike swap.

Competing as a wild-card with Honda’s test team following his full-time retirement at the end of 2024, Nakagami was among eight riders to pick wet tyres for the restart – the same strategy that carried Zarco to a stunning home win.

While the other wet starters either abandoned their plan or crashed, Zarco romped to a near 20-second victory while Nakagami quietly carved his way from the back of the grid to sixth, his best MotoGP result since 2021.

“I’m really happy for Zarco, doing this at your home GP is a dream! He was really fast on track today,” said Nakagami, who spent all seven of his MotoGP seasons at the Frenchman’s LCR team.

“We made the same decision on the damp conditions, to stay out with the rain tyre and same compound. But Johann was super, super fast.”

The Japanese admitted the early stages were chaotic, with 13 riders pitting on the sighting lap for slicks before rain returned and forced them to pit again.

“From my side I just tried to stay focused on my job – don’t crash and don’t override. It was pretty chaotic at the start with the pitting and many people changing their bikes, quite difficult to understand.

“I really enjoyed the race, even if it was really long! Top six is an incredible result, nothing we were expecting, but it’s a great reward for the Test Team who have been working to their maximum not just this year, but for many years.”

Asked whether he’d gathered valuable data in the mixed conditions, Nakagami explained:

“Honestly, it’s difficult to try new things because we only had the wet conditions today. We tried to start with the base setup from last season, and the electronics were not matching so well, because I had a new engine.

“With the weather always changing, I changed the map during the race, but never had a good feeling. I had so much traction control, it was too much. But anyway, they have a lot of good data that is hopefully helping with development.”

Nakagami, who is sharing Honda wild-card duties with Aleix Espargaro, is expected to make at least one more wild-card appearance this season.