An impressive show of talent at the British GP, Takaaki Nakagami (Idemitsu Honda Team Asia) has taken a second career win in the intermediate class, less than a week after the announcement that the 25-year-old will move up into MotoGP™ for 2018.
The late summer's day saw a few surprises as the lights went out for Moto2™, and although the EG 0,0 Marc VDS teammates of Alex Marquez and Franco Morbidelli took an early lead, the battle between the pair saw Nakagami stick close behind with Mattia Pasini (Italrans Racing Team) also in competition for third.
After a fall from Marquez, the Japanese rider was able to hone in on and pass Morbidelli, taking control of the race and uncatchable to the flag for his first win of the season. Nakagami now sits 7th in the Championship, and will be looking to keep the momentum going after a tough mid-season.
Takaaki Nakagami, P1: “I was determined to win this race because I have just announced on last Sunday to move to the MotoGP class next year. Today, temperatures were higher than Friday and Saturday, so I held back at the beginning to see how the race would go. Then, I picked up the pace, took the lead, and finally managed to pull away. It was just amazing to achieve the first victory this season. I would like to thank my team and all the people who always support me even when I was struggling. For the next race, we will give our best to repeat this victory because Misano is a very special place for me.”