16 August 2020 | Austrian GP Race
Takaaki Nakagami produced a superb ride to claim sixth place in an action-packed Austrian Grand Prix at Spielberg. The LCR Honda IDEMITSU rider showed great concentration and determination as the race at the Red Bull Ring was stopped and restarted following a huge crash between Johann Zarco and Franco Morbidelli in the early stages.
Fortunately both riders avoided serious injury and, having restarted in 12th, Taka picked up places as those ahead of him stumbled. The Japanese star – who was again the leading Honda – followed Valentino Rossi home to collect another ten world championship points and now sits in sixth position in the rider standings after another hugely positive weekend.
Takaaki Nakagami – 6th
“I’m quite happy with P6 and another top-six finish. It was a really great race, especially race two. Unfortunately in race one there was a big accident and I’m just glad nobody was injured. It was not easy, after they stopped the race and restarted with 20 laps, it was really difficult to switch off and then switch on again, but the team did a really great job. They gave me a lot of positive energy and our race pace was quite good.
It was shame I made one mistake in the race at turn three when I went out of position, but I’m really happy to end up with a good result. We have another race here next weekend and we’ll try to prepare for another great race and hopefully we can fight for the podium.”
