Pol Espargaró explained in the run-up to the Catalan Grand Prix , which is being held this weekend in Montmeló , that Honda has decided to give new parts to the satellite team driver, Takaaki Nakagami, ahead of him, in a maneuver that could lead to the conclusion that the broker has lost the confidence of the Japanese house.
Honda brought a new chassis and swingarm straight from Tokyo to Mugello a week ago, which were fitted to Marc Márquez’s RC213V. However, during the Italian weekend the rider announced that he was going to undergo surgery this past Thursday and HRC made the decision that these two spare parts would go on Nakagami’s bike for this appointment, skipping what would be a logical line of succession by Pol Espargaró, runner in the official formation.
The pilot regretted the decision in his appearance before the media, but assured that he “accepted” it and that Honda would have its reasons.
Lucio Cecchinello , owner of LCR, the team in which Nakagami runs, explained this Friday on DAZN the reasons, which according to him, have led to this decision.
“Right now Nakagami is being one of the fastest Honda riders, he has achieved good results in recent races and the factory has considered that he can be a good tester of these new parts,” he added.
However, the explanation leaves many gaps and everything points more to the fact that, as usual, riders who may not continue with the brand are not allowed to test parts that could be used for next season.
The only rider with a valid contract for 2023 is, precisely, Marc Márquez , who is injured and with no set date to reappear, so he could miss the development phase of the bike for another year.
Pol Espargaró, Alex Márquez and Nakagami himself, end their contract at the end of the course and no one has communicated, from HRC, if they are going to continue.
“Taka is a Honda man, he has been in the house for many years and whether or not he continues to race with the team in MotoGP next year, he will continue with Honda, so the novelties he can test and all the information he collects will be in good hands”, said Cecchiello, who did not want to get wet about the future of his two riders.
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Photo by: Marc Fleury
Photo by: Marc Fleury
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Photo by: Marc Fleury
