Let’s talk MotoGP: Nakagami was stronger than you thought

It’s time to take stock! Like every year for three years, Let’s talk MotoGP is embarking on a fairly important undertaking: taking stock of each driver at the end of the 2024 season, today, the turn of retired Takaaki Nakagami. For a good part of the winter, we will go back through the rankings in reverse, to the point of talking in detail about the world champion’s campaign. Are you ready? Here we go!

Yesterday, we returned to the case ofAugusto Fernandez; click here to find this episode.

Discreet but still there

Don’t expect, of course, that we’ll hear about a performance from beyond the grave today. It would be unfair to treat Takaaki Nakagami, now retired, differently from a
Joan Mir or a Luca Marini, because he was sailing in the same boat. I wrote an article a few weeks ago when he announced his retirement,
which you can find by clicking here.

Takaaki, with colors that we won’t soon forget. Photo: Honda LCR

Previously, I made a statement that shocked more than one: no driver has surprised me positively in 2024. I know that may seem strange, but it is the truth. However, if I were to give an item that ended up where I didn’t expect it to, c’est well Takaaki Nakagami.
Okay, he’s still among the last, and okay, we haven’t seen much more of him than Augusto Fernandez on screen. Yes, he scored fewer points than in 2023, and no, he has never done better than eleventh this year. But let’s take into account the context,
so crucial to get a true idea of the picture.

At Honda, the situation is catastrophic. The two officials, Joan Mir (a MotoGP world champion) and Luca Marini, struggle to get into the points – when they finish the races. And yet, Nakagami, at LCR, is ahead of them in the general classification. The Japanese scored 31 points, compared to 21 for Mir and 14 for Marini. It’s pretty huge, and I certainly wasn’t expecting it. So, of course, Johann Zarco was better, but it’s no surprise given his past performances at Ducati Pramac.

Nakagami, at 32 and at the end of his career, held the helm in the most honorable way possible. It fell very little, and even during the first half of the year, was the best for the winged firm in MotoGP. Of course, it’s still far down in the rankings, and that’s why I can’t say with certainty that it’s a good surprise. But after all, it’s more than respectable.

An honest pilot. Photo: Honda LCR

A mistake by Honda

I often have the opportunity to talk about his role in Honda’s descent into hell, which has been racing since 2019 now. Faced with “Marquez-dependence”, he could do nothing. And Nakagami, like Bradl, for example, embodies the bad choices of the greatest manufacturer in motorcycling history. In my opinion, Takaaki should never have stayed as long as that in the premier category. He himself would have no trouble recognizing that his place was saved, year after year, thanks to his sponsor Idemitsu and, by extension, to his nationality.

But I am one of the people who never blame drivers when they behave intelligently and respectfully towards our sport. Honda, the number 1 company in the world, offers a handlebar to a Japanese enthusiast. Why would he refuse it?
It’s not Nakagami’s fault that Nakagami spent so much time in MotoGPcontrary to what some would have us believe.

Conclusion

I was pleasantly surprised by Takaaki Nakagami, let’s turn it like this. I didn’t expect him to compete with Johann Zarco for half a season, and perhaps I imagined him ranked even worse. Taka’ will certainly not have left his mark on Honda, and even less on Japan, but at least he did the job until the end in a very honorable manner. When I see thatAlex Rins has the same point total and our national Johann is only two places ahead, I tell myself that we cannot throw stones at him. Impossible to be disappointed, in any case.

What did you think of Takaaki Nakagami in 2024?
Tell me in the comments!

As a reminder, this article only reflects the thoughts of its author, and not of the entire editorial team.