Takaaki Nakagami, best rookie in 2018 tests at Sepang

Four "Rookies" from Moto2 discovered MotoGP in 2018: the title holder in the intermediate category Franco Morbidelli, the Belgian Xavier Simeon, the Swiss Tom Luthi and the Japanese Takaaki Nakagami, by far the fastest on his Honda-LCR during the first tests 2018.

Learning the demanding specifics of a MotoGP on a track as complex as Sepang is not easy, especially when the rain gets involved during the first two days of testing! Takaaki Nakagami, 14th on the last day, is the beginner who got off the best of this delicate exercise with a lap in 2’00.071.

Cal Crutchlow’s new teammate at Honda-LCR sticks half a second to Franco Morbilli on his Honda Marc VDS (17th in 2’00.526), ​​second rookie in the standings. Nakagami, 7th in Moto2 in 2017, rose to the level of much more experienced riders such as Aleix Espargaro on Aprilia (13th in 1’59.962) and Alvaro Bautista on Ducati (15th in 2’00.205).

"This final day was much better than the second: I had a good time and I almost fell below the 2’00 mark just for a tenth", rightly rejoices the new protege of Lucio Cecchinello, who s he is also shown the most assiduous of the "Rookies" with 169 laps on the clock !

• MNC of February 1, 2018 :
• MNC of January 31, 2018 : G
• MNC of January 31, 2018 : 

"I am also happy with my simulated race because my pace was pretty good, although it was the first time I was doing this kind of exercise and the conditions were not necessarily ideal".

“The priority was to see how I felt physically, how the bike behaved, as well as the tire wear. But so far everything has been going well. So I’m happy with these three days of Testing at Sepang. . I can’t wait to go to Thailand, ”concludes with optimism the Japanese pilot, who will celebrate his 26th birthday on February 9th..

The two other rookies on the grid, Xavier Simeon (Ducati Avintia) and Thomas Luthi (Honda-Marc VDS), finish respectively 22nd and 25th in the combined classification of the three days. 

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