Nakagami was the best Honda rider for the entire Jerez weekend, his form improved by switching to an older chassis that gave him more rear grip.
The Japanese qualified fifth and fought his way up to fourth in the final stages of the race in Jerez, with Petronas SRT’s Franco Morbidelli pushing for third place with strong pace in the final laps.
Nakagami came up short, however, and left him with mixed feelings, even though he was “proud” of his result.
“I’m happy with myself, the race was pretty tough and 25 laps were difficult,” he said. “On the other hand, I’m very proud and happy about the performance.
“The race pace was really fast, but we were able to keep the rhythm. [I had] a really good feeling on the bike from start to finish.
“I was very, very close to P3, which is a podium. Mixed feelings after the race.
“I screamed after the race. 50% I’m proud, really happy, but 50% I was… not disappointed, I don’t know how to explain how I feel.
“When I got to the pits, I cried because I started to think about the first podium. I’m a little disappointed, but that’s racing.
“But I’m happy. We got back to our position and P4 is a good result for us.
“We know that we have pace now, we have good pace. So I’m looking forward to Le Mans. “
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Nakagami’s attack for fourth place included a breathtaking overtaking maneuver on the outside of Aprilia’s Aleix Espargaro in the right-hand turn of Sito Pons, with the pair making slight contact as they moved.
Nakagami explained the overtaking maneuver: “I was many laps behind Aleix and was wondering where I could overtake.
“Every lap I thought about going into the last corner, but after Turn 12 there was always a little gap [between us].
“Then I saw Fabio [Quartararo] the lap time began to drop, then Aleix also began to slow down a few tenths.
“Then I realized that this is the point and if I miss that point, I will come and start a great fight.
“So I closed my eyes and tried to go into Turn 4 and on Turn 5 I tried to close the door. He tried to stay inside and we touched.
“On my leather suit you can see a big black spot on the right shoulder because the front tire touched my right arm. But it was a good move. “