Once again, Nakagami managed to save the day for Honda and finish fifth on the grid for tomorrow’s race in Jerez. An excellent result considering Bradl is twelfth and all of Marc’s other teammates didn’t even make it into the second quarter. The Japanese LCR team driver opted for the old chassis after yesterday’s training sessions and it seems his choice has paid off.
“Yesterday I was talking about the 2020 chassis, but it’s not entirely true because it’s the latest development – he wanted to underline – – As I said, it has a slightly better grip at the rear, not a big difference, but the new one has its strengths, it also depends on the track. We need more time to evaluate them and for that Monday’s tests will be useful. There we can run the tests we need, and we can also test a completely new chassis. “
Before Takaaki thinks about development work, however, he has to focus on the race …
“It is difficult to make predictions for tomorrow – he explained – It seems that the Yamahas are very strong, especially with Quartararo and Morbidelli. But in the RP4 I used used tires and after 27 or 28 laps I was still able to do a low 1’38 “lap so I have a good pace. We still need to improve a few small details, especially with regard to the electronics. I think about the traction in the last part of the race. “
It will also be necessary to see under what conditions the track will be tomorrow, as there have already been changes today.
“The grip was as good as yesterday, but there was strong wind in some parts of the track – the Japanese driver observed – in the last two sectors it was difficult to keep the line in the fast corners.”