MotoGP Round 6 French GP: Takaaki Nakagami takes part in his first wildcard race since retiring. He performs his duties as a development rider and finishes in 6th place.

The sixth round of the MotoGP, the French Grand Prix, was held from May 9th to 11th at the Le Mans-Bugatti Circuit in France, and Takaaki Nakagami, a Honda development rider who participated as a wildcard, finished the final race in a respectable sixth place.

Nakagami’s first wildcard appearance since retirement, riding with a carbon swingarm

For Takaaki Nakagami (HONDA), the French GP was his first wildcard appearance since retiring. Nakagami retired as a regular rider at the end of the 2024 season and is currently working as a development rider for Honda. He is currently busy with testing.

On Thursday of the French Grand Prix, Nakagami commented on the race week he was not a regular rider, saying, “It’s a different feeling.” Until now, he was in a position where results were expected. However, what is most expected of Nakagami now is not results, but completing the race, collecting data, and evaluating parts.

“I’m not under any pressure at all and I feel calm. In the past I used to worry about what would happen if the weather changed, but now the results don’t make a big difference. Of course I’d like to get a good result, but I also want to be able to assess the situation and stay calm, and finish the season in a good way with the test team.”

The main tests for this wildcard entry were the carbon swingarm and the new engine, and on Friday they compared the carbon swingarm with the aluminum swingarm.

“If my evaluation of this carbon swing arm is positive and I give the go-ahead, then we will begin supplying it. A lot depends on the development stage, so I spent the whole day talking with the team until I was 100% sure. However, I haven’t quite got the positive feeling I was aiming for, so it’s a difficult decision to make.”

Honda has introduced carbon swingarms in the past, but currently uses aluminum swingarms. Regarding the carbon swingarm that they are testing again this time, they said they have “not heard” what the aim is. However, they said that they think it may be aimed at improving grip and rear stability, which have been Honda’s struggles in recent years.

As can be seen from Nakagami’s vague comments, the carbon swingarm was a “difficult” choice, and Honda decided to switch back to aluminum swingarms on both bikes on Friday night, and they began running with aluminum swingarms from Saturday.

Despite the complicated conditions, they completed their work and took home a 6th place result.

Honda’s Johann Zarco took a sensational victory in the French Grand Prix, and Nakagami was one of the riders who had a great race.

Rain began to fall about 20 minutes before the start of the final race at 2:00 p.m. All riders on the grid were equipped with slick tires, but during the warm-up lap just before the start, almost all of the cars pitted in to switch to machines with rain tires.

At this point, the race was red-flagged due to the large number of bikes gathering at the pit lane exit, and when the pit lane reopened a few minutes later, it appeared that most of the riders were on rain tires.

However, there was a difference in judgment at this point. Winning riders Zarco and Nakagami continued on the grid with rain tires, while 13 other riders, including Marc Marquez (Ducati) and Ai Ogura (Aprilia), pitted on the sighting lap and switched to slick tires before joining the grid. This decision would determine the outcome of the race.

Under the regulations announced and implemented on May 6th, riders who switch to machines with slick tires will be subject to a double long lap penalty during the race (a penalty that requires them to drive along a route set up in the run-off area during the race, which costs the rider several seconds. At Le Mans, it is set on the outside of Turn 8. In the case of a double long lap penalty, the rider must pass through this area twice during the race). Of course, they must have known that this penalty would be imposed when they pitted and changed machines. In races like this, if they can run with tires that are suited to the conditions, there is a chance that they can make up a large time difference.

However, after the start, the road conditions gradually became unsuitable for slick tires, and the slick drivers had to pit in and switch to rain tires, losing time.

Riders who started on rain tires also suffered crashes and lost time by having to pit after the start to switch to slick tires (those who switched to slicks then pitted again to switch to rain tires).

The winner, Zarco, and sixth-place finisher, Nakagami, rode on rain tires from start to finish.

As can be seen from the summary of how the race unfolded, it was a race where the conditions were very complicated and it was difficult to make decisions. Nakagami looked at the radar and thought, “It’s going to rain,” so he pitted once to change to rain tires on the first sighting lap. This was a decision that was typical of an experienced Nakagami, but the team instructed him to pit through, saying, “All cars are on slicks, so go with slicks,” and Nakagami had no choice but to follow the instructions. This is understandable, as he was a wildcard entrant whose purpose was to carry out development work.

“The red flag came out (after the warm-up lap) and we changed to rain tires. I thought, ‘Maybe slicks?’ but I knew it was going to rain, so I was thinking, ‘Please let it rain, please let it rain!’ (laughs)”

However, this was his first final race since the final round of 2024. Even for Nakagami, who has competed in the Road Racing World Championship for 15 seasons, it was still a difficult race.

“It’s been a while since my last race, so I wondered why it had become such a difficult race at this timing,” Nakagami said with a wry smile.

“I had no idea what place I was in. I was surprised that I was in the single position even though I hadn’t overtaken anyone. Apparently it was his first top six finish since 2021 (since the 2021 Styria GP). I guess there are races like this.”

“But I stayed calm and ran. I could have run faster, but I focused on doing my job and finishing the race.”

“Sixth place was quite a surprise! There was a gap (before me), but I’m glad I was able to bring the bike home. No one else was expecting such a great result, and I didn’t think I’d make it this far either, so it was a nice surprise.”

Nakagami’s first wildcard appearance came to an end after fulfilling his duties as a development rider and finishing in a surprising sixth place.