The Japanese LCR rider has tested positive for Covid and won’t line up for the Termas race
31.03.2022 ( Aggiornata il 31.03.2022 19:55 )
When it rains, it pours. The well-known saying goes some way to describing Honda’s MotoGP season start. The manufacturer already has its problems with Marc Marquez, and now Takaaki Nakagami is also forced to sit out the action. While the eight-time champion is advised to rest while his diplopia heals, the Japanese rider has been stopped in his tracks by Covid.
The number 93 rider will be replaced in the Repsol Honda garage in Argentina by German Stefan Bradl, while the LCR satellite team will have to do without the 33-year Japanese rider, who has been part of Lucio Cecchinello’s squad since 2018. Only Alex Marquez will be in action, riding at Termas de Rio Hondo with the RC213 V in Castrol colours.
Only one of the Marquez brothers: 2022 another tough year for Honda
As for Nakagami, it seems as if the rider is suffering no symptoms or physical tiredness, but he has now tested positive more than once. Takaaki is understandably upset: “I’m disappointed but well. I hope to be able to race in the US”, he comments, in reference to the Austin round, to take place right after Termas.
And so it is that LCR and Honda must count on just one Marquez, Alex, the youngest and least well-known. But he is strong, having won both a Moto3 and Moto2 world title, not something many riders can boast. 2022 has got off to a tough start for the Japanese manufacturer, and for the Marquez family too, with Alex now called upon to fly the flag for both the brand and the family name.
Translated by Heather Watson
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