LCR rider apologized personally to Álex Rins and Francesco Bagnaia. The Japanese rider said he was impressed to see in person for the first time the helmet he was wearing at the time of the accident at the Catalunya GP
Takaaki Nakagami acknowledged that he is lucky to be alive after the frightening accident he suffered at the Catalunya MotoGP GP. The LCR Honda owner returned to the paddock on Thursday (16) and took the opportunity to personally apologize to Álex Rins and Francesco Bagnaia for having caused the crash of the two colleagues.
12th on the Catalan grid, Nakagami started the race fast and delayed the braking to try to climb the field in the first meters. The Japanese driver delayed braking to try to gain as many positions as possible, but he fell and hit his head on Bagnaia's rear wheel, knocking the Italian down. To make matters worse, the LCR rider collected Rins, who crashed heavily and fractured his left wrist.
MOTOGP STANDINGS
▶️ Quartararo relies on talent and luck to extend MotoGP lead
Nakagami was taken to the medical center, where initial tests ruled out major injuries, but was nevertheless referred to a local hospital, where he spent the night in the ICU under observation. On Thursday, Takaaki was evaluated by the circuit's medical team, but released for the German GP. The same happened with Rins.
"I'm not 100% recovered yet, but it has just been confirmed that I'm fit to drive this weekend, which is a miracle after that accident," Nakagami said. "This morning, I apologized to Pecco and Álex, because after the race I didn't have a chance to meet them, as I was in the hospital. For me, it was really apologizing face to face," he explained.
"I explained that it was totally my mistake and I apologized, because I destroyed their race," he assumed.
The LCR rider further detailed what happened in the incident and explained that he did not expect to be sucked into the vacuum of Pecco's bike.
"I didn't make any mistake at the braking point. The braking point was totally under control, but unfortunately I had a big vacuum behind Pecco, which I didn't expect, and I couldn't stop," he said. "I couldn't avoid the crash. At the last moment I tried to stop the bike, but it was impossible. I locked the front end, and then I hit Pecco and Álex. So it was a bad crash, of course, and in the end, that was my mistake. I explained everything, that this was my mistake, they accepted my apology, and we held hands. That was it," he reported.
Takaaki also said that he would have accepted a punishment from the commissioners, who did not impose any sanction, since they understood that he did not do anything different from the other drivers.
"If I received a punishment, I couldn't say anything, because it was my mistake," he acknowledged. "In the end, the commissioners decided it was a racing incident...Unfortunately, I destroyed the race of two drivers. If they change their mind and I get punished, of course, I would accept it," he continued.
"The accident was my mistake and I was not alone [on the track], so I hit Pecco and Álex, and he was injured. I'm very, very sorry for him," he stressed.
Because of the accident, Nakagami even spent a night under observation in the ICU of a hospital in Barcelona, but the worst of the impact on the rear wheel of Bagnaia's Ducati was absorbed by Arai's helmet.
"I saw my helmet this morning. It's very, very bad. I really, really appreciate being alive, because they [Arai] saved my life. And I also remember everything. So yes, it was a very bad crash, but the Arai helmet helped me a lot," he stressed.
Even though he has been cleared to race, the LCR rider admitted that he is not 100%, as he is still suffering from the consequences of the accident.
"The shoulder is still very bad. I don't have an injury or a fracture, but a lot of inflammation and some fluid in the joint," he said. "I don't know if the riding position is comfortable or not. But the track has only two hard braking, turn 1 and after the downhill, but everything else is pretty easy from a physical point of view," he concluded.
MotoGP returns to the track on June 19 for the German GP at Sachsenring, the 10th round of the 2022 season.GRANDE PRÊMIO is following all the activities of the 2022 MotoGP World Championship.