TOKYO, Japan, August 29, 2024 - Honda Racing Corporation (HRC) has agreed to a multi-year MotoGP development rider contract beginning in 2025 with Takaaki Nakagami (Chiba, Japan, age 32), who is competing in the FIM*¹ Grand Prix World Championship MotoGP class with IDEMITSU Honda LCR.

*1 FIM: Fédération Internationale de Motocyclisme

Nakagami will be responsible for enhancing testing in Japan from 2025, as well as acting as a bridge between the test teams in Japan and Europe, sharing test results with both teams in order to allow HRC to develop its racing bikes more rapidly, and improve its competitiveness in MotoGP.

Nakagami first competed in the Moto2 class in 2012. Since 2014, he has been racing with IDEMITSU Honda Team Asia as part of Honda’s program to nurture Asian riders who can compete on the global stage. In six years of Moto2 class competition, Nakagami achieved 14 podium finishes, including two wins. In 2018, he moved up to the premier MotoGP class, where he has been racing for seven years with IDEMITSU Honda LCR, and in the 2023 Thailand Grand Prix he became the first Japanese rider to compete in 100 MotoGP class grands prix.

The upcoming 2024 FIM MotoGP World Championship Series Round 16 Motul Grand Prix of Japan to be held at Mobility Resort Motegi (October 6) will be Nakagami’s last home GP as a full-time MotoGP rider.

“I have decided to retire from full-time MotoGP racing at the end of the 2024 season. I would like to express my sincere gratitude to all the fans who have supported me so much. I would also like to thank Idemitsu Kosan and Honda for their long-term support. I will be involved in HRC’s racing bike development from 2025. I am very glad to be able to make use of my seven years of experience in MotoGP, which is very rewarding. The Japanese GP in Motegi is coming up soon, in October. We have had a difficult season so far, but I will be energized from the cheers of the Japanese spectators to finish as high up the grid as possible.”

“I would like to thank Takaaki Nakagami for all his hard work over the past 15 years competing in the Grand Prix World Championship. I am very proud of his achievements with Honda, as he was the first Japanese rider to compete in more than 114 races over 7 seasons in the MotoGP class, and claim pole positions as well. This has been the toughest season Honda and HRC have experienced, and in order to improve this situation as quickly as possible, we need to further strengthen our development system. I have high expectations for the experience and skills of Nakagami, who has competed in the premier class.”

・Birth date: February 9, 1992 (32 years old)
・Birthplace: Chiba, Japan

・Career highlights

*2 As of the end of Round 11, Austrian motorcycle Grand Prix, on August 18, 2024