Takaaki Nakagami will not participate in the remainder of the Japanese Grand Prix weekend at Mobility Resort Motegi after suffering a heavy crash in the opening free practice session on Friday morning. The Honda test rider fell just four minutes into the session and has been declared unfit due to a fractured left collarbone.
The incident occurred at Turn 11 while Nakagami was following fellow Honda rider Luca Marini. With the track still damp in places and rain threatening, Nakagami lost control of his bike as he closed the throttle and was thrown over the handlebars in a highside. He was seen clutching his arm in obvious pain before receiving medical attention at the circuit's medical centre.
Honda Racing Corporation (HRC) later confirmed that Nakagami had sustained a fracture to his left clavicle. As a result, he is unfit to continue and will take no further part in the event. This prematurely ends his wildcard appearance in front of his home crowd, a particularly disappointing outcome given that it was expected to be his final MotoGP wildcard outing.
From 2027, one-off wildcard entries in MotoGP will no longer be permitted, making this weekend even more significant for the former Moto2 race winner. Nakagami had hoped to deliver a strong performance for the Japanese fans, but the injury has dashed those hopes. It also leaves Honda with only four bikes for the rest of the weekend, as the team is already without Joan Mir, who is sidelined with illness and replaced by Somkiat Chantra.
Mir is also expected to miss next weekend's Indonesian Grand Prix. Chantra, however, has commitments in the WorldSBK event at Estoril on the same weekend, which had opened the door for Nakagami to potentially substitute for Mir at Honda HRC Castrol. That possibility now appears highly unlikely due to the collarbone injury.
With Nakagami out, Honda will rely on its remaining riders to gather valuable data at Motegi. The first practice session saw tricky conditions, with several riders opting to stay in the pits initially. Nakagami was one of the few who ventured out early and paid a high price. At the time of writing, Marc Marquez was fastest in the session, while Gonzalez and Yamanaka led Moto2 and Moto3 respectively.
This crash serves as a stark reminder of the ever-present risks in motorsport, even in the early minutes of a session. For Nakagami, it is a bitter end to a hopeful wildcard campaign. His focus will now shift to recovery, while Honda must regroup for the challenges ahead.
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