At the center of the rider market
In recent days, Honda officially announced the signing of Fabio Quartararo for 2027 with the HRC team, in addition to the announcement of David Alonso also for next season, although in the latter case the team with which the current Colombian Moto2 rider will join has not yet been clarified. Meanwhile, and in this case from the factory team, another piece of news has arrived, this time for 2026.
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The return to the home GP
On the occasion of the Japanese Grand Prix, scheduled from October 2 to 4 at the Motegi circuit, a home rider like Takaaki Nakagami will participate as a wild card. For the Honda test rider, the race will be the first a year after the last GP held in the Land of the Rising Sun and always as a wild card: “HRC development rider Takaaki Nakagami will participate in the Japanese MotoGP Grand Prix as a special wild card. He will race in front of Japanese fans with the bike he developed during testing”, reads the statement published by the team on social media.
He’s back! Taka Nakagami to race at his home MotoGP race as a wildcard 🇯🇵 pic.twitter.com/Q1yvLPeIC5
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— Honda Racing Global (@HondaRacingGLB) July 22, 2026
The wait for Aleix Espargarò’s return
Having retired in 2024, Nakagami has since served as a test rider, working on both the development of the 1000cc and the new bike for next season. This commitment was initially entrusted to another test rider, Aleix Espargarò, however, the Spaniard was forced to abandon his plans due to a serious injury sustained in April during tests in Malaysia, where he suffered four fractured vertebrae. The full recovery of the former official rider is expected by early December.
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