In just his second season in the premier class, Takaaki scored consistent points on the far from easy-handling Honda RC213V.

In 2006, he became the youngest winner of Japan’s 125cc domestic championship before making a switch to the Spanish Championship under the Red Bull MotoGP Academy banner the following year.

He was granted a wildcard ride in the season-ending World Championship round the same year, making his debut in 2008 with the Aprilia I.C. Team but struggled to find his feet in the competitive category.

He returned to the Japanese 600 Superstock championship for the 2010 and 2011 seasons, hoisting the title trophy in his second attempt before returning to the Moto2™ class in 2012 with renewed confidence.

On board Kalex machinery, he had a consistent season adapting to the prototype machinery and by his second year, finished in the top five on seven occasions, highlighted by four consecutive second-place finishes.

Another four seasons in the intermediate category saw him with a best finish of sixth overall, before forming a two-rider MotoGP™ team alongside Cal Crutchlow in the LCR Honda squad in 2018 under the Idemitsu banner.

Nakagami saw the finish line in all but two races in his debut season and finished the year ahead of many experienced campaigners. Riding the same machinery that Marc Marquez rode to the 2018 MotoGP™ title, Nakagami’s trademark consistency continued throughout the 2019 season.