---
title: "Home hero Nakagami fastest in first practice"
canonical: "https://readmotorsport.com/2016/10/14/home-hero-nakagami-fastest-first-practice/"
type: "post"
language: "en-GB"
author: "Lewis Duncan"
section: "Moto2"
published: "2016-10-14T03:03:23Z"
modified: "2016-10-14T03:03:40Z"
---

# Home hero Nakagami fastest in first practice

Idemitsu Honda Team Asia’s Takaaki Nakagami gave the home fans something to smile about after he ended the first Moto2 free practice session at the Twin Ring Motegi fastest.

The Japanese rider will have some pretty big expectation weighing on his shoulders this weekend as he comes to his home race for the first time as a race-winner. However, the massive pressure didn’t seem to faze Nakagami as he pounded out fastest lap after fastest lap on his way to the top of the time sheets. A best effort of 1m51.816s put him a tenth and a half clear of the field.

Johann Zarco desperately needs a strong result after an inconsistent run of late. The Frenchman has seen his championship lead demolished to just one point by Paginas Amarillas’ Alex Rins since the summer break. Zarco, who clinched the title in Japan last year, was second fastest in FP1 whilst Rins was a mystifying 21st and 1.5 seconds off the pace.

Forward Racing’s Lorenzo Baldassarri ended this morning’s practice third with a 1m52.086s ahead of Tom Luthi and Sam Lowes. The British rider closed the gap to Zarco in the standings to 40 points after winning last time out in Aragon, and he’ll be hoping to carry forward that momentum into the this weekend.

Motegi has been something of a bogey track for Lowes these past two seasons, and today’s session saw him try a number of different set-up solutions to try and elevate himself from 13th. A big improvement in lap time came in the final minutes of FP1, and Lowes managed to go fifth with a 1m52.130s.

Franco Morbidelli was sixth on his Marc VDS Kalex, with Marcel Schrotter, Simone Corsi, Alex Marquez and Danny Kent rounding out the top 10. Corsi was one of four fallers in this session, along with Axel Pons, Xavier Simeon and Julian Simon. All suffered front-end folds at various points on the circuit and all involved were unhurt.

Leopard Racing will be a man down once again after Miguel Oliveira opted to withdraw from the event after five laps on the bike. The Portuguese rider broke his collarbone in four places in a crash in Aragon, and at such a demanding circuit for braking the pain proved too much for Oliveira. He hopes to be fit enough to ride at Phillip Island next weekend.

![2016-10-14-2](https://media.readmotorsport.com/readmotorsport/2016/10/2016-10-14-2.png)