LCR Honda boss Lucio Cecchinello says his new signing Takaaki Nakagami is already a "strong" MotoGP rider despite the Japanese rookie's limited time on the RC213V.
After seven seasons in Moto2, Nakagami agreed a deal with the factory-supported LCR team to step up to the premier class for 2018 alongside double race winner Cal Crutchlow.
Having turned heads in a private outing on an RC213V at Jerez in 2016, Nakagami impressed again at the two-day test in Valencia in November last year, at the end of which he was 17th and just over a second off of the pace of Crutchlow in sixth.
Cecchinello believes these showings have given him a “clear idea of his competitiveness”, though admits the team will have to improve Nakagami's consistency over a race stint during this week's opening pre-season test in Malaysia.
"Moto2 is, in my opinion, a very difficult category, and Nakagami has always been fast,” Cecchinello said of the double Moto2 race winner in an interview with the official MotoGP website.
“I don't have technical information about the difficulties that he had in the (intermediate) class, but after his debut in MotoGP we saw that 'the boy is strong'.
“He rode only a second or so off the best times set by the most experienced riders on the grid on more prepared bikes – in Valencia and Jerez.
“That gives us a clear idea of his competitiveness. With him we will have to work hard on consistency in races, because it's one thing to be fast with new tyres over a few laps and another to be fast at the end of the race.
“We'll see that more clearly in the specific work we'll do in the next tests.”
Cecchinello praised Nakagami's riding style and was surprised at how well he was able to work with his mechanics.
“He also has a nice riding position, a great riding style and, analysing the telemetry, we loved how he handles the gas and the brakes.
“On a personal level, I was also amazed at his way of interacting with the technical staff. I have to say that (Honda Team Asia boss Tadayuki) Okada did a great job preparing him for MotoGP.”
Nakagami will ride the version of the RC213V that Marc Marquez won the championship on in 2017, while Crutchlow – who penned a two-year deal directly with HRC last season – will once again have machine parity with the factory riders.
