What was seen as a make-or-break MotoGP campaign for Nakagami prior to the 2023 seasonℱ getting underway, has continued in the same vein as 2022 which co🐟uld leave the Japanese rider in trouble.

After Ai Ogura surprisingly turned down the chance to join LCR Honda after ♛feeling as though he wasn’t ready for the step up, Nakagami was given a lifꦉeline as Honda decided to stick with the now 31-year-old.  

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Honda, who have retained an interest in signing Ogura, have si𒈔nce seen the young Japanese rider struggle due to injuries that were picked up in pre-season🦂. 

If Ogura can turn his season around and show the type of form that saw him finish second to Augusto Fernandez last season, then joining Honda could still happen for 2024, however, it rema🍃ins to be seen whether Honda will 🔯make a decision before that happens.

While performances hav𓆉en’t been great for Nakagami either, the former Moto2 rider has not given up hope of remaining with Honda and plans to discuss his future with Tetsuhiro Kuwata this weekend. 

Nakagami said: "I will sit with him at Sachsenring or Assen at the latest. After Assen comes th𓆉e long summer break, I have to know in advance which road to take. 

"I want t🐼o know what you🏅 think about my future. My priority is to stay in my current team in MotoGP. I don't have a plan B or C yet.”

"🔜I should know something during the summer break."

Mugellღo turned out to be a disastrous weekend for Honda after Joan Mir was ruled out following a🔯 crash on Friday, while Alex Rins and Marc Marquez also suffered crashes.

For Nakagamiꦛ,🍷 struggles with acceleration and traction were the main areas of concern during last Sunday’s Italian Grand Prix.

Nakagami sai🌊d: "It was tough. A really difficult race for us. I knew that the race distance [was going to be] really difficult for us 🍸to keep the pace and difficult to push like a qualifying lap. 

"But we need to push bec✅ause we lose in the acceleration and traction area. 

"Unfortunately we couldn’t find the front-end feeling which is normally my 𝕴strong point. but , somehow this weekend I was really struggling in that area. 

"The only good arꦬea was braking. But the acceleration and traction area was - I was spinning so much and had no drive. It was difficult."