Takaaki Nakagami will substitute the injured Luca Marini at the Italian Grand Prix in Mugello for the factory Honda squad. Marini is still recovering from a serious injury sustained during a test for the Suzuka 8 Hours in Japan. The Japanese team had initially raced with a single rider in Aragon due to a regulation allowance, but now they must appoint a replacement for Marini. Despite not being officially listed for the Italian GP, Nakagami is set to take Marini’s place, racing alongside teammate Joan Mir. Nakagami, who retired last season to pursue a career as a test rider for HRC, has only raced with the satellite LCR Honda team in the past. Despite this, he impressed as a wildcard in the French GP this season, finishing sixth. Honda’s other test riders this season are Aleix Espargaro and Stefan Bradl, but Espargaro has expressed a diminished desire to race. If Marini remains unavailable, Honda may turn to Espargaro, a three-time MotoGP race winner, to step in for the Italian rider.
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