Who is Nagashima?
Tetsuta Nagashima is a regular in the Japanese championships. He was second in the J-GP3 category in 2012. In addition to this, he was sixth in J-GP2 at the helm of a TSR in 2013. It was with this bike with which he made his World Championship debut at the Japanese Grand Prix (racing with the JiR Team.) He finished that race in 20th position. This experience would prove to be critical because it was then that he was selected to race for the team full-time.
Nagashima’s career
After placing 2nd in Moto2 on the FIM CEV Repsol in 2016 he took his first win in the series. From this, Nagashima moved up to the Moto2 World Championship in 2017. He was racing with the Teluru SAG Team. Having some solid finishes under his belt, he then decided to switch to the Idemitsu Honda Team Asia in the class for 2018. From here, he managed to claim eight point-scoring finishes.
Motorcycle Specs
Bike: Kalex
Race number: 45
Place of Birth: Kanagawa
Date of Birth: 02 July 1992
Weight: 66 kilos
Height: 175cm
Who are Kalex?
Founded in 2008 by Klaus Hirsekorn and Alex Baumgartel, Kalex Engineering is a German speciality engineering company that designs, manufactures and sells high-performance parts for motorcycles in the Bavarian city of Bobingen.
Pole Position for Nagashima
Tetsuta Nagashima took his first pole position in Moto2 qualifying on Saturday. The 27-year-old Japanese racer managed to narrowly beat South Africa’s Brad Binder (Red Bull KTM Ajo) to the top spot.
Nagashima’s lap time of 1 minute 28.718s was enough to see off opponents Binder and Somkiat. Binder was 0.08s slower (1:28.791), Thai rider Somkiat Chantra (Idemitsu Honda Team Asia) completed the front row with his best qualifying result. (1:28.856)
Italy’s Enea Bastianini took the fourth position on his Kalex bike, quickly followed by current championship runner-up Tom Luthi (Dynavolt Intact GP) and Italian Lorenzo Baldassarri (Flexbox HP40).
Spaniards Xavi Vierge (EG 0,0 Marc VDS) and Jorge Navarro (+Ego Speed Up) will be starting from seventh and eighth respectively.
Kalex riders Remy Gardner and Luca Marini rounded out the top 10, which was covered by less than 0.3 seconds.
Championship leader Alex Marquez (EG 0,0 Marc VDS) will start Sunday’s race from 11th on the grid, while Britain’s Sam Lowes (Gresini Moto2) and Jake Dixon (Sama Qatar Ángel Nieto Team) will start from 24th and 27th respectively.
The Qualifying results
1st. Tetsuta Nagashima (JPN), ONEXOX TKKR SAG Team, 1:28.71
2nd. Brad Binder (SA), Red Bull KTM Ajo, 1:28.791
3rd. Somkiat Chantra (THA), Idemitsu Honda Team Asia, 1:28.856
4th. Enea Bastianini (ITA), Italtrans Racing Team, 1:28.903
5th. Tom Luthi (SWI), Dynavolt Intact GP, 1:28.924
6th. Lorenzo Baldassarri (ITA), Flexbox HP40, 1:28.948
7th. Xavi Vierge (ESP), EG 0,0 Marc VDS, 1:28.956
8th. Jorge Navarro (ESP), +Ego Speed Up, 1:28.969
9th. Remy Gardner (AUS), ONEXOX TKKR SAG Team, 1:28.976
10th. Luca Marini (ITA), SKY Racing Team VR46, 1:29.004
