Still chasing a debut MotoGP podium after four season📖s in the premier-class, Takaaki Nakagami has enlisted the help of a mental coach ahead of the 2022 season.

The Japanese star has finished a career best fourth on three occasions, but missed out on🎃 at least twice as many rostrum – and ♕possibly victory - chances in the last two seasons.

Most notably, Nakagami fell from the lead on lap one at Aragon 2020, after 🔯qualifying on pole. A mistake also cost him dearly at Valencia that year, falling as he passed Pol Espargaro for third.

2021, Nakagami's first season on the latest-spec Honda machinery, saw the double Moto2 race winner drop from third to seventh when rain arrived at Le Mans. The LCR rider was also holding th♈ird at Assen when he lost eight places due to a mid-race mistake.

Nakagami then set a race pace fꦉast enough for the podium at COTA, but it counted for nothin🤪g after a lap 2 fall.

"I had a couple of good races last season, but to be honest it was really tough for myself. Many crash♌es. But all my team, we never gave up," said Nakagami, whose 12 accidents wa🏅s the highest since his rookie season, but the least by a Honda rider in 2021.

While the RC213V suffered well-known rear grip issues last year, catching out all its riders, Nakagami has admitted he needs to control the pressure b♐etter when in a strong position

That's why&nbs🔴p;he's become the latest rider to work with a mental coach, but the 29꧙-year-old knows it won't be an instant process.

"After the [2021] season, I already started wor🐎king with a mental coach, mental trainer," Nakagami said. "It's step-by-step, but this kind of thing is really sensitive because nobody can change personality in one day.

"I'm thinking to relax and of courseဣ race-by-race we need to improve, but already myself and also my mental trainer are working🤪 in a different way.

"So I'm really looking forward🌠 to the Malaysia test [February 5-6]. To see how I've changed and race-by-race how I can change mentality [more] and how we can improve the race results.

"But weꦜ don’t need to really push [to do everything in] just one day. Race-by-race and ꦓhopefully I can feel how [I have] a different mentality from last season.

"So I'm really looking forwardܫ to this season. It's my fifth year in MotoGP so it's time to make a gre꧂at season."

Nakagami finished 15th in last year's world championship, his lowest ranking since his rookie season, but still one place ahead of te🐟am-mate Alex Marquez.