Satoru Nakajima

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Satoru Nakajima
150
Nationality  Flag of Japan Japanese
Formula One World Championship career
Active years 1987 - 1991
Teams Lotus, Tyrrell
Races 80 (74 starts)
Championships 0
Wins 0
Podium finishes    0
Career points 16
Pole positions 0
Fastest laps 1
First race 1987 Brazilian Grand Prix
Last race 1991 Australian Grand Prix

Satoru Nakajima (Japanese name: 中嶋 悟 ; born February 23, 1953[1]) is a former racing driver from Japan. He was born into a farming family living just outside Okazaki, Japan. He began driving cars in his early teens in the family's garden with his older brother giving him tips, careful that they were not caught by their father. He felt a great deal of exhilaration behind the wheel of a car, and from then on knew what he wanted to do.

He started racing after he finished school and got a driver's licence. In 1973 he was a rookie in the Suzuka Circuit series, which he won. Five years later, he won his first race in Japanese Formula 2. In 1981 he won his first championship, thus beginning a period of domination in the series. He won five of the next six championships, all of them using a Honda V6.

Nakajima participated in 80 Formula One Grands Prix, debuting in the Brazilian Grand Prix on April 12, 1987, bringing Honda engines to the Lotus team . He was 34 years old in his début race, making him one of F1's oldest débutantes.[citation needed] Nakajima finishing 6th and so scoring points in only his second race, the 1987 San Marino Grand Prix.

Honda left the Lotus garage after the 1988 season, leaving Nakajima and team-mate Nelson Piquet driving the Judd-powered 101. The pair had a very up-and-down season, with both failing to qualify for the 1989 Belgian Grand Prix, the first time in their 30-year history that Lotus had failed to make the grid, heralding the beginning of the end for the British team. A great upside to Nakajima's 1989 was a 4th place and fastest lap in the rain-soaked Australian Grand Prix, scoring his only points of the year and also equalling his best career finish in the 1987 British Grand Prix.

Nakajima joined the Tyrrell team for the 1990 season, followed by Honda engines the next year. He raced for them for two uneventful years at the back of the pack before ending his career. Honda left F1 a year later to lay the first bricks on a works team, one that they had been working on during the F1 season, and that CEO Nobuhiko Kawamoto finally admitted to in October. The car, the Honda RC100 was unveiled to the media in February 1993, driven by Nakajima. Shortly afterwards, it passed FISA crash tests, meaning that the company could enter their team into F1 competition. In an attempt to improve on their previous chassis, Honda built two more, the RC101 and 101B, the latter intended to be used for racing purposes, the former for crash testing. Nakajima had the first public testing of the 101B in Suzuka in January 1994. The company decided against entering its own cars in F1 at this time, instead opting to further their engine development in America with CART, and later, the IRL.

Nakajima still lives in the family home near Okazaki. These days, though, he owns a team: the Nakajima Racing entry in Japanese Formula 3000, also known as Formula Nippon. Nakajima drivers have won the Formula Nippon championship three times, Tom Coronel doing so in 1999, Toranosuke Takagi in 2000, and Ralph Firman in 2002. Nakajima's current drivers are Takashi Kogure and Andre Lotterer, who finished 2nd in the 2004 championship, although he was tied in points with champion Richard Lyons. Nakajima's son, Kazuki, currently races for the Williams Formula One team, having joined the team in 2006 as a test driver[2] Kazuki Nakajima made his F1 début at the 2007 Brazilian Grand Prix following the retirement of regular driver Alexander Wurz.[3].

Contents

[edit] Related video games

[edit] Sponsored

[edit] Appeared in

[edit] Complete Formula One results

(key) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap)

Year Entrant Chassis Engine 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 WDC Points
1987 Camel Team Lotus Honda Lotus 99T Honda V6 BRA
7		 SMR
6		 BEL
5		 MON
10		 USA
Ret		 FRA
NC		 GBR
4		 GER
Ret		 HUN
Ret		 AUT
13		 ITA
11		 POR
8		 ESP
9		 MEX
Ret		 JPN
6		 AUS
Ret		 12th 7
1988 Camel Team Lotus Honda Lotus 100T Honda V6 BRA
6		 SMR
8		 MON
DNQ		 MEX
Ret		 CAN
11		 USA
DNQ		 FRA
7		 GBR
10		 GER
9		 HUN
7		 BEL
Ret		 ITA
Ret		 POR
Ret		 ESP
Ret		 JPN
7		 AUS
Ret		 16th 1
1989 Camel Team Lotus Lotus 101 Judd V8 BRA
8		 SMR
NC		 MON
DNQ		 MEX
Ret		 USA
Ret		 CAN
DNQ		 FRA
Ret		 GBR
8		 GER
Ret		 HUN
Ret		 BEL
DNQ		 ITA
10		 POR
7		 ESP
Ret		 JPN
Ret		 AUS
4		 21st 3
1990 Tyrrell Racing Organisation Tyrrell 018 Cosworth V8 USA
6		 BRA
8		 15th 3
Tyrrell 019 SMR
Ret		 MON
Ret		 CAN
11		 MEX
Ret		 FRA
Ret		 GBR
Ret		 GER
Ret		 HUN
Ret		 BEL
Ret		 ITA
6		 POR
DNS		 ESP
Ret		 JPN
6		 AUS
Ret
1991 Braun Tyrrell Honda Tyrrell 020 Honda V10 USA
5		 BRA
Ret		 SMR
Ret		 MON
Ret		 CAN
10		 MEX
12		 FRA
Ret		 GBR
8		 GER
Ret		 HUN
15		 BEL
Ret		 ITA
Ret		 POR
13		 ESP
17		 JPN
Ret		 AUS
Ret		 15th 2

[edit] External links

[edit] References

  1. ^ Jenkins, Richard. The World Championship drivers - Where are they now?. OldRacingCars.com. Retrieved on 2007-07-29.
  2. ^ "Nakajima lands Williams test role", ITV-F1.com, 2006-11-08. Retrieved on 2006-11-08. 
  3. ^ "Williams confirm Nakajima for Brazil", autosport.com, 2007-10-09. Retrieved on 2007-10-09. 
Sporting positions
Preceded by
Masahiro Hasemi		 Japanese Formula Two Champion
1981-1982		 Succeeded by
Geoff Lees
Preceded by
Geoff Lees		 Japanese Formula Two Champion
1984-1986		 Succeeded by
Kazuyoshi Hoshino
(Japanese Formula 3000)