Shinji Nakano

Shinji Nakano
Born 1 April 1971 (1971-04-01) (age 40)
Formula One World Championship career
Nationality Japanese
Active years 1997–1998
Teams Prost, Minardi, Jordan (Test Driver)
Races 33
Championships 0
Wins 0
Podiums 0
Career points 2
Pole positions 0
Fastest laps 0
First race 1997 Australian Grand Prix
Last race 1998 Japanese Grand Prix
24 Hours of Le Mans career
Participating years 2005 - 2008, 2011
Teams Courage Compétition, Creation Autosportif, Epsilon Euskadi, OAK Racing
Best finish 14th (2011)
Class wins 0
Not to be confused with Japanese Moto GP rider Shinya Nakano.

Shinji Nakano (中野 信治, born April 1, 1971[1]) is a racing driver from Japan.

His father, Tsuneharu was also a racing driver who competed in the All-Japan Formula Three Championship etc.

Contents

Racing career

Pre Formula One Career

1984-'88: Karting, several Japanese titles.
1989: 7th in Japanese Formula 3 championship
1990: European Formula Opel Lotus Championship, 1 victory
1991: Formula Opel Lotus Euroseries
1992: Japanese Formula 3 and Formula 3000 championship
1993-'94: Japanese Formula 3 championship
1995-'96: Japanese Formula 3000 championship

Formula One Career

Nakano made his debut at the 1997 Australian Grand Prix in Melbourne for the Prost Grand Prix team, owned by legendary four times Formula One World Champion Alain Prost. The 1997 season saw him score two world championship points with a pair of 6th places.

With his place at Prost heavily reliant on their engine partners Mugen-Honda it came as no surprise when a switch to Peugeot power saw the French outfit drop Nakano in favour of the young Jarno Trulli and the fit again Olivier Panis. However Nakano was able to pick up a ride at perennial backmarkers Minardi for the 1998 season.

Unsurprisingly, Nakano struggled in the under-powered, under-financed Italian team. He failed to score any points in 1998 and bowed out of F1 racing for good at his home Grand Prix at Suzuka, Japan, having contested a total of 33 Grands Prix. He spent 1999 as an occasional test driver for the Jordan team, which also used Mugen-Honda engines.[2]

After Formula One

After F1 Nakano went to race in Champ Car for Walker Racing and Fernandez Racing. He made 56 starts from 2000 to 2002 with a best points finish of 17th in 2002 and a best race result of 4th at the 2002 Molson Indy Toronto. He also started 15th in the 2003 Indianapolis 500 for Beck Motorsports, finishing 14th. He competed in the 2006 and 2008 24 Hours of Le Mans races and returned to the event in 2011 with Oak Racing.

Helmet

Nakano's helmet was black with a black circle on the top surrounded by a white halo, with a red and silver flame design surrounding the visor and a black and silver checkered flag behind of it, in CART he changed the black for white, the halo became blue, the black circle became red, the checkered flag disappeared and the flame became red with blue outline. in LeMans, he added more flames in the point where the checkered flag was.

Racing career

Complete Formula One results

(key)

Year Team Chassis Engine 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 WDC Points
1997 Prost Gauloises Blondes Prost JS45 Mugen-Honda MF-301HB
3.0 V10		 AUS
7		 BRA
14		 ARG
Ret		 SMR
Ret		 MON
Ret		 ESP
Ret		 CAN
6		 FRA
Ret		 GBR
11†		 GER
7		 HUN
6		 BEL
Ret		 ITA
11		 AUT
Ret		 LUX
Ret		 JPN
Ret		 EUR
10		 18th 2
1998 Fondmetal Minardi Team SpA Minardi M198 Ford JD Zetec-R 3.0 V10 AUS
Ret		 BRA
Ret		 ARG
13		 SMR
Ret		 ESP
14		 MON
9		 CAN
7		 FRA
17†		 GBR
8		 AUT
11		 GER
Ret		 HUN
15		 BEL
8		 ITA
Ret		 LUX
15		 JPN
Ret		 NC 0

† Driver did not finish the Grand Prix, but was classified as they had completed over 90% of the race distance.

American Open-Wheel

(key)

CART

Year Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 Rank Points
2000 Walker Racing
MIA
8
LBH
 
RIO
 
MOT
14
NZR
Wth
MIL
Ret
DET
15
POR
11
CLE
Ret
TOR
Ret
MIS
Ret
CHI
Ret
MDO
Ret
ROA
Ret
VAN
Ret
LS
Ret
STL
Ret
HOU
8
SRF
Ret
FON
Ret		 24th 12
2001 Fernández Racing
MTY
18
LBH
12
TXS
NH
NZR
15
MOT
8
MIL
16
DET
13
POR
Ret
CLE
Ret
TOR
9
MIS
Ret
CHI
16
MDO
18
ROA
15
VAN
14
LAU
Ret
ROC
17
HOU
15
LS
Ret
SRF
12
FON
Ret		 26th 11
2002 Fernández Racing
MTY
15
LBH
12
MOT
10
MIL
18
LS
14
POR
11
CHI
5
TOR
4
CLE
10
VAN
11
MDO
9
ROA
11
MTL
9
DEN
16
ROC
16
MIA
14
SRF
13
FON
15
MXC
14		 17th 43

IndyCar

Year Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 Rank Points
2003 Beck Motorsports
HMS
 
PHX
 
MOT
11
INDY
14
TXS
 
PPIR
 
RIR
 
KAN
 
NSH
 
MIS
 
STL
 
KTY
 
NZR
 
CHI
 
FON
 
TX2
 		 29th 35

24 Hours of Le Mans results

Year Class No Tyres Car Team Co-Drivers Laps Pos. Class
Pos.
2005 LMP1 13 Y Courage C60H
Judd GV4 4.0L V10		 Courage Compétition Jonathan Cochet
Bruce Jouanny		 52 DNF DNF
2006 LMP1 13 Y Courage LC70
Mugen MF458S 4.5L V8		 Courage Compétition Jean-Marc Gounon
Haruki Kurosawa		 35 DNF DNF
2007 LMP1 9 D Creation CA07
Judd GV5.5 S2 5.5L V10		 Creation Autosportif Ltd. Jamie Campbell-Walter
Felipe Ortiz		 55 DNF DNF
2008 LMP1 21 M Epsilon Euskadi EE1
Judd GV5.5 S2 5.5L V10		 Epsilon Euskadi Stefan Johansson
Jean-Marc Gounon		 158 DNF DNF
2011 LMP2 49 D OAK Pescarolo 01 Evo
Judd-BMW HK 3.6L V8		 OAK Racing Nicolas de Crem
Jan Charouz		 313 14th 5th

References

  1. ^ Jenkins, Richard. "The World Championship drivers - Where are they now?". OldRacingCars.com. http://www.oldracingcars.com/driver/Shinji_Nakano. Retrieved 2007-07-29. 
  2. ^ "Shinji Nakano". crash.net. http://www.crash.net/gpa/driver~driver_id~11936.htm. Retrieved 2008-06-05. 

External links