Shinji Nakano

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

For the Japanese track cyclist, see Shinji Nakano (cyclist). For the Japanese MotoGP rider, see Shinya Nakano.
Shinji Nakano
Nakano in 2009
Born (1971-04-01) 1 April 1971
Takatsuki, Osaka, Japan
Formula One World Championship career
NationalityJapan Japanese
Active years1997–1998
TeamsProst, Minardi, Jordan (Test Driver)
Entries33
Championships0
Wins0
Podiums0
Career points2
Pole positions0
Fastest laps0
First entry1997 Australian Grand Prix
Last entry1998 Japanese Grand Prix
24 Hours of Le Mans career
Years2005–2008, 2011–2014, 2016
TeamsCourage Compétition, Creation Autosportif, Epsilon Euskadi, OAK Racing
Best finish14th (2011)
Class wins0

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

Racing career

Pre Formula One Career
1984-'88: Karting, several Japanese titles.(Mugen)
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 in the 1998 Spanish Grand Prix, driving a Minardi.

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 sixth places.

With his place at Prost heavily reliant on their engine partners Mugen-Honda, Nakano was dropped in favour of Jarno Trulli, with the second cockpit taken by Olivier Panis, when Prost switched to Peugeot engines. He subsequently joined Minardi for the 1998 season, alongside Esteban Tuero.[2]

Nakano struggled in the under-powered, under-financed Italian team. He failed to score any points in 1998 and bowed out of Formula One 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.[3]

After Formula One

After Formula One, Nakano went to race in CART 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 and 2012 with the Boutsen Ginon squad.

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.

Career statistics

Complete Japanese Formula 3000/Formula Nippon results

(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position; races in italics indicate fastest lap)

Year Entrant 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 DC Points
1992 Nakajima Racing SUZ
DNQ		 FUJ
12		 MIN
Ret		 SUZ
DNQ		 AUT
Ret		 SUG
Ret		 FUJ
12		 FUJ
13		 SUZ
14		 FUJ
16		 SUZ
9		 NC 0
1994 Team Nova SUZ FUJ MIN SUZ SUG FUJ SUZ
Ret		 FUJ FUJ NC 0
Nakajima Racing SUZ
Ret
1995 Speed Star Wheel Racing SUZ
Ret		 FUJ
C		 MIN
7		 SUZ
Ret		 SUG
3		 FUJ
Ret		 TOK
5		 FUJ
9		 SUZ
8		 11th 6
1996 Team Dome with Mugen SUZ
2		 MIN
13		 FUJ
Ret		 TOK
9		 SUZ
6		 SUG
7		 FUJ
3		 MIN
2		 SUZ
9		 FUJ
4		 6th 20

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.

Complete American Open-Wheel Racing results

(key)

CART
Year Team Chassis Engine 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 Rank Points Ref
2000 Walker Racing Reynard 2Ki Honda HR-0 V8t MIA
8		 LBH RIO MOT
14		 NZR
Wth		 MIL
23		 DET
15		 POR
11		 CLE
15		 TOR
14		 MIS
20		 CHI
13		 MDO
19		 ROA
22		 VAN
19		 LS
26		 STL
21		 HOU
8		 SRF
21		 FON
16		 24th 12 [4]
2001 Fernández Racing Reynard 01i Honda HR-1 V8t MTY
18		 LBH
12		 TXS
NH		 NZR
15		 MOT
8		 MIL
16		 DET
13		 POR
22		 CLE
22		 TOR
9		 MIS
22		 CHI
16		 MDO
18		 ROA
15		 VAN
14		 LAU
22		 ROC
17		 HOU
15		 LS
21		 SRF
12		 FON
21		 26th 11 [5]
2002 Fernández Racing Lola B02/00 Honda HR-2 V8t 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 [6]

IRL IndyCar Series
Year Team Chassis No. Engine 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 Rank Points Ref
2003 Beck Motorsports Dallara IR-03 54 Honda HMS PHX MOT
11		 INDY
14		 TXS PPIR RIR KAN NSH MIS STL KTY NZR CHI FON TX2 29th 35 [7]

24 Hours of Le Mans results
Year Team Co-Drivers Car Class Laps Pos. Class
Pos.
2005 France Courage Compétition France Jonathan Cochet
France Bruce Jouanny		 Courage C60H-Judd LMP1 52 DNF DNF
2006 France Courage Compétition France Jean-Marc Gounon
Japan Haruki Kurosawa		 Courage LC70-Mugen LMP1 35 DNF DNF
2007 United Kingdom Creation Autosportif Ltd. United Kingdom Jamie Campbell-Walter
Switzerland Felipe Ortiz		 Creation CA07-Judd LMP1 55 DNF DNF
2008 Spain Epsilon Euskadi Sweden Stefan Johansson
France Jean-Marc Gounon		 Epsilon Euskadi EE1-Judd LMP1 158 DNF DNF
2011 France OAK Racing Belgium Nicolas de Crem
Czech Republic Jan Charouz		 OAK Pescarolo 01 Evo-Judd LMP2 313 14th 5th
2012 Belgium Boutsen Ginion Racing France Bastien Brière
Germany Jens Petersen		 Oreca 03-Nissan LMP2 325 24th 10th
2013 United Kingdom Delta-ADR Thailand Tor Graves
United Kingdom Archie Hamilton		 Oreca 03-Nissan LMP2 101 DNF DNF
2014 Japan Team Taisan United Kingdom Martin Rich
Germany Pierre Ehret		 Ferrari 458 Italia GT2 GTE
Am		 327 28th 8th
2016 Switzerland Race Performance Switzerland Nicolas Leutwiler
United Kingdom James Winslow		 Oreca 03R-Judd LMP2 289 44th 17th

Complete FIA World Endurance Championship results
Year Entrant Class Car Engine 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 Rank Points
2012 ADR-Delta LMP2 Oreca 03 Nissan VK45DE 4.5 L V8 SEB SPA LMS SIL SÃO BHR FUJ
8		 SHA 41st 4
2013 Delta-ADR LMP2 Oreca 03 Nissan VK45DE 4.5 L V8 SIL SPA LMS
Ret		 SÃO COA FUJ
4		 SHA BHR 26th 6
2016 Manor LMP2 Oreca 05 Nissan VK45DE 4.5 L V8 SIL SPA LMS NÜR MEX COA FUJ
11		 SHA BHR 32nd 0.5

References
  1. Jenkins, Richard. "The World Championship drivers — Where are they now?". OldRacingCars.com. Retrieved 2007-07-29.
  2. Guilmeau, Mickael (8 January 2018). "Que sont-ils devenus ? Shinji Nakano". France Racing (in French). Retrieved 2018-12-17.
  3. "Shinji Nakano". crash.net. Archived from the original on 2008-04-30. Retrieved 2008-06-05.
  4. "Shinji Nakano – 2000 CART Results". Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved August 15, 2023.
  5. "Shinji Nakano – 2001 CART Results". Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved August 15, 2023.
  6. "Shinji Nakano – 2002 CART Results". Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved August 15, 2023.
  7. "Shinji Nakano – 2003 IndyCar Series Results". Racing-Reference. NASCAR Digital Media, LLC. Retrieved August 6, 2023.
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