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| Shinya Nakano | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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 Nakano in 2008 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Nationality | Japanese | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Born | (1977-10-10)10 October 1977 (age 48) Tokyo, Japan | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Shinya Nakano (Japanese:中野 真矢,Hepburn:Nakano Shin'ya; born inTokyo on 10 October 1977, and raised inChiba) is a retiredJapaneseGrand Prixmotorcycleroad racer andSuperbike rider.[1] He is not related to the formerFormula One racerShinji Nakano.
Nakano wasAll-Japan 250cc champion in 1998, the highlight of a long career in both 125cc and 250cc Japanese national championships.[2] Nakano moved to international competition full-time in1999, adjusting to250cc Grand Prix racing quickly, finishing fourth overall with five podium finishes.[1] In2000 Nakano and teammateOlivier Jacque battled withDaijiro Kato for the title, which ultimately went to Jacque.[1] Nakano set the fastest 250cc lap atMotegi in 2000, a record that stood until 2008 – the longest standing lap record in the series.
For2001, theTech 3 team moved up to the500cc World Championship, which would eventually becomeMotoGP in2002. Despite having semi-works machinery, Nakano only managed to finish fifth in the championship.[1] Nakano started 2002 on a 500cctwo-stroke machine, but the team was able to provide the newer 990ccfour-stroke by the end of the season.2003 was less successful prompting a move toKawasaki for2004.[1]
Kawasaki suffered a disastrous debut year withGarry McCoy andAndrew Pitt, before the team improved with Nakano on board. The team's first podium came at the2004 Japanese Grand Prix and two seasons of consistent results earned him a pair of 10th place championship finishes.[1] In2006, Nakano was able to produce strong qualifying runs but less competitive races, a trait of theBridgestone tyres. Two jump-start penalties did not help Nakano's results. At the2006 Australian Grand Prix, Nakano started on the front row and lead the early laps, before switching to wet tyres too late and not being competitive on them.
For2007, Nakano joined Konica Minolta Honda. Results were thin in 2007, with only a handful of top 10 qualifying and race results. Rumors began that Nakano might make the move to the highly competitiveWorld Superbike Championship for the2008 season. However, Nakano ultimately joinedFausto Gresini's MotoGP team, replacingToni Elías.[3] Bringing experience with Bridgestone tyres and Honda bikes, he had a solid season, scoring more points in the first half of 2008 than in the whole of 2007.[1] AtBrno, Nakano was given the factory spring-valveHonda RC212V, beginning a string of greatly improved results. Nakano left the Gresini team at the end of the 2008 season, following the team's decision to sign Alice Ducati riderToni Elías for 2009.
In2009, Nakano was signed byAprilia along withMax Biaggi for their return to theWorld Superbike Championship after a three-year absence. He finished the season in 14th place.[4] On October 28, 2009, Nakano announced that he would be retiring from professional motorcycle racing.[5] The decision followed a season in which he had struggled with injury problems, including a broken collarbone and a neck injury that kept him out of the final three rounds of the season.
| Season | Class | Motorcycle | Team | Race | Win | Podium | Pole | FLap | Pts | Plcd |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1998 | 250cc | Yamaha YZR250 | BP Yamaha Racing Team | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 33 | 19th |
| 1999 | 250cc | Yamaha YZR250 | Chesterfield Yamaha Tech 3 | 16 | 1 | 5 | 2 | 1 | 207 | 4th |
| 2000 | 250cc | Yamaha YZR250 | Chesterfield Yamaha Tech 3 | 16 | 5 | 12 | 3 | 7 | 272 | 2nd |
| 2001 | 500cc | Yamaha YZR500 | Gauloises Yamaha Tech 3 | 15 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 155 | 5th |
| 2002 | MotoGP | Yamaha YZR500 Yamaha YZR-M1 | Gauloises Yamaha Tech 3 | 16 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 68 | 11th |
| 2003 | MotoGP | Yamaha YZR-M1 | d'Antin Yamaha Team | 16 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 101 | 10th |
| 2004 | MotoGP | Kawasaki ZX-RR | Kawasaki Racing Team | 16 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 83 | 10th |
| 2005 | MotoGP | Kawasaki ZX-RR | Kawasaki Racing Team | 17 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 98 | 10th |
| 2006 | MotoGP | Kawasaki ZX-RR | Kawasaki Racing Team | 17 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 92 | 14th |
| 2007 | MotoGP | Honda RC212V | Konica Minolta Honda | 18 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 47 | 17th |
| 2008 | MotoGP | Honda RC212V | San Carlo Honda Gresini | 18 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 126 | 9th |
| Total | 167 | 6 | 21 | 5 | 9 | 1282 |
(key) (Races inbold indicate pole position) (Races initalics indicate fastest lap)
| Season | Motorcycle | Team | Race | Win | Podium | Pole | FLap | Pts | Plcd |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2009 | Aprilia RSV4 | Aprilia Racing | 18 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 86 | 14th |
| Total | 18 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 86 |
(key) (Races inbold indicate pole position, races initalics indicate fastest lap)
| Year | Bike | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | Pos | Pts | ||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| R1 | R2 | R1 | R2 | R1 | R2 | R1 | R2 | R1 | R2 | R1 | R2 | R1 | R2 | R1 | R2 | R1 | R2 | R1 | R2 | R1 | R2 | R1 | R2 | R1 | R2 | R1 | R2 | ||||
| 2009 | Aprilia | AUS 15 | AUS 12 | QAT 4 | QAT 7 | SPA DNS | SPA DNS | NED Ret | NED DNS | ITA 13 | ITA 12 | RSA 7 | RSA 7 | USA Ret | USA 7 | SMR 9 | SMR 13 | GBR 6 | GBR Ret | CZE Ret | CZE 11 | GER Ret | GER DNS | ITA | ITA | FRA | FRA | POR | POR | 14th | 86 |
(in Japanese)