Shinji Nakano

24 Hours of Le Mans career
Years	2005 - 2008, 2011
Teams	Courage Compétition, Creation Autosportif, Epsilon Euskadi, OAK Racing
Best finish	14th (2011)
Class wins	0

Shinji Nakano
Born	1 April 1971 (age 53)
Formula One World Championship career
Nationality	Japanese
Active years	1997–1998
Teams	Prost, Minardi, Jordan (Test Driver)
Entries	33
Championships	0
Wins	0
Podiums	0
Career points	2
Pole positions	0
Fastest laps	0
First entry	1997 Australian Grand Prix
Last entry	1998 Japanese Grand Prix

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.

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 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.

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