Shinya Nakano

MotoGP

Shinya Nakano (born in Tokyo on October 8, 1977 and brought up in Chiba) is a Japanese Grand Prix motorcycle road racer. He is not related to the former Formula One racer Shinji Nakano. He has raced in the top class of motorcycle racing constantly since 2001, riding Yamaha, Kawasaki and Honda bikes.

He was All-Japan 250cc champion in 1998, the highlight of a long career in both 125cc and 250cc Japanese national championships. He moved to international competition in 1999, adjusting to 250cc Grand Prix racing quickly by finishing 4th overall with five podium finishes. In 2000 he and team-mate Olivier Jacque battled with Daijiro Kato for the title, which ultimately went to Jacque.

For 2001 the Tech 3 team moved up to the 500cc World Championship, which would eventually become MotoGP in 2002. Despite semi-works machinery Shinya managed to finish 5th in the championship. He started 2002 on a 500cc two-stroke machine, but the team got him upgraded to the newer 990cc four-stroke by the end of the season. 2003 was not a great success, and he moved to Kawasaki for 2004.

After a disastrous debut year with Garry McCoy and Andrew Pitt the team improved with Nakano on board. The team's first podium came at Motegi and two seasons of consistent results earned him a pair of 10th place championship finishes. 2006 was strong qualifying runs but less competitive races, a trait of the Bridgestone tyres, and two jump-start penalties have not helped his cause. At Phillip Island he started on the front row and lead the early laps, before switching to wet tyres too late and not being competitive on them.

For 2007 he joined Konica Minolta Honda. With Honda/Michelin having been the strongest package in 2006 he expected a competitive machine - he did not get one. Results have been thin in 2007, with only a handful of top 10 qualifying and race results. Some thought that he would go to a good team in the higly competitive World Superbike Championship. However, he ultimately joined Fausto Gresini's MotoGP team for 2008, replacing Toni Elias. He brings strong experience of Bridgestone tyres and Honda bikes.

from Wikipedia