WSBK: Shinya Nakano #56

Shinya Nakano #56

Personal opinion: A nice guy, had dissent results in MotoGP, very consistent, Hope to see more of him, didn’t have the best start of the season so far, even due it wasn’t a bad start, but can he compete with Ben “elbowz” spies and Haga?

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Shinya Nakano
Shinya Nakano
Nationality	Japanese
Grand Prix motorcycle racing career
Active years	1998-2008
Teams	Honda, Yamaha, Kawasaki
Grands Prix	168
Championships	0
Wins	6
Podium finishes	21
Career points	1282
Pole positions	5
Fastest laps	9
First Grand Prix	1998 250cc Japanese Grand Prix
First win	1999 250cc Japanese Grand Prix
Last win	2000 250cc Valencian Community Grand Prix
Last Grand Prix	2008 MotoGP Valencian Community Grand Prix

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. After placing 2nd the 250cc World Championship behind Olivier Jacque in 2000, he moved up to MotoGP and had been there constantly until 2008 riding Yamaha, Kawasaki and Honda bikes. For 2009 he embraces a new challenge as he joins WSBK with an Aprilia..

Early Years

Shinya Nakano was All-Japan 250cc champion in 1998, the highlight of a long career in both 125cc and 250cc Japanese national championships. Nakano moved to international competition in 1999, adjusting to 250cc Grand Prix racing quickly, finishing 4th overall with five podium finishes. In 2000 Nakano and team-mate Olivier Jacque battled with Daijiro Kato for the title, which ultimately went to Jacque. Nakano set the fastest 250cc lap at Motegi in 2000, a record that stood until 2008 – the longest standing lap record in the series.

MotoGP

Shinya Nakano

For 2001 the Tech 3 team moved up to the 500cc World Championship, which would eventually become MotoGP in 2002. Despite semi-works machinery, Nakano only managed to finish 5th in the championship. Nakano started 2002 on a 500cc two-stroke machine, but the team was able to provide the newer 990cc four-stroke by the end of the season. 2003 was less successful prompting a move to Kawasaki for 2004.

Tech3 suffered 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 Nakano was able to produce strong qualifying runs but less competitive races, a trait of the Bridgestone tyres. Two jump-start penalties did not help Nakano’s results. At Phillip Island Nakano 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 Nakano joined Konica Minolta Honda. With Honda/Michelin having been the strongest package in 2006 a competitive machine was expect - he did not get one. Results were thin in 2007, with only a handful of top 10 qualifying and race results. Rumors began that that Nakano might make the move to the highly competitive World Superbike Championship for the 2008 season. However, Nakano ultimately joined Fausto Gresini's MotoGP team [1], replacing Toni Elias. Bringing experience with Bridgestone tyres and Honda bikes, he had a solid if unspectacular season, scoring more points in the first half of 2008 than in the whole of 2007. At Brno, Nakano was given the factory spring-valve Honda RC212V, beginning a string of greatly improved results.

Nakano will leave the Gresini team at the end of the 2008 season, following the team's decision to sign Alice Ducati rider Toni Elias for 2009.

2009: World Superbike Championship debut

Nakano was signed by Aprilia for their return after a 3 years absence from the World Superbike Championship, and he'll be partnering Max Biaggi on their factory squad.