PROFILE

PROFILE

Shinji Nakano

Born on
April 1st, 1971
Birthplace
Osaka, Japan
Height
174cm
Weight
65kg
Blood Type
AB

With the influence of his father, Shinji started Kart Race at the age of 11. In 1987, at age 16, Shinji become the first Japanese-born driver and the youngest driver to win the International Kart GP.
In 1997, Shinji stepped up as fifth Japanese F1 driver and completed the full race. In 2000, Shinji moved to United States and broadened his activities to CART and IRL category and successfully raced among the top players of the world.
After competing in 2005, Shinji became the first Japanese national and 30th driver to compete the World Big 3 race after competing Le Mans 24 hours, Shinji became the first Japanese national ever to complete the World Big 3 race including F1 Monaco GP and INDY500.
Shinji is a world class driver that holds both skills and popularity. His experiences overseas have given him linguistic abilities as well as his international mindset. He's activities now include not only racing but, TV and magazine coverage, speaking engagements for events and seminars as well as development of young players. He is positively participating in the ecology activity at last few years.

1982 - 1999
  1. 1987

    Won the race as the first Japnese and youngest driver at International Kart GP.

  2. 1989

    Competed at All-Japan Formula 3 Campionship.

  3. 1990

    Moved to U.K. and competed at Formula Vauxhall and Formura Opel, Champion 1, Series 5th place.

  4. 1992

    Competed at All-Japan F3000 and All-Japan F3 Championship.

  5. 1996

    Competed at Formula Nippon Championship, Prize 2.

  6. 1997

    Competed Formula 1 Championship with 'Prost Mugen Honda'. Recorded 5 top10 finishes,Prize2.

  7. 1998

    Competed with 'Team Minardi' for Formula 1 Championship. Recorded top10 finishes at Monaco, England, Belgium and Canada.

  8. 1999

    Test driver for Formula 1 with "Jordan Mugen Honda".

2000 - 2019
  1. 2000

    Competed at Champcar Series(CART) with "Walker Racing".

  2. 2001

    Competed at Champcar Series(CART) with "Fernandez Racing".

  3. 2002

    Competed at Champcar Series(CART) with "Fernandez Racing".

  4. 2003

    Competed at IRL Series Japan GP and INDY500 with "Beck Motor Sports".

  5. 2004

    Competed at All-Japan GT Championship with "Team Kunimitsu".
    International 1000km Endurance Race,2nd place.

  6. 2005

    Competed at Le Mans 24 hours with "Courage Comeptition".
    Competed World Big 3 race as a first Japanese driver and the 30th driver of all over the world.

  7. 2006

    Competed at Le Mans 24 hours and Le Mans Endurance Series with "Courage Comeptition".

  8. 2007

    Competed at Le Mans 24 hours and Le Mans Endurance Series with 'Creation Autosportif'.
    Competed at Japan Le Mans Challenge with 'Mugen M-tec', 2nd place.
    Le Mans Classic Japan,1st prize.

  9. 2008

    Competed at Le Mans 24 hours and Le Mans Endurance Series with "Epsilon Euskadi". Competed at Le Mans Classic France.

  10. 2009

    Competed at Asian Le Mans series with "SORA RACING" (Pescarolo Sport) and won the series championship.

  11. 2011

    Competed at Le Mans 24 hours with "OAK RACING", completed the race as LMP2 class 5th place.

  12. 2012

    Competed at Le Mans 24 hours with "BOUTSEN GUINION RACING", LMP2 10th place.
    Competed at WEC Fuji with "ADR DELTA" LMP2, 1st Prize.

  13. 2013

    Competed at Le Mans 24 hours and WEC Fuji with "DELA-ADR", LMP2. Competed at Asian Le mans Series Fuji with "Team Taisan", 1st prize.

  14. 2014

    2014 Competed at Le Mans 24 hours with "Team TAISAN", Class8th place.