Portrait: Shinya Nakano, on the verge of history

It's been a long time since we looked back at the story of a particular driver. Today, let's look at the career of Shinya Nakano, one of the most significant Japanese artists of this century.

His start to his career is, after all, classic. Born in 1977 in Tokyo, he followed the usual path of his grown-ups. First in minimoto, then in national championship All-Japan. As is often the case with these pilots, the Japanese Grand Prix (traditionally held at Suzuka and at the opening of the world championship) was the perfect opportunity to get noticed. Thus, each season, dozens of drivers, each as talented as the next, invaded the grids of small categories in order to make a name for themselves. In 1998, Nakano started in 250cc.

À Suzuka, the Japanese are kings: the land of the Rising Sun achieves a quadruplet in quarters of a liter. Regret Daijiro Kato is necessary, but Shinya Nakano, for his first appearance in the world, is second, less than a second behind. For the record, the obscure Naoki Matsudo completes the podium, while Tetsuya Harada is fourth. This 1998 season is his. It was during this year that he won the national 250cc title, giving him a place in the world championship for 1999.

Hervé Poncharal and the Tech3 team take him under their wing. The formation was still young, but the relationship between Poncharal et N went beyond the scope of sport. Indeed, the latter admitted in 2002 that the French team manager had helped him a lot to acclimatize to Europe, and had played a key role in his development. Equipped with Yamaha YZR250, the pair started 1999 with a bang. Podium in Malaysia, then sensational victory in Japan, in front of his home crowd. The return to the old continent is just as impressive, with, instantly, a pole at Jerez followed by a second place at Le Mans. Now in the title race, Shinya remains very consistent but struggles to keep up with the Honda and Aprilia. At mid-season, Valentino Rossi leads comfortably followed by Tohru Ukawa. Nakano is behind with Loris Capirossi, without demeriting for all that. Unfortunately for our protagonist of the day, a pole and two podiums in the second half of the season were not enough to contain the inevitable return of "Capirex", who took third place by two small points.

 

Despite everything, this season was very encouraging. For his first full-time year, Shinya held the lead. He started the 2000 season with a bang, with two victories in the first two races. His compatriots Ukawa and Kato are not far away, while his teammate Olivier Jacques, he is somewhat behind.

At Le Mans, everything changes. If Daijiro Kato wins by nothing over Shinya, this race marks the start of the Show Jacque Attack. Third in front of his audience, he never left the podium again until Valencia, nine races later. A blessed period punctuated by two victories, and a series of five consecutive poles. Nakano hangs on. At the same time, Kato, initially favorite a third of the way through the season, is having a bad time. The pressure builds as the Grands Prix go by, but an outcome in the final round is inevitable. This legendary Australian game has already been told in the article dedicated to Olivier Jacque, which we invite you to read by clicking on this highlighted link.

At the end of a historic race, Jacque captured the world title and became the third Frenchman to achieve this feat, after Jean-Louis Tournadre et Christian Sarron. Nakano is beaten, but his accession to MotoGP is already confirmed, always with Tech3. Once again, the Japanese got away with it. Largely ahead of Olivier Jacque – still his teammate – Nakano finishes 5e overall with a podium acquired in Germany. During this season, he showed exemplary consistency which suggested great things to come.

But everything didn't go as planned. Equipped with a YZR500 two-stroke in 2001, Nakano had a lot of trouble against the new MotoGP four-strokes. For the French team, the transition to YZR-M1 took place only three races from the end, far too late to hope for anything. Hervé Poncharal and Shinya separated at the end of 2002, after five years of collaboration.

 

A year of transition at d'Antin Yamaha later, an opportunity presented itself to him: become a factory rider for Kawasaki. The challenge was significant. The Japanese manufacturer made its comeback in the premier category with the ZX-RR, but the first season of operation was not glorious. Andrew Pitt et Gary McCoy experienced all the difficulties in the world to make it work. The start of 2004 is much better. This time shod in Bridgestone, the Kawa' had performance, without rising to the forefront. Despite a huge fall at Mugello on the straight (undoubtedly one of the most impressive in history), Nakano comfortably dominated his teammate Alex Hofmann and even took a podium in Japan! A treat for the brand.

Only problem: it stagnates. The Bridgestones, less efficient in the race, did not help him. Still, the years 2005 and 2006 are similar, and the most prestigious places are far away. Of course, Nakano is still around tenth place but we can't imagine him playing more. Sometimes opportunities present themselves like at Assen in 2006. Colin Edwards, in the last chicane, falls and misses his chance to win his first Grand Prix, which gives second position to Shinya. Our hero of the day left Kawasaki at the end of 2006 to join the team Konica Minolta Honda, but without more success. A signature with Gresini for 2008 changes nothing, despite an underrated year (9th with eleven top 10s, its best result since 2001).

Aprilia, back in Superbike, signs the Japanese alongside Max Biaggi but the experience turns sour. Between major injuries and lack of performance, Nakano hung up his leathers at the end of 2009, but did not move away from the paddocks. His character, his driving style and his helmet with its atypical decoration left their mark on an entire generation. No one can take away his inheritance. Without doubt, he is one of the last great Japanese champions, even without a world title.

Do you remember Nakano? Tell us in the comments!

 

Cover photo: Oz