Shinya Nakano - 2006 Rider Profile

Shinya Nakano burst onto the Grand Prix scene in impressive fashion in 1999, racking up five podium finishes in his debut season in the 250cc World Championship. The following year Nakano amassed five race wins and seven podium finishes in the quarter litre class, but missed out on the championship title by a mere 0.014s.

Nakano stepped up to the 500cc World Championship the following year, finishing on the podium in Sachsenring and winning the Rookie of the Year award at the end of the season.

The Japanese rider switched to four-stroke power at the end of 2002, and it was his consistent performances aboard this machine during the 2003 season that brought Nakano to the attention of Kawasaki Racing Team Manager, Harald Eckl.

Eckl convinced the Japanese rider to spearhead Kawasaki's assault on the MotoGP World Championship in 2004 and was rewarded with Nakano scoring the team's first MotoGP podium in Japan and a top ten finish in the championship standings.

Nakano continues with the Kawasaki Racing Team for 2005, and is confident of good results aboard the new big bang version of Kawasaki's Ninja ZX-RR MotoGP Machine.

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