Satoru Nakajima

Former F1 driver


image-size = 150
pixels = 150
Name = Satoru Nakajima
Nationality = flagicon|Japan Japanese
Years = F1|1987 - F1|1991
Team(s) = Lotus, Tyrrell
Races = 80 (74 starts)
Championships = 0
Wins = 0
Points = 16
Podiums = 0
Poles = 0
Fastest laps = 1
First race = 1987 Brazilian Grand Prix
First win =
Last win =
Last race = 1991 Australian Grand Prix

Satoru Nakajima (Japanese name: 中嶋 悟 ; born February 23, 1953cite web |url=http://www.oldracingcars.com/bydriver/watn.asp?letter=N |title= The World Championship drivers - Where are they now? |accessdate=2007-07-29 |last=Jenkins |first=Richard |publisher=OldRacingCars.com] ) is a former racing driver from Japan. He was born into a farming family living just outside Okazaki, Japan. He began driving cars in his early teens in the family's garden with his older brother giving him tips, careful that they were not caught by their father. He felt a great deal of exhilaration behind the wheel of a car, and from then on knew what he wanted to do.

He started racing after he finished school and got a driver's licence. In 1973 he was a rookie in the Suzuka Circuit series, which he won. Five years later, he won his first race in Japanese Formula 2. In 1981 he won his first championship, thus beginning a period of domination in the series. He won five of the next six championships, all of them using a Honda V6.

Nakajima participated in 80 Formula One Grands Prix, debuting in the Brazilian Grand Prix on April 12, 1987, bringing Honda engines to the Lotus team . He was 34 years old in his début race, making him one of F1's oldest débutantes of the modern era.Fact|date=June 2008 Nakajima finishing 6th and so scoring points in only his second race, the 1987 San Marino Grand Prix.

Honda left the Lotus garage after the 1988 season, leaving Nakajima and team-mate Nelson Piquet driving the Judd-powered 101. The pair had a very up-and-down season, with both failing to qualify for the 1989 Belgian Grand Prix, the first time in their 30-year history that Lotus had failed to make the grid, symbolically heralding the beginning of the end for the British team. A great upside to Nakajima's 1989 was a 4th place and fastest lap in the rain-soaked Australian Grand Prix, scoring his only points of the year and also equalling his best career finish, from the 1987 British Grand Prix.

Nakajima joined the Tyrrell team for the 1990 season, followed by Honda engines the next year. He raced for them for two uneventful years at the back of the pack before ending his career. Honda left F1 a year later to lay the first bricks on a works team, one that they had been working on during the F1 season, and that CEO Nobuhiko Kawamoto finally admitted to in October. The car, the Honda RC100 was unveiled to the media in February 1993, driven by Nakajima. Shortly afterwards, it passed FISA crash tests, meaning that the company could enter their team into F1 competition. In an attempt to improve on their previous chassis, Honda built two more, the RC101 and 101B, the latter intended to be used for racing purposes, the former for crash testing. Nakajima had the first public testing of the 101B in Suzuka in January 1994. The company decided against entering its own cars in F1 at this time, instead opting to further their engine development in America with CART, and later, the IRL.

Nakajima still lives in the family home near Okazaki. These days, though, he owns a team: the Nakajima Racing entry in Japanese Formula 3000, also known as Formula Nippon. Nakajima drivers have won the Formula Nippon championship three times, Tom Coronel doing so in 1999, Toranosuke Takagi in 2000, and Ralph Firman in 2002. Nakajima's current drivers are Takashi Kogure and Andre Lotterer, who finished 2nd in the 2004 championship, although he was tied in points with champion Richard Lyons. Nakajima's son, Kazuki, currently races for the Williams Formula One team, having joined the team in F1|2006 as a test driver [cite news| title =Nakajima lands Williams test role| publisher =ITV-F1.com| url =http://www.itv-f1.com/News_Article.aspx?PO_ID=37925&PO=37925| date =2006-11-08| accessdate =2006-11-08] Kazuki Nakajima made his F1 début at the 2007 Brazilian Grand Prix following the retirement of regular driver Alexander Wurz. [cite news| title =Williams confirm Nakajima for Brazil| publisher =autosport.com| url =http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/63168| date =2007-10-09| accessdate =2007-10-09] .

Related video games

ponsored

* (Sega Mega Drive - 1991)
* (Sega Mega Drive - 1992)
* Nakajima Satoru Super F-1 Hero (Super Famicom - 1992)

Appeared in

* Human Grand Prix II (Super Famicom)
* (Super Famicom)
* (Super Famicom)

Complete Formula One results

() (Races in "italics" indicate fastest lap)

External links

* [http://www.so-net.ne.jp/nakajimaracing/01top/01top.html Nakajima Racing]

References