Shinji Nakano (中野 信治, born 1 April 1971[1]) is a Japanese professional racing driver.

[citation needed] Nakano made his debut at the 1997 Australian Grand Prix in Melbourne for the Prost Grand Prix team, owned by legendary four times Formula One World Champion Alain Prost.

He spent 1999 as an occasional test driver for the Jordan team, which also used Mugen-Honda engines.

He made 56 starts from 2000 to 2002 with a best points finish of 17th in 2002 and a best race result of 4th at the 2002 Molson Indy Toronto.

[4][5] He was a guest on the TV Asahi variety programme Aruaru Gijido in March 2017.