[1] Kawasaki suffered a disastrous debut year with Garry McCoy and Andrew Pitt, before the team improved with Nakano on board.

The team's first podium came at the 2004 Japanese Grand Prix and two seasons of consistent results earned him a pair of 10th place championship finishes.

At the 2006 Australian Grand Prix, Nakano started on the front row and lead the early laps, before switching to wet tyres too late and not being competitive on them.

Rumors began that Nakano might make the move to the highly competitive World Superbike Championship for the 2008 season.

Bringing experience with Bridgestone tyres and Honda bikes, he had a solid if unspectacular season, scoring more points in the first half of 2008 than in the whole of 2007.