Japanese
rider
Shinichi
Nakatomi
made his
Superbike
World
Championship
debut last
year,
delivering
several top
10
performances
to end the
year 17th
overall on
his Yamaha
Motor France
machine.
The
28-year-old
former
Japanese
250cc
champion is
no stranger
to the
Yamaha
YZF-R1,
having
ridden one
for three
seasons in
the
Japanese
JSB1000
championship
before
earning a
call-up to
Yamaha’s
French squad
for the 2006
campaign.
With a new
team,
culture and
tyre brand
to cope with
it was
hardly
surprising
that the
class rookie
had a slow
start to the
season,
especially
when a wrist
injury ruled
him out of
much of the
team’s
pre-season
test
programme.
The opening
fly-away
races in
Qatar and
Australia
yielded no
points for
the man
affectionately
known by his
crew as
Tommy, but
when the
series came
to Europe
Nakatomi was
able to show
his true
ability and
was a solid
points
scorer.
Nakatomi
impressed
with his
methodical
approach to
the weekend,
improving
his times
and bike
set-up in
each session
as he
learned the
circuits and
worked his
way through
the team’s
massive
testing
programme.
By round
four he had
claimed a
first top 10
finish, with
the best
result
coming at
Brno – where
he finished
eighth in
race one.
With
experience
of racing
most of the
circuits on
the 2007
Superbike
World
Championship
calendar and
a
significantly
improved
YZF-R1 at
his
disposal,
don’t be
surprised to
see Tommy
move up the
rankings in
the coming
year. The
Japanese
rider is a
proven
winner in
his homeland
and a
potential
podium
candidate in
his second
world
championship
season.
