Naoki Shinjo

Naoki Shinjo (born February 17, 1993 in Saitama, Japan) is a Japanese racing driver currently racing for Team Mecha Racing in ARWS.

Early International Career

Formula Nippon 2016-17

Although he had a strong reputation in his native Japan, it was not until his entry in the 2016-17 Formula Nippon season that Shinjo first came to international attention. Chosen to drive for Union Saver Developments alongside Hayato Kazami, Shinjo frequently left his teammate in the dust and performed exceptionally against the strong international competition in the series that season, winning twice and placing 3rd in the standings ahead of the likes of Alberto Cara and Roger Ibe. This impressed USD's boss Karl Lichter Schultz enough that Shinjo was chosen to be a key part of his teams future plans.

F3RWRS & Formula Nippon 2017-18

Seeking to further Shinjo's development in international competition, USD arranged for his entry into F3RWRS for the 2017 with Mazzacane Motorsport. Although the team struggled to match their competitors, Shinjo matched up strongly against teammate Laura Wener, scoring a podium finish in the last race of the season before the series collapsed.

This left Shinjo free to return to Formula Nippon for the 2017-18 Formula Nippon season, this time racing for Noritake Terada Racing. Despite being outmatched by his French teammate Aimée Gauthier, Shinjo grabbed 6 poles, 3 fastest laps, and won the first race at Suzuka on his way to 5th in the standings.

ARWS

2018

At this point, Union Saver Developments' bid for an ARWS team had been accepted, and as the organisations top-performing driver in junior formulae, Shinjo was selected to drive one of their cars for the 2018 season, alongside Finnish journeyman Jari Kekkonen. Little was expected in what many predicted to be a learning year for USD and Shinjo, and although there were initially a couple of issues with qualifying, Shinjo regularly outpaced his veteran teammate, and wound up scoring his and the teams first points with a 5th place at the Belgian Grand Prix, earning USD a respectable 12th in the Constructors Championship.

2019 & 2020

Seeking to build on a solid debut season, Shinjo now found himself matched up against his countrywoman, veteran Shinobu Katayama for 2019. This time, the intra-team battle fell against Shinjo, as Katayama secured USD's first podium ahead of him at the Scandinavian Grand Prix. Shinjo himself scored his lone points with a 4th place in that same race, but otherwise his season was largely disappointing due to unreliability and bad luck.

Any hopes of taking a step forward in 2020 were quickly dashed, though, as the Leonhard von Gottorp scandal ended the season before it could truly get going. Shinjo returned to Japan in the intervening years, racing in Super GT before his chance at an ARWS comeback arose in 2023.

2023

Upon catching wind of the rebirth of ARWS for the 2023, Shinjo accepted a contract from Team Mecha Racing, which quickly proved to be an inspired decision on his part. Reliability was a key component in the championship battle for the year, and Mecha's usage of the underpowered but highly resilient Mugen Honda engines enabled Shinjo to remain in the title fight up until the closing laps of the season. While he did ultimately come up short, Shinjo's consistent, steady driving had not gone unrewarded, as he took his and Mecha's first podium finish at the Luxembourg Grand Prix.

2024

Extremely pleased by their respective performances, Shinjo and Mecha renewed their partnership for the 2024 season, opting to stick with the Mugen Honda engines for another season.

Career Results

Year	Series	Team	Position
2016-17	Formula Reject Nippon Championship	Union Saver Developments	3rd
2017
	Formula 3 Rejects World Race Series	Mazzacane Motorsport	24th
2017-18	Formula Reject Nippon Championship	Noritake Terada Racing	5th
2018
	AutoReject World Series	Union Saver Developments	23rd
2019
	AutoReject World Series	Union Saver Developments	18th
2020	AutoReject World Series	Union Saver Developments	21st
2023	AutoReject World Series	Team Mecha Racing	2nd
2024	AutoReject World Series	Team Mecha Racing	NC

F3RWRS results

(Races in bold indicate pole position; races in italics indicate fastest lap)

Year	Team	Chassis	Engine	1	2		3		4		5		6	7		8		9		10	DC	Pts
2017	Mazzacane Motorsport	Mazzacane 317	Lancia 017/3	HIG SP Ret	AUS R1 Ret	AUS R2 17	GBR R1 DNQ	GBR R2 Ret	AUT R1 Ret	AUT R2 C	USA R1 3	USA R2 C	ATP SP C	NED R1 C	NED R2 C	BEL R1 C	BEL R2 C	MOR R1 C	MOR R2 C	SUR SP C	24	16

Formula Nippon

Year	Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	DC	Pts
2016-17	Union Saver Developments	AUO 14	OKY 7	SUZ 7	YEO 1	MOT 2	SUG 19	MOT 1	FUJ Ret											3rd	160
2017-18	Noritake Terada Racing	FUJ R1 8	FUJ R2 3	SUG R1 2	SUG R2 6	MOT R1 8	MOT R2 5	MOT R1 15	MOT R2 Ret	YEO R1 7	YEO R2 6	OKY R1 5	OKY R2 10	SEN R1 Ret	SEN R2 Ret	AUT R1 Ret	AUT R2 8	SUZ R1 1	SUZ R2 Ret	5th	365

AutoReject World Series Results

Year	Team	Chassis	Engine	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	DC	Pts
2018	Union Saver Developments	KS-01	Daihatsu Zeetec-R2	AUS DNPQ	NSW 18	ITA 8	MAR DNQ	CAL Ret	USA 12	CAN Ret	GBR 13	AUT Ret	GER Ret	SCA Ret	BEL 5	MON 8	SAF 10	BRA 9	ARG 10	JPN Ret	CHN Ret	23rd	2
2019	Union Saver Developments	KS-02	Daihatsu Zeetec R2/19	AUS 9	NSW Ret	KIN Ret	ITA Ret	MAR 9	CAN 9	500 Ret	GBR Ret	AUT Ret	GER 15	SCA 4	BEL Ret	MON 10	SAF Ret	BRA 11	ARG 9	JPN 11	CHN EX	18th	3
2020	Union Saver Developments	KS-03	Daihatsu Zeetec R2/20	AUS 15	NSW 15	ARG C	BRA C	500 C	CAN C	GBR C	BEL C	MON C	ITA C	AUT C	GER C	SAF C	IND C	MAL C	PAC C	JPN C	CHN C	21st	0
2023	Team Mecha Racing	Mecha FM-23	Mugen Honda MF-24A HA	MON 8	LUX 3	GER 9	CZE 12	NUS 14	GBR 17	SCA 8	SUS 15	MAL 12	AUS 9	JPN 9	KIN 5	MAC 8						2nd	418
2024	Team Mecha Racing	Mecha FM-24	Mugen Honda MF-24A HA	MON	MED	LUX	GER	CRI	GRS	NUS	ITA	GBR	CAN	RNO	SUS	MAL	KIN	JPN	AUS			NC	0