Nakama Waka

Nakama Waka is a Japanese racing driver who most recently competed in the Formula Racing League.

## Nakama Waka

### Born

* Omura, Nagasaki Prefacture
* FRL-14 (21 years old)

## FRL career

### Aston Martin (03)

Ahead of the FRL03 season, Waka was signed by Aston Martin for their debut season in Formula B. Early into Preseason Testing however, pundits, drivers, and fans took issue with the standard of Waka's driving. Kyle Morrell said "Sometimes he had really different lines to us. It's a problem if you're racing side-by-side with him." Other drivers came to his defense, with Borys Zozulya wishing Waka had more time to gain mileage behind the wheel.

At his first race (also his home race) in Japan, he qualified in last, but a rain affected race and good strategy call led Waka to finish P11, scoring 2 points on his FRL debut. At the next round in Singapore, Waka again qualifed last in the field, finishing 14th. This proved to be Waka's last race for Aston Martin, as the team sacked him and replaced him with Willem Krieger from the Malaysian Grand Prix onwards.

### WLD (04)

The racing world was shocked as reigning FA champions WLD signed Waka to a 3 year contract when the signing period opened. The outgoing Gil Salgado was deemed vastly more talented than Waka, with many wondering the motive behind Waka's signing. However, Waka had gained celebrity status from many FRL fans. Many cheered him on for his antics on the race track, others meanwhile felt the Japanese driver was a future World Driver's Champion.

At the opening race in Mexico City, Waka outqualified his teammate, the reigning drivers world champion Oliver Jacobsen with a gap of 0.169 seconds. Despite starting the race a career best 9th, Waka crashed out of the race. He had to wait until his home race to score his maiden FA points, securing 7th at Suzuka. Despite experiencing consecutive mechanical failures at Singapore and Malaysia, Waka then went on a run of good form, obtaining six consecutive points finishes totalling 35 points. At the season finale in Australia, Waka finished 4th, which made it his best race result from both tiers of competition.

Waka finished 11th in FA on 53 points, tied with Chevrolet-Draig's Michael Evans but losing out by average positioning. After the demise of Ryan, WLD brought back Gil Salgado, thus releasing Waka.

### Harimau Racing (07)

Waka did not race again in the FRL for 2 seasons but during the signing period ahead of FRL07, Harimau Racing signed Waka to a 1 year contract, seen by many as a cost cutting measure from the team.

In the opening races in a backmarker car, Waka was slow, but steady. Waka finished 11th in the opening three rounds while teammate Denis Naboko suffered multiple retirements. His first points in two seasons came at the US Grand Prix, rounding off the points scorers finishing 10th. His next and ultimately last points of the season came in Vietnam, securing 9th and 2 points. The rest of the season Waka was uncompetitive, qualifying no higher than 17th for the rest of the season, and usually starting at the back of the grid. He finished his second FA season 23rd on 3 points.

Harimau did not renew Waka's contract, instead signing former two-time MotoRL bike champion Johnny Mullins.

## Fan popularity in FRL

Waka gained much fanfare in his first season with Aston Martin. He has been called the 'GOAT' by his loyal fanbase, although pundits have questioned that label repeatedly.