Super Formula Championship

Super Formula Championship

Category	Single seaters
Country	Japan
Inaugural season	1973
Drivers	19
Teams	11
Constructors	Dallara
Engine suppliers	Toyota, Honda
Tire suppliers	Yokohama
Drivers' champion	Yuji Kunimoto
Teams' champion	Petronas Team TOM'S
Official website	superformula.net
Current season

Super Formula, formerly known as Formula Nippon, is a type of formula racing and the top level of single-seater racing in Japan.

Formula Nippon evolved from the Japanese Formula 2000 series begun in 1973 by way of the Japanese Formula Two and Japanese Formula 3000 championships. For the most part, the Japanese racing series have closely followed their European counterparts in terms of technical regulations, but there have been some important exceptions.

History

Formula 2000 (1973–1977)

Background

In Japan, though touring and sports car racing was very popular through the 1960s, formula car racing was less so in those days. Even the Japanese Grand Prix lost its popularity after changing its format from touring/sports car racing to formula car racing in 1971.

In 1973, the Japan Automobile Federation (JAF) established the "All-Japan Formula 2000 Championship" as the first top-level formula racing series in Japan, to promote popularity of formula car racing in the country.

The series was created based on the European Formula Two Championship. But the JAF approved use of purpose built racing engines was different from the European F2 series which only allowed race engines based on mass production models. Due to this difference, the series did not fit in with the Formula Two regulations in those days. Therefore, the series was renamed "Formula 2000", not "Formula Two".

Formula Two (1978–1986)

March 86J of Satoru Nakajima, the 1986 championship winner.

The revised Formula Two regulation in 1976 removed the restriction about engines which had limited the use of engines based on mass production models. With this change the reasoning behind the name "Formula 2000" disappeared. It led to the series being renamed the "All-Japan Formula Two Championship" from 1978.

1987 championship

When European Formula Two ended in 1984, its Japanese counterpart did not follow suit immediately. The JAF considered starting a new Formula Two series from 1988. However, all entrants ran Formula 3000 cars in 1987. So, the 1987 Formula Two Championship was cancelled due to no entry of any cars for that format.

Formula 3000 (1987–1995)

Switching to the open Formula 3000 standard in 1987, the "All-Japan Formula 3000 Championship" started in 1988. Once again, Japanese and European regulations paralleled one another until 1996, when the International Formula 3000 series became a one-make format to lower costs.

Thanks to the bubble economy and Formula One-fad in Japan, the series had many entrants and investors. It attracted many promising young drivers outside of Japan to compete in the series. Inevitably, the end of such phenomena led to the decline of the series.

Formula Nippon (1996–2012)

The previous Formula Nippon logo.

In the mid-1990s, the Japanese Formula broke away, changing the form of the series to "Formula Nippon". The new Japan Race Promotion, formed by Fuji Television, became the promoter with the recognition of the series by the JAF as the Authority Sport Nationale (ASN) of Japan.

In the 2000s, sports car racing became more popular in Japan, and many Formula Nippon drivers doubled-up in the Japanese Super GT championship.

The 2006 season got off to one of the strangest starts in motorsport history. Because of heavy rain, the opener at Fuji was called off after two safety car laps, and Benoît Tréluyer was awarded the win with half points awarded.

Cars

The previous Formula Nippon chassis, the Swift FN09 (also known as the Swift 017.n), was introduced in the 2009 season and raced until the end of the 2013 season.

Until 2002, Formula Nippon was an open formula, where a variety of chassis builders and engine manufacturers could compete. Chassis were supplied by Lola, Reynard, and G-Force, while Mugen-Honda supplied the vast majority of the engines (though Cosworth engines were found in the Formula 3000 era).

However, with the bankruptcy of Reynard in 2002, and the withdrawal of G-Force a year earlier, Formula Nippon once again followed F3000's lead in becoming a one-make series for the 2003 season. Formula Nippon cars were now all Lola B03/50 chassis powered by Mugen-Honda engines; however, unlike F3000, engines in Formula Nippon are open-tuned by private companies.

In 2006 Formula Nippon underwent a drastic revision of its regulations. A new Lola FN06 chassis was introduced, while the engine formula underwent drastic revision. Engine blocks were provided by Toyota and Honda, using the same engine block specifications as found in the 2005 Indy Racing League, with open-tuning still permitted.

American racecar manufacturer Swift Engineering produced the FN09 chassis that was used from 2009 through 2013.

Scoring System

• Points are awarded in line with the standard FIA system used from 2003 to 2009, but with a bonus point given for pole position.

Super Formula (2013– )

Start of the race at the 2014 Motegi round.

Cars

The base chassis for the series is the Dallara SF14, which was unveiled in Tokyo on 25 March 2013. The car weighs 650 kilograms, and is powered by two-litre single turbo-charged engines from Honda and Toyota, basically the same engines used in Super GT GT500 cars (Super GT500 manufacturer can participate). It also has a drag reduction system similar to that used in Formula One.

Though the chassis is designed by Dallara, 30% of the car is manufactured in Japan.^[1] This current vehicle features the theme of speed-up from previous cars.

Comparable to a contemporary spec-series Indycar, the pole position lap in a Super-Formula Dallara SF14 at Suzuka Circuit in 2017, 1:35.907, is 5.26 seconds slower that the pole position time for the 2016 Japanese Formula One Grand Prix.

Specifications

• Engine displacement: 2.0 L (122 cu in) DOHC inline-4
• Gearbox: 6-speed paddle shift gearbox
• Weight: 1,455 lb (660 kg)
• Power output: 543 hp (405 kW)
• Fuel: 102 RON unleaded gasoline
• Fuel delivery: Direct fuel injection
• Aspiration: Single-turbocharged
• Length: 5,268 mm (207 in)
• Width: 1,910 mm (75 in)
• Wheelbase: 3,165 mm (125 in)
• Steering: Electric power-assisted rack and pinion

Drivers

However, despite the more technically demanding regulations, the Japanese top-level formula series remains a national series, with second tier status compared to the pan-European GP2 Series and its predecessor Formula 3000. Foreign drivers have always been regular participants in the Japanese championships, and there have been several drivers to come from a Japanese Formula 3000 or Formula Nippon drive to a prominent Formula One role; the best-known of these are Eddie Irvine, Ralf Schumacher, the 1996 Formula Nippon champion, and Pedro de la Rosa, the 1997 Formula Nippon champion.

Champions

Season	Series Name	Drivers' Champion					Team Champion
		Driver	Team	Chassis*	Engine*	Tyre*
1973	All-Japan Formula 2000	Motoharu Kurosawa	Heros Racing	March 722	BMW M12/6	B	Not awarded
1974	All-Japan Formula 2000	Noritake Takahara	Takahara Racing	March 842	BMW M12/6	B
1975	All-Japan Formula 2000	Kazuyoshi Hoshino	Victory Circle Racing	March 742	BMW M12/6	B
1976	All-Japan Formula 2000	Noritake Takahara	Heros Racing	Nova 512	BMW M12/7	B
1977	All-Japan Formula 2000	Kazuyoshi Hoshino	Heros Racing	Nova 512B Nova 532P	BMW M12/7	B
1978	Japanese Formula Two	Kazuyoshi Hoshino	Heros Racing	Nova 532P Nova 522	BMW M12/7	B
1979	Japanese Formula Two	Keiji Matsumoto	Team LeMans	March 782 March 792	BMW M12/7	D
1980	Japanese Formula Two	Masahiro Hasemi	Tomica Racing Team	March 802	BMW M12/7	B
1981	Japanese Formula Two	Satoru Nakajima	i&i Racing	Ralt RH6/80 March 812	Honda RA261E	B
1982	Japanese Formula Two	Satoru Nakajima	Team Ikuzawa	March 812 March 822	Honda RA262E	B
1983	Japanese Formula Two	Geoff Lees	John Player Special Team Ikuzawa	Spirit 201 March 832	Honda RA263E	D
1984	Japanese Formula Two	Satoru Nakajima	Heros Racing	March 842	Honda RA264E	B
1985	Japanese Formula Two	Satoru Nakajima	Heros Racing with Nakajima	March 85J	Honda RA264E Honda RA265E	B
1986	Japanese Formula Two	Satoru Nakajima	Heros Racing with Nakajima	March 86J	Honda RA266E	B
1987	Japanese Formula 3000	Kazuyoshi Hoshino	Hoshino Racing	March 87B Lola T87/50	Honda RA387E	B
1988	Japanese Formula 3000	Aguri Suzuki	Footwork Sports Racing Team	March 87B Reynard 88D	Yamaha OX77	B
1989	Japanese Formula 3000	Hitoshi Ogawa	Auto Beaurex Motor Sport	Lola T88/50 Lola T89/50	Mugen MF308	D
1990	Japanese Formula 3000	Kazuyoshi Hoshino	Cabin Racing Team with Impul	Lola T90/50	Mugen MF308	B
1991	Japanese Formula 3000	Ukyo Katayama	Cabin Racing Team with Heros	Lola T90/50 Lola T91/50	Cosworth DFV	B
1992	Japanese Formula 3000	Mauro Martini	Acom Evolution Team Nova	Lola T91/50 Lola T92/50	Mugen MF308	B
1993	Japanese Formula 3000	Kazuyoshi Hoshino	Nisseki Impul Racing Team	Lola T92/50	Cosworth DFV	B
1994	Japanese Formula 3000	Marco Apicella	Dome	Dome F104	Mugen MF308	D
1995	Japanese Formula 3000	Toshio Suzuki	Hoshino Racing	Lola T94/50	Mugen MF308	B
1996	Formula Nippon	Ralf Schumacher	X-Japan Racing Team LeMans	Reynard 96D	Mugen MF308	B	X-Japan Racing Team LeMans
1997	Formula Nippon	Pedro de la Rosa	Shionogi Team Nova	Lola T97/51	Mugen MF308	(B)	Shionogi Team Nova
1998	Formula Nippon	Satoshi Motoyama	LEMONed Racing Team LeMans	Reynard 97D	(Mugen MF308)	(B)	LEMONed Racing Team LeMans
1999	Formula Nippon	Tom Coronel	PIAA Nakajima Racing	Reynard 99L	(Mugen MF308)	(B)	PIAA Nakajima Racing
2000	Formula Nippon	Toranosuke Takagi	PIAA Nakajima Racing	Reynard 2KL	(Mugen MF308)	(B)	PIAA Nakajima Racing
2001	Formula Nippon	Satoshi Motoyama	Team Impul	Reynard 99L	(Mugen MF308)	(B)	Team 5Zigen
2002	Formula Nippon	Ralph Firman	PIAA Nakajima Racing	Reynard 01L	(Mugen MF308)	(B)	PIAA Nakajima Racing
2003	Formula Nippon	Satoshi Motoyama	Team Impul	(Lola B3/51)	(Mugen MF308)	(B)	Team Impul
2004	Formula Nippon	Richard Lyons	DoCoMo Team Dandelion Racing	(Lola B3/51)	(Mugen MF308)	(B)	Team Impul
2005	Formula Nippon	Satoshi Motoyama	Mobilecast Team Impul arting Racing Team with Impul	(Lola B3/51)	(Mugen MF308)	(B)	Mobilecast Team Impul arting Racing Team with Impul
2006	Formula Nippon	Benoît Tréluyer	Mobilecast Team Impul	(Lola B06/51 (FN06))	Toyota RV8J	(B)	Mobilecast Team Impul
2007	Formula Nippon	Tsugio Matsuda	Mobilecast Team Impul	(Lola B06/51 (FN06))	Toyota RV8J	(B)	Mobilecast Team Impul
2008	Formula Nippon	Tsugio Matsuda	Lawson Team Impul	(Lola B06/51 (FN06))	Toyota RV8J	(B)	Lawson Team Impul
2009	Formula Nippon	Loïc Duval	Nakajima Racing	(Swift 017.n (FN09))	Honda HR09E	(B)	Nakajima Racing
2010	Formula Nippon	João Paulo de Oliveira	Mobil 1 Team Impul	(Swift 017.n (FN09))	Toyota RV8K	(B)	Mobil 1 Team Impul
2011	Formula Nippon	André Lotterer	Petronas Team TOM'S	(Swift 017.n (FN09))	Toyota RV8K	(B)	Petronas Team TOM'S
2012	Formula Nippon	Kazuki Nakajima	Petronas Team TOM'S	(Swift 017.n (FN09))	Toyota RV8K	(B)	DoCoMo Team Dandelion Racing
2013	Super Formula	Naoki Yamamoto	Team Mugen	(Swift 017.n (SF13))	Honda HR12E	(B)	Petronas Team TOM'S
2014	Super Formula	Kazuki Nakajima	Petronas Team TOM'S	(Dallara SF14)	Toyota RI4A	(B)	Petronas Team TOM'S
2015	Super Formula	Hiroaki Ishiura	Cerumo Inging	(Dallara SF14)	Toyota RI4A	(B)	Petronas Team TOM'S
2016	Super Formula	Yuji Kunimoto	P.mu/cerumo・INGING	(Dallara SF14)	Toyota RI4A	(Y)	P.mu/cerumo・INGING

* The ( ) indicates there were no other supplier or a model in the year.

References

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Super Formula.

• Japanese Championship Super Formula official website (in English)