Japanese Formula 3 Championship

Japanese Formula 3 Championship (全日本F3選手権, Zen'nihon F3 Senshuken) was a national motor racing championship that takes place in Japan. It is a junior-level feeder formula that uses small single seater Formula Three chassis.

Japanese Formula 3 Championship
CategorySingle seaters
CountryJapan
Inaugural season1979
Folded2019
ConstructorsDallara
Engine suppliersToyota-TOM'S
Mugen-Honda
TODA Racing
Tyre suppliersYokohama
Last Drivers' championFrance Sacha Fenestraz
Last Teams' championJapan B-Max Racing with Motopark
Official websitewww.j-formula3.com

As a result of Formula 3 naming regulations by the FIA, on 13 August 2019, series promoter Japan Race Promotion (jp), split from the Regional Formula 3 formula and rebranded their series as Super Formula Lights to comply with FIA regulations, and remain as the Super Formula feeder championship since the series is prohibited from using "Formula 3" (which belongs to the FIA for the European-based FIA Formula 3 Championship) and "Formula Regional" (which all regional Formula 3 series are being renamed by the 2020 season, first with the Formula Regional European Championship in 2019 for Europe, and the renaming of the North American F3 championship from Formula 3 Americas to Formula Regional Americas Championship). The Series will adopt Euroformula Open Championship regulations.[1]

Subsequently, the FIA awarded rights to a Formula Regional championship in Japan to K2, promoters of the F4 Japanese Championship, which will name their series the Formula Regional Japanese Championship.

With the rebranding of the series to Super Formula Lights, the Japanese Formula 3 championship officially ended after 41 years. The Japan Formula 3 Association will continue to run the new championship as stated on 28 February 2020.[2][3]

History edit

The first Formula Three championship to take place in Japan was held by Nippon Formula 3 Association (Japanese Formula 3 Association) in 1979, which was won by Toshio Suzuki. By 1981, it had evolved into a national-level series, the Japanese Championship, and was organised by the Japan Automobile Federation (JAF).

Foreign drivers' participation has increased since the 1980s and the majority of champions have been foreign since the beginning of the 1990s.

Since 2008 a two-tier championship system was adopted as a bid to increase driver and team participation. The "Championship" class was open to cars conforming to the current three-year cycle, whilst the lower tier "National" class was open to cars meeting the previous three-year cycle and using the spec Toyota engine.

Prior to the changing of super license requirements for the 2016 Formula One season onward, the series used to be one of the four major Formula Three championships that guaranteed the winner an FIA Super Licence.[4] Under the new requirements the winner of the championship earns 10 points towards their super license, with drivers finishing from 2nd to 5th in the final standings receiving a smaller number of points.[5]

Equipment edit

 
All competitors in the championship use Dallara chassis, as of 2010.

Like most Formula Three championships, competitors in the Japanese Championship are permitted to use any eligible chassis.

Champions edit

Season Champion Team Champion National Class Champion
1979 [ja]   Toshio Suzuki   Heros Racing not held
1980 [ja]   Shuroko Sasaki [ja]   Gallop Racing
1981 [ja]   Osamu Nakako   Hayashi Racing [ja]
1982 [ja]   Kengo Nakamoto [ja]   Hayashi Racing [ja]
1983 [ja]   Yoshimasa Fujiwara [ja]   Umeda Racing
1984   Shuji Hyoudo   Hayashi Racing [ja]
1985   Koji Sato [ja]   Le Garage Cox Racing
1986   Akio Morimoto   LeMans Company
1987   Ross Cheever   TOM'S
1988   Akihiko Nakaya   Le Garage Cox Racing
1989   Masahiko Kageyama   Leyton House Racing
1990   Naoki Hattori   Le Garage Cox Racing
1991   Paulo Carcasci   TOM'S
1992 [ja]   Anthony Reid   Tomei Sport [ja]
1993   Tom Kristensen   TOM'S
1994   Michael Krumm   TOM'S
1995   Pedro de la Rosa   TOM'S
1996   Juichi Wakisaka   Nakajima Racing
1997   Tom Coronel   TOM'S
1998 [ja]   Peter Dumbreck   TOM'S
1999 [ja]   Darren Manning   TOM'S
2000   Sébastien Philippe   Mugen Dome Project
2001   Benoît Tréluyer   TOM'S
2002   Takashi Kogure   Dome Racing Team
2003   James Courtney   TOM'S
2004   Ronnie Quintarelli   Inging
2005   João Paulo de Oliveira   TOM'S
2006   Adrian Sutil   TOM'S
2007   Kazuya Oshima   TOM'S
2008   Carlo van Dam   TOM'S   Hideki Yamauchi
2009   Marcus Ericsson   TOM'S   Naoki Yamamoto
2010   Yuji Kunimoto   TOM'S   Takashi Kobayashi
2011   Yuhi Sekiguchi   ThreeBond Racing   Katsumasa Chiyo
2012   Ryo Hirakawa   RSS   Daiki Sasaki
2013   Yuichi Nakayama   TOM'S   Mitsunori Takaboshi
2014   Nobuharu Matsushita   TOM'S   Hiroshi Koizumi [ja]
2015   Nick Cassidy   TOM'S   Ryo Ogawa
2016   Kenta Yamashita   TOM'S   Yoshiaki Katayama
2017   Mitsunori Takaboshi   B-MAX Racing Team   'Dragon'
2018   Sho Tsuboi   TOM'S   Jake Parsons
2019   Sacha Fenestraz   B-Max Racing Team with Motopark   'Dragon'

References edit

  1. ^ Thukral, Rachit; Tanaka, Ken (17 August 2019). "All-Japan F3 rebranded as Super Formula Lights". Motorsport.com. Motorsport Network. Retrieved 17 August 2019.
  2. ^ "About Japanese Super Formula Lights Championship". Super Formula Lights. 28 February 2020. Retrieved 26 May 2020.
  3. ^ "Super Formula Lights series champion will be privileged to test in the Super Formula". Super Formula Lights. 29 February 2020. Retrieved 26 May 2020.
  4. ^ "APPENDIX L TO THE INTERNATIONAL SPORTING CODE" (PDF). FIA. 2007-03-27. pp. Qualifi cation for the Super licence (Article 5.1 iii-f). Archived from the original (PDF) on August 6, 2009. Retrieved 2007-07-29.
  5. ^ Noble, Jonathan (6 January 2015). "FIA reveals details of new F1 superlicence points system — F1 news — AUTOSPORT.com". Autosport. Haymarket. Retrieved 15 March 2015.
  6. ^ ハンコックタイヤ・オフィシャルテストレポート (in Japanese). All-Japan Formula Three official website. 2008-12-25. Archived from the original on February 3, 2009. Retrieved 2009-02-19.

External links edit