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

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

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

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

References

  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.
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