2011 Formula Challenge Japan
{{short description|Japanese formula racing season}}
{{Motorsport season
| series = Formula Challenge Japan
| year = 2011
| footer =
|subheader={{small|Drivers' champion:}} Takamoto Katsuta}}
The 2011 Formula Challenge Japan was a multi-event motor racing championship for open-wheel formula racing cars, and the sixth season of the Formula Challenge Japan racing series, a young driver development series jointly supported by Honda, Toyota, and Nissan. The championship featured a mix of manufacturer-affiliated drivers and independent entries, and commenced on 23 April and ended on 6 November.{{Cite web |title=2011 Formula Challenge Japan - rounds |url=https://superformula.net/fcj/race/2011/ |access-date=2023-11-08 |website=Super Formula {{!}} Formula Challenge Japan official website |language=ja}}{{Cite web |title=2011 Formula Challenge Japan - Drivers |url=https://superformula.net/fcj/race/2011/drivers/index.shtml |access-date=2023-11-08 |website=Super Formula {{!}} Formula Challenge Japan official website |language=ja}} Three race weekends were run in support of Formula Nippon, with the October round at Suzuka being held in support of the Formula One Japanese Grand Prix.
Toyota junior Takamoto Katsuta won the championship by a five-point margin after winning three of the four races in the final round at Motegi, with fellow Toyota drivers Ryō Hirakawa and Kazuya Ishii coming second and third in the points standings. Kazuki Hiramine finished fourth as the highest Honda-supported driver after taking three wins and the championship lead early on. Nissan junior driver Tsubasa Kondō and Yūya Motojima completed the top six, who were the only drivers to take race wins or pole positions throughout the season.
Teams and drivers
| {| class="wikitable" style="font-size: 85%;"
! Team ! {{Tooltip|No.|Car number}} ! Driver ! Rounds |
| rowspan="6" | FTRS Scholarship FTRS Clarion FCJ LUCK FTRS FTRS FCJ FTRS K-office FCJ | 1 | {{flagicon|JPN}} Shintarō Kawabata |All |
| 4
|{{flagicon|JPN}} Ryō Hirakawa |All |
| 9
|{{flagicon|JPN}} Takamoto Katsuta |All |
| 10
|{{flagicon|JPN}} Hiroki Shinotani |All |
| 11
|{{flagicon|JPN}} Kazuya Ishii |All |
| 19
|{{flagicon|JPN}} Syunsuke Matsuzaki |All |
| rowspan="4" |HFDP/SRS-F/Kotira R HFDP/SRS-F/ARTA |2 |{{flagicon|JPN}} Shinnosuke Yamada |All |
| 8
|{{flagicon|JPN}} {{Interlanguage link multi|Yūya Motojima|ja|3=元嶋佑弥}} |All |
| 17
|{{flagicon|JPN}} Kazuki Hiramine |All |
| 18
|{{flagicon|JPN}} {{Interlanguage link multi|Shōta Kiyohara|ja|3=清原章太}} |All |
| rowspan="3" |NDDP Maruso NDDP FCJ |3 |{{flagicon|JPN}} {{Interlanguage link multi|Tsubasa Kondō|ja|3=近藤翼}} |All |
| 12
|{{flagicon|JPN}} Mitsunori Takaboshi |All |
| 16
|{{flagicon|CHN}} Zhu Daiwei |All |
| Dream Max FCJ
|5 |{{flagicon|JPN}} Kōhei Sutō |All |
| Meikyō 602 Palm Town Garage
|6 |{{flagicon|JPN}} Kunihiro Iwatsuki |All |
| Houka Racing with Dunlop
|7 |{{flagicon|JPN}} Ryo Ogawa |All |
| AsT Team SBT
|13 |{{flagicon|JPN}} Ryūnosuke Shibata |All |
| Wings Garage
|14 |{{flagicon|JPN}} Takanori Yamabe |All |
| ALT Team Naoki
|15 |{{flagicon|JPN}} Keishi Niki |All |
| colspan="4"; text-align:center |Source |
|---|
|valign="top"|
|}
Race calendar and results
All races were held in Japan. Rounds 3–4, 9, and 8–14 were run in support of the Formula Nippon Championship, and Rounds 11–12 were held as support races for the 2011 Japanese Grand Prix, a round of the 2011 Formula One World Championship.
Rounds 8 and 9 were originally scheduled to be held on 3–4 September at Suzuka, but were cancelled due to adverse weather conditions caused by Tropical Storm Talas. Round 8 was moved to the final race weekend at Motegi.
| class="wikitable" style="font-size: 85%"
! Round ! Circuit ! Date ! {{nowrap|Pole position}} ! {{nowrap|Fastest lap}} ! {{nowrap|Winning driver}} |
| 1
|rowspan=2| Fuji Speedway, Oyama | 23 April | {{flagicon|JPN}} Kazuya Ishii | {{flagicon|JPN}} Yūya Motojima | {{flagicon|JPN}} Takamoto Katsuta |
|---|
| 2
| 24 April | {{flagicon|JPN}} Tsubasa Kondō | {{flagicon|JPN}} Kazuki Hiramine | {{flagicon|JPN}} Kazuki Hiramine |
| 3
|rowspan=2| Suzuka Circuit, Suzuka | 14 May | {{flagicon|JPN}} Kazuya Ishii | {{flagicon|JPN}} Kazuki Hiramine | {{flagicon|JPN}} Kazuya Ishii |
| 4
| 15 May | {{flagicon|JPN}} Kazuki Hiramine | {{flagicon|JPN}} Kazuki Hiramine | {{flagicon|JPN}} Kazuki Hiramine |
| 5
| rowspan="3" |Fuji Speedway, Oyama | rowspan="2" | 11 June | {{flagicon|JPN}} Kazuki Hiramine | {{flagicon|JPN}} Kazuki Hiramine | {{flagicon|JPN}} Kazuki Hiramine |
| 6
|{{flagicon|JPN}} Kazuki Hiramine | {{flagicon|JPN}} Yūya Motojima | {{flagicon|JPN}} Ryō Hirakawa |
| 7
|12 June |{{flagicon|JPN}} Yūya Motojima |{{flagicon|JPN}} Yūya Motojima |{{flagicon|JPN}} Yūya Motojima |
| {{Tooltip|9|The eighth and ninth rounds of the season at Suzuka were cancelled due to adverse weather conditions. Round 8 was later rescheduled to be held during the final round at Motegi, while the ninth round was not replaced.}}
| 4 September | colspan="3" align="center" | Race cancelled |
| 10
| rowspan="2" |Suzuka Circuit, Suzuka | 8 October | rowspan="2" |{{flagicon|JPN}} Kazuya Ishii | {{flagicon|JPN}} Takamoto Katsuta | {{flagicon|JPN}} Kazuya Ishii |
| 11
| 9 October | {{flagicon|JPN}} Takamoto Katsuta | {{flagicon|JPN}} Takamoto Katsuta |
| {{Tooltip|8|The eighth round was originally scheduled to be held on 3 September at Suzuka; it was cancelled due to adverse weather conditions. It was then moved to be held as the first of four races during the final weekend at Motegi, held on 5 November, but was still referred to as Round 8.}}
| rowspan="4" |Twin Ring Motegi, Motegi | rowspan="2" |5 November | rowspan="4" |{{flagicon|JPN}} Ryō Hirakawa | {{flagicon|JPN}} Mitsunori Takaboshi | {{flagicon|JPN}} Tsubasa Kondō |
| 12
|{{flagicon|JPN}} Takamoto Katsuta |{{flagicon|JPN}} Takamoto Katsuta |
| 13
| rowspan="2" |6 November |{{flagicon|JPN}} Takamoto Katsuta |{{flagicon|JPN}} Takamoto Katsuta |
| 14
|{{flagicon|JPN}} Takamoto Katsuta |{{flagicon|JPN}} Takamoto Katsuta |
Championship standings
=Drivers' Championship=
Points were awarded to the top six classified finishers, with one point awarded for pole position and fastest lap respectively.
| class="wikitable" style="font-size: 85%;"
! 1 ! 2 ! 3 ! 4 ! 5 ! 6 ! PP ! FL |
| align="center"
|bgcolor="#FFFFBF"| 10 |bgcolor="#DFDFDF"| 7 |bgcolor="#FFDF9F"| 5 |bgcolor="#DFFFDF"| 3 |bgcolor="#DFFFDF"| 2 |bgcolor="#DFFFDF"| 1 | 1 | 1 |
| valign="top"|
{| class="wikitable" style="font-size: 85%; text-align:center;" |
| {{Tooltip|Pos.|Position}}
! Driver ! colspan="2" | FUJ ! colspan="2" | SUZ ! colspan="3" |FUJ !SUZ ! colspan="2" |SUZ ! colspan="4" |MOT ! Points |
|---|
| 1
| align="left" | {{flagicon|JPN}} Takamoto Katsuta | style="background:#FFFFBF;" |1 | style="background:#FFDF9F;" |3 | style="background:#FFDF9F;" |3 | style="background:#DFFFDF;" |4 | style="background:#CFCFFF;" |19 | style="background:#CFCFFF;" |7 | style="background:#CFCFFF;" |11 | style="background:#FFFFFF;" |C | style="background:#FFDF9F;" |3 | style="background:#FFFFBF;" |1 | style="background:#FFDF9F;" |3 | style="background:#FFFFBF;" |1 | style="background:#FFFFBF;" |1 | style="background:#FFFFBF;" |1 ! 78 |
| 2
| align="left" | {{flagicon|JPN}} Ryō Hirakawa | style="background:#DFDFDF;" |2 | style="background:#DFDFDF;" |2 | style="background:#CFCFFF;" |7 | style="background:#FFDF9F;" |3 | style="background:#DFDFDF;" |2 | style="background:#FFFFBF;" |1 | style="background:#FFDF9F;" |3 | style="background:#FFFFFF;" |C | style="background:#DFFFDF;" |4 | style="background:#DFFFDF;" |5 | style="background:#DFDFDF;" |2 | style="background:#FFDF9F;" |3 | style="background:#DFDFDF;" |2 | style="background:#DFDFDF;" |2 ! 73 |
| 3
| align="left" | {{flagicon|JPN}} Kazuya Ishii | style="background:#EFCFFF;" |Ret | style="background:#EFCFFF;" |Ret | style="background:#FFFFBF;" |1 | style="background:#DFFFDF;" |6 | style="background:#FFDF9F;" |3 | style="background:#DFDFDF;" |2 | style="background:#DFDFDF;" |2 | style="background:#FFFFFF;" |C | style="background:#FFFFBF;" |1 | style="background:#DFDFDF;" |2 | style="background:#DFFFDF;" |5 | style="background:#DFFFDF;" |4 | style="background:#FFDF9F;" |3 | style="background:#CFCFFF;" |16 !60 |
| 4
| align="left" | {{flagicon|JPN}} Kazuki Hiramine | style="background:#DFFFDF;" |5 | style="background:#FFFFBF;" |1 | style="background:#CFCFFF;" |15 | style="background:#FFFFBF;" |1 | style="background:#FFFFBF;" |1 | style="background:#DFFFDF;" |6 | style="background:#CFCFFF;" |7 | style="background:#FFFFFF;" |C | style="background:#CFCFFF;" |8 | style="background:#CFCFFF;" |9 | style="background:#CFCFFF;" |7 | style="background:#CFCFFF;" |15 | style="background:#DFFFDF;" |5 | style="background:#DFFFDF;" |4 !45 |
| 5
| align="left" | {{flagicon|JPN}} Tsubasa Kondō | style="background:#DFFFDF;" |4 | style="background:#CFCFFF;" |9 | style="background:#DFFFDF;" |6 | style="background:#DFFFDF;" |5 | style="background:#DFFFDF;" |4 | style="background:#DFFFDF;" |4 | style="background:#DFFFDF;" |4 | style="background:#FFFFFF;" |C | style="background:#CFCFFF;" |16 | style="background:#CFCFFF;" |7 | style="background:#FFFFBF;" |1 | style="background:#DFDFDF;" |2 | style="background:#DFFFDF;" |4 | style="background:#CFCFFF;" |9 !36 |
| 6
| align="left" | {{flagicon|JPN}} Yūya Motojima | style="background:#CFCFFF;" |16 | style="background:#DFFFDF;" |6 | style="background:#DFDFDF;" |2 | style="background:#CFCFFF;" |7 | style="background:#DFFFDF;" |5 | style="background:#FFDF9F;" |3 | style="background:#FFFFBF;" |1 | style="background:#FFFFFF;" |C | style="background:#DFFFDF;" |5 | style="background:#DFFFDF;" |4 | style="background:#DFFFDF;" |6 | style="background:#CFCFFF;" |8 | style="background:#CFCFFF;" |7 | style="background:#CFCFFF;" |12 !35 |
| 7
| align="left" nowrap="" | {{flagicon|JPN}} Mitsunori Takaboshi | style="background:#FFDF9F;" |3 | style="background:#CFCFFF;" |16 | style="background:#DFFFDF;" |4 | style="background:#DFDFDF;" |2 | style="background:#DFFFDF;" |6 | style="background:#CFCFFF;" |14 | style="background:#DFFFDF;" |5 | style="background:#FFFFFF;" |C | style="background:#DFFFDF;" |6 | style="background:#CFCFFF;" |8 | style="background:#CFCFFF;" |19 | style="background:#CFCFFF;" |10 | style="background:#CFCFFF;" |10 | style="background:#DFFFDF;" |5 !22 |
| 8
| align="left" nowrap="" | {{flagicon|JPN}} Shinnosuke Yamada | style="background:#CFCFFF;" |8 | style="background:#CFCFFF;" |8 | style="background:#CFCFFF;" |9 | style="background:#CFCFFF;" |10 | style="background:#CFCFFF;" |10 | style="background:#CFCFFF;" |8 | style="background:#CFCFFF;" |8 | style="background:#FFFFFF;" |C | style="background:#DFDFDF;" |2 | style="background:#FFDF9F;" |3 | style="background:#CFCFFF;" |10 | style="background:#CFCFFF;" |7 | style="background:#CFCFFF;" |8 | style="background:#CFCFFF;" |7 !12 |
| 9
| align="left" | {{flagicon|JPN}} Shōta Kiyohara | style="background:#EFCFFF;" |Ret | style="background:#DFFFDF;" |4 | style="background:#CFCFFF;" |8 | style="background:#CFCFFF;" |8 | style="background:#CFCFFF;" |8 | style="background:#CFCFFF;" |9 | style="background:#EFCFFF;" |Ret | style="background:#FFFFFF;" |C | style="background:#CFCFFF;" |11 | style="background:#DFFFDF;" |6 | style="background:#DFFFDF;" |4 | style="background:#DFFFDF;" |6 | style="background:#DFFFDF;" |6 | style="background:#CFCFFF;" |11 !9 |
| 10
| align="left" | {{flagicon|JPN}} Keishi Niki | style="background:#DFFFDF;" |6 | style="background:#EFCFFF;" |Ret | style="background:#CFCFFF;" |10 | style="background:#CFCFFF;" |11 | style="background:#CFCFFF;" |13 | style="background:#EFCFFF;" |Ret | style="background:#CFCFFF;" |14 | style="background:#FFFFFF;" |C | style="background:#CFCFFF;" |10 | style="background:#CFCFFF;" |14 | style="background:#CFCFFF;" |11 | style="background:#CFCFFF;" |16 | style="background:#CFCFFF;" |14 | style="background:#FFDF9F;" |3 !6 |
| 11
| align="left" | {{flagicon|JPN}} Hiroki Shinotani | style="background:#CFCFFF;" |13 | style="background:#CFCFFF;" |10 | style="background:#DFFFDF;" |5 | style="background:#CFCFFF;" |17 | style="background:#CFCFFF;" |9 | style="background:#DFFFDF;" |5 | style="background:#DFFFDF;" |6 | style="background:#FFFFFF;" |C | style="background:#CFCFFF;" |7 | style="background:#CFCFFF;" |12 | style="background:#CFCFFF;" |12 | style="background:#EFCFFF;" |Ret | style="background:#CFCFFF;" |13 | style="background:#CFCFFF;" |10 !5 |
| 12
| align="left" nowrap="" | {{flagicon|JPN}} Shintarō Kawabata | style="background:#CFCFFF;" |14 | style="background:#CFCFFF;" |7 | style="background:#CFCFFF;" |14 | style="background:#CFCFFF;" |16 | style="background:#CFCFFF;" |14 | style="background:#EFCFFF;" |Ret | style="background:#CFCFFF;" |13 | style="background:#FFFFFF;" |C | style="background:#EFCFFF;" |Ret | style="background:#CFCFFF;" |16 | style="background:#CFCFFF;" |9 | style="background:#DFFFDF;" |5 | style="background:#CFCFFF;" |11 | style="background:#FFFFFF;" |DNS !2 |
| 13
| align="left" nowrap="" | {{flagicon|JPN}} Syunsuke Matsuzaki | style="background:#CFCFFF;" |9 | style="background:#DFFFDF;" |5 | style="background:#EFCFFF;" |Ret | style="background:#CFCFFF;" |9 | style="background:#CFCFFF;" |11 | style="background:#CFCFFF;" |15 | style="background:#CFCFFF;" |12 | style="background:#FFFFFF;" |C | style="background:#CFCFFF;" |13 | style="background:#CFCFFF;" |15 | style="background:#CFCFFF;" |15 | style="background:#CFCFFF;" |11 | style="background:#CFCFFF;" |12 | style="background:#EFCFFF;" |Ret !2 |
| 14
| align="left" | {{flagicon|CHN}} Zhu Daiwei | style="background:#EFCFFF;" |Ret | style="background:#FFFFFF;" |DNS | style="background:#CFCFFF;" |11 | style="background:#EFCFFF;" |Ret | style="background:#CFCFFF;" |12 | style="background:#CFCFFF;" |12 | style="background:#CFCFFF;" |9 | style="background:#FFFFFF;" |C | style="background:#CFCFFF;" |9 | style="background:#CFCFFF;" |11 | style="background:#CFCFFF;" |8 | style="background:#CFCFFF;" |9 | style="background:#CFCFFF;" |9 | style="background:#DFFFDF;" |6 !1 |
| -
| align="left" | {{flagicon|JPN}} Takanori Yamabe | style="background:#CFCFFF;" |7 | style="background:#CFCFFF;" |13 | style="background:#CFCFFF;" |13 | style="background:#CFCFFF;" |12 | style="background:#CFCFFF;" |7 | style="background:#CFCFFF;" |10 | style="background:#CFCFFF;" |10 | style="background:#FFFFFF;" |C | style="background:#CFCFFF;" |12 | style="background:#CFCFFF;" |13 | style="background:#CFCFFF;" |13 | style="background:#EFCFFF;" |Ret | style="background:#CFCFFF;" |15 | style="background:#CFCFFF;" |8 !0 |
| -
| align="left" | {{flagicon|JPN}} Kōhei Sutō | style="background:#CFCFFF;" |11 | style="background:#CFCFFF;" |12 | style="background:#CFCFFF;" |16 | style="background:#CFCFFF;" |15 | style="background:#CFCFFF;" |18 | style="background:#EFCFFF;" |Ret | style="background:#CFCFFF;" |17 | style="background:#FFFFFF;" |C | style="background:#EFCFFF;" |Ret | style="background:#CFCFFF;" |10 | style="background:#CFCFFF;" |16 | style="background:#CFCFFF;" |14 | style="background:#EFCFFF;" |Ret | style="background:#EFCFFF;" |Ret !0 |
| -
| align="left" | {{flagicon|JPN}} Ryūnosuke Shibata | style="background:#CFCFFF;" |10 | style="background:#CFCFFF;" |15 | style="background:#EFCFFF;" |Ret | style="background:#CFCFFF;" |14 | style="background:#CFCFFF;" |16 | style="background:#EFCFFF;" |Ret | style="background:#CFCFFF;" |16 | style="background:#FFFFFF;" |C | style="background:#CFCFFF;" |14 | style="background:#EFCFFF;" |Ret | style="background:#CFCFFF;" |17 | style="background:#EFCFFF;" |Ret | style="background:#CFCFFF;" |17 | style="background:#CFCFFF;" |14 !0 |
| -
| align="left" | {{flagicon|JPN}} Ryō Ogawa | style="background:#CFCFFF;" |15 | style="background:#CFCFFF;" |11 | style="background:#CFCFFF;" |12 | style="background:#CFCFFF;" |13 | style="background:#CFCFFF;" |17 | style="background:#CFCFFF;" |11 | style="background:#CFCFFF;" |15 | style="background:#FFFFFF;" |C | style="background:#FFFFFF;" |DNS | style="background:#CFCFFF;" |17 | style="background:#CFCFFF;" |14 | style="background:#CFCFFF;" |12 | style="background:#CFCFFF;" |16 | style="background:#CFCFFF;" |13 !0 |
| -
| align="left" | {{flagicon|JPN}} Kunihiro Iwatsuki | style="background:#CFCFFF;" |12 | style="background:#CFCFFF;" |14 | style="background:#CFCFFF;" |17 | style="background:#CFCFFF;" |18 | style="background:#CFCFFF;" |15 | style="background:#CFCFFF;" |13 | style="background:#CFCFFF;" |18 | style="background:#FFFFFF;" |C | style="background:#CFCFFF;" |15 | style="background:#CFCFFF;" |18 | style="background:#CFCFFF;" |18 | style="background:#CFCFFF;" |13 | style="background:#CFCFFF;" |18 | style="background:#CFCFFF;" |15 !0 |
| {{Tooltip|Pos.|Position}}
! Driver ! colspan="2" | FUJ ! colspan="2" | SUZ ! colspan="3" | FUJ !SUZ ! colspan="2" |SUZ ! colspan="4" |MOT ! Points |
| valign="top" |{{FIA GT1 results legend}}
Bold – Pole
Italics – Fastest Lap
|}