Login
Login

F4 Japanese Championship

{{Short description|Sports festival}}

{{distinguish|Japan Formula 4|text=Japan Formula 4, known as Formula Beat from 2023}}

{{Infobox motorsport championship

| name = F4 Japanese Championship

| logo = F4 Japanese Championship logo.png

| image-size =

| caption =

| category = FIA Formula 4

| country = Japan

| region =

| inaugural =

| inaugural2 = 2015

| folded =

| classes =

| drivers =

| teams =

| constructors = Toray Carbon Magic

| engines = TOM'S Toyota

| tyres = Dunlop (Sumitomo)

| champion driver = Champion:
{{flagicon|JPN}} Yuto Nomura
Independent:
{{flagicon|JPN}} "Dragon"

| champion team = Champion:
{{flagicon|JPN}} HFDP with B-Max Racing Team
Independent:
{{flagicon|JPN}} B-Max Racing Team

| manufacturer =

| website = [http://fiaf4.jp/ Official website]

| current_season = {{CURRENTYEAR}} F4 Japanese Championship

}}

The {{nihongo|F4 Japanese Championship|ＦＩＡ－フォーミュラ４ 地方選手権|FIA F4 Chihou Senshuken}}{{cite news|url=http://supergt.net/news/single/14908?ln=en|title=F4 JAPANESE CHAMPIONSHIP selects Dunlop Tire as its official designated tire|date=16 December 2014|work=Super GT|publisher=GT–Association|access-date=15 February 2015}} is a formula racing series held in Japan regulated according to FIA Formula 4 regulations. The inaugural season was held in 2015.

History

Gerhard Berger and the FIA Single Seater Commission launched the current FIA Formula 4 in March 2013.{{cite web|title=FIA reveals Formula 4 plan|url=http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/106219|work=Autosport|access-date=15 February 2015}} The goal of FIA Formula 4 was to make the ladder to Formula 1 more transparent. Besides sporting and technical regulations, costs are regulated too: Any eligible car may not exceed a purchase price of €30,000. A single season in Formula 4 may not exceed €100,000 in costs.

The F4 Japanese Championship was launched by the GT Association on 16 December 2014, as one of the second phases of Formula 4 championships to be launched following the Italian F4 Championship and Formula 4 Sudamericana which launched in 2014. All rounds are support events to the Super GT Series.

Japanese race car constructor Dome was contracted to design and build the spec F110 chassis. The cars are constructed out of carbon fibre and feature a monocoque chassis. The engine is a 2.0-litre TOM'S Toyota inline-four. Dunlop (Sumitomo Rubber Industries) is the tyre supplier.

The series is open to drivers aged 16 and up.{{Cite web |title=DOME CO., LTD. |url=https://www.dome.co.jp/eng/fia_f4/fiaf4_top.html |access-date=2024-05-02 |website=DOME CO., LTD. |language=ja}} While primarily contested by young drivers moving up the single-seater ladder, older amateur drivers also compete in the series in the Independent Cup category.

A second-generation F4 Japanese Championship car built by Toray Carbon Magic, called the MCSC-24, was first revealed in 2022 and will debut in 2024, with an integrated halo safety device and a more powerful TOM'S Toyota engine.{{Cite web |last=Wood |first=Ida |date=2022-08-10 |title=Japanese F4 reveals Gen2 design to be introduced in 2024 |url=https://formulascout.com/japanese-f4-reveals-gen2-design-to-be-introduced-in-2024/97365 |access-date=2024-05-02 |website=Formula Scout |language=en-US}}

Point system

class="wikitable" style="font-size:85%; text-align:center"
Position

|style="background:#ffffbf;"|  1st 

|style="background:#dfdfdf;"|  2nd 

|style="background:#ffdf9f;"|  3rd 

|style="background:#dfffdf;"|  4th 

|style="background:#dfffdf;"|  5th 

|style="background:#dfffdf;"|  6th 

|style="background:#dfffdf;"|  7th 

|style="background:#dfffdf;"|  8th 

|style="background:#dfffdf;"|  9th 

|style="background:#dfffdf;"|  10th 

Points

|style="background:#ffffbf;"| 20

|style="background:#dfdfdf;"| 15

|style="background:#ffdf9f;"| 12

|style="background:#dfffdf;"| 10

|style="background:#dfffdf;"| 8

|style="background:#dfffdf;"| 6

|style="background:#dfffdf;"| 4

|style="background:#dfffdf;"| 3

|style="background:#dfffdf;"| 2

|style="background:#dfffdf;"| 1

Champions

All teams and drivers were Japanese-registered.

=Drivers=

class="wikitable sortable" style="font-size:85%; text-align:center;"
scope=col|Season

!scope=col|Driver

!scope=col|Team

!scope=col|Poles

!scope=col|Wins

!scope=col|Podiums

!scope=col width="40"|Fastest laps

!scope=col|Points

!scope=col|Clinched

!scope=col width="50"|Margin

2015

|align=left| {{flagicon|JPN}} Sho Tsuboi

|align=left| {{flagicon|JPN}} TOM'S Spirit

|4

|7

|10

|4

|{{Tooltip|195|205 total, 10 dropped}}

|Race 14 of 14

|3

2016

|align=left| {{flagicon|JPN}} Ritomo Miyata

|align=left| {{flagicon|JPN}} TOM'S Spirit

|2

|2

|5

|3

|142

|Race 14 of 14

|4

2017

|align=left| {{flagicon|JPN}} Ritomo Miyata

|align=left| {{flagicon|JPN}} TOM'S Spirit

|5

|4

|11

|6

|231

|Race 14 of 14

|7

2018

|align=left| {{flagicon|JPN}} Yuki Tsunoda

|align=left| {{flagicon|JPN}} Honda Formula Dream Project

|8

|7

|11

|4

|245

|Race 14 of 14

|14

2019

|align=left| {{flagicon|JPN}} Ren Sato

|align=left| {{flagicon|JPN}} Honda Formula Dream Project

|8

|11

|13

|5

|311

|Race 10 of 14

|164

2020

|align=left| {{flagicon|JPN}} Hibiki Taira

|align=left| {{flagicon|JPN}} TGR-DC Racing School

|7

|10

|12

|4

|270.5

|Race 10 of 12

|90

2021

|align=left| {{flagicon|JPN}} Seita Nonaka

|align=left| {{flagicon|JPN}} TGR-DC Racing School

|1

|6

|8

|5

|217

|Race 14 of 14

|4

2022

|align=left| {{flagicon|JPN}} Syun Koide

|align=left| {{flagicon|JPN}} Honda Formula Dream Project

|8

|9

|12

|6

|279

|Race 14 of 14

|33

2023

|align=left| {{flagicon|JPN}} Rikuto Kobayashi

|align=left| {{flagicon|JPN}} TGR-DC Racing School

|5

|5

|9

|4

|221

|Race 14 of 14

|12

2024

|align=left| {{flagicon|JPN}} Yuto Nomura

|align=left| {{flagicon|JPN}} HFDP with B-Max Racing Team

|3

|7

|10

|4

|236

|Race 13 of 14

|69

=Teams=

class="wikitable" style="font-size:85%; text-align:center"

!Season

!Team

!scope=col|Poles

!scope=col|Wins

!scope=col|Podiums

!scope=col width="40"|Fastest laps

!scope=col|Points

!scope=col width="50"|Margin

!scope=col|Independent Class Team

2015

|align=left| {{flagicon|JPN}} TOM'S Spirit

| 4

| 7

| 10

| 4

| 225

| 9

|rowspan=9| not held

2016

|align=left| {{flagicon|JPN}} Honda Formula Dream Project

| 1

| 2

| 12

| 3

| 203

| 21

2017

|align=left| {{flagicon|JPN}} Honda Formula Dream Project

| 9

| 11

| 26

| 6

| 314

| 83

2018

|align=left| {{flagicon|JPN}} Honda Formula Dream Project

| 12

| 10

| 23

| 7

| 316

| 106

2019

|align=left| {{flagicon|JPN}} Honda Formula Dream Project

| 14

| 14

| 25

| 14

| 350

| 213

2020

|align=left| {{flagicon|JPN}} TGR-DC Racing School

| 7

| 10

| 17

| 4

| 273.5

| 93

2021

|align=left| {{flagicon|JPN}} TGR-DC Racing School

| 3

| 8

| 17

| 10

| 285

| 25

2022

|align=left| {{flagicon|JPN}} Honda Formula Dream Project

| 10

| 12

| 23

| 7

| 336

| 111

2023

|align=left| {{flagicon|JPN}} TGR-DC Racing School

| 6

| 8

| 22

| 5

| 290

| 58

2024

|align=left| {{flagicon|JPN}} HFDP with B-Max Racing Team

| 9

| 8

| 18

| 8

| 260

| 80

|{{flagicon|JPN}} B-Max Racing Team

=Independent Cup=

class="wikitable " style="font-size:85%; text-align:center;"
scope=col|Season

!scope=col|Driver

!scope=col|Team

!scope=col|Wins (Indep/Cup)

!scope=col|Podiums (Indep/Cup)

!scope=col|Points (Indep/Cup)

!scope=col width="50"|Margin

2018

|align=left| {{flagicon|JPN}} Masayuki Ueda

|align=left| {{flagicon|JPN}} Rn-sports

| 2

| 10

| 207

| 6

2019

|align=left| {{flagicon|JPN}} Sergeyevich Sato

|align=left| {{flagicon|JPN}} Field Motorsport

| 5

| 11

| 241

| 59

2020

|align=left| {{flagicon|JPN}} Sergeyevich Sato

|align=left| {{flagicon|JPN}} Field Motorsport

| 6

| 10

| 225

| 27.5

2021

|align=left| {{flagicon|JPN}} "Hirobon"

|align=left| {{flagicon|JPN}} Rn-sports

| 4

| 11

| 238

| 15

2022

|align=left| {{flagicon|JPN}} Yutaka Toriba

|align=left| {{flagicon|JPN}} HELM Motorsports

| 10

| 12

| 306

| 104

2023

|align=left| {{flagicon|JPN}} Makoto Fujiwara

|align=left| {{flagicon|JPN}} B-Max Racing Team

| 3

| 5

| 191

| 12

2024

|align=left| {{flagicon|JPN}} "Dragon"

|align=left| {{flagicon|JPN}} B-Max Racing Team

| 5

| 9

| 202

| 2.5

Circuits

  • Bold denotes a circuit will be used in the 2024 season.

class="wikitable" style="text-align=center"

!Number

!Circuits

!Rounds

!Years

1

|{{flagicon|JPN}} Fuji Speedway

|20{{efn|name=Fuji F4|Fuji Speedway has hosted 2 rounds every year.}}

|2015–present

2

|{{flagicon|JPN}} Suzuka International Racing Course

|13{{efn|name=Suzuka F4|Suzuka International Racing Course hosted 2 rounds in 2022–2024.}}

|2015–present

3

|{{flagicon|JPN}} Mobility Resort Motegi

|11{{efn|name=Motegi F4|Mobility Resort Motegi hosted 2 rounds in 2021.}}

|2015–present

4

|{{flagicon|JPN}} Sportsland Sugo

|9

|2015–2019, 2021–present

5

|{{flagicon|JPN}} Autopolis

|7

|2015, 2017–2019, 2022–present

6

|{{flagicon|JPN}} Okayama International Circuit

|5

|2015–2019

In other media

The 2023 anime Overtake! is based around the F4 Japanese Championship.

Notes

{{Notelist}}

References

{{reflist}}

External links

  • {{Official website|http://fiaf4.jp/}}

{{Japanese racing ladder}}

{{FIA F4 Championships}}

{{FIA Global Pathway}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:F4 Japanese Championship}}

Category:Formula racing series

Category:Recurring sporting events established in 2015

Category:Auto racing series in Japan

Category:Formula 4 series

Category:2015 establishments in Japan