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F4 Japanese Championship

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Not to be confused with Japan Formula 4, known as Formula Beat from 2023.
F4 Japanese Championship
CategoryFIA Formula 4
CountryJapan
ConstructorsToray Carbon Magic
Engine suppliersTOM'S Toyota
Tyre suppliersDunlop (Sumitomo)
Drivers' championJapan Rikuto Kobayashi
Teams' championJapan TGR-DC Racing School
Official websiteOfficial website
Current season

The F4 Japanese Championship (ＦＩＡ－フォーミュラ４ 地方選手権, FIA F4 Chihou Senshuken)[1] is a formula racing series held in Japan regulated according to FIA Formula 4 regulations. The inaugural season was held in 2015.

History

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Gerhard Berger and the FIA Single Seater Commission launched the current FIA Formula 4 in March 2013.[2] 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.[1] 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.[1] 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.[3] 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.[4]

Point system

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Position  1st   2nd   3rd   4th   5th   6th   7th   8th   9th   10th 
Points 20 15 12 10 8 6 4 3 2 1

Champions

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All teams and drivers were Japanese-registered.

Drivers

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Season Driver Team Poles Wins Podiums Fastest laps Points Clinched Margin
2015 Japan Sho Tsuboi Japan TOM'S Spirit 4 7 10 4 195 Race 14 of 14 3
2016 Japan Ritomo Miyata Japan TOM'S Spirit 2 2 5 3 142 Race 14 of 14 4
2017 Japan Ritomo Miyata Japan TOM'S Spirit 5 4 11 6 231 Race 14 of 14 7
2018 Japan Yuki Tsunoda Japan Honda Formula Dream Project 8 7 11 4 245 Race 14 of 14 14
2019 Japan Ren Sato Japan Honda Formula Dream Project 8 11 13 5 311 Race 10 of 14 164
2020 Japan Hibiki Taira Japan TGR-DC Racing School 7 10 12 4 270.5 Race 10 of 12 90
2021 Japan Seita Nonaka Japan TGR-DC Racing School 1 6 8 5 217 Race 14 of 14 4
2022 Japan Syun Koide Japan Honda Formula Dream Project 8 9 12 6 279 Race 14 of 14 33
2023 Japan Rikuto Kobayashi Japan TGR-DC Racing School 5 5 9 4 221 Race 14 of 14 12

Teams

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Season Team Poles Wins Podiums Fastest laps Points Margin
2015 Japan TOM'S Spirit 4 7 10 4 225 9
2016 Japan Honda Formula Dream Project 1 2 12 3 203 21
2017 Japan Honda Formula Dream Project 9 11 26 6 314 83
2018 Japan Honda Formula Dream Project 12 10 23 7 316 106
2019 Japan Honda Formula Dream Project 14 14 25 14 350 213
2020 Japan TGR-DC Racing School 7 10 17 4 273.5 93
2021 Japan TGR-DC Racing School 3 8 17 10 285 25
2022 Japan Honda Formula Dream Project 10 12 23 7 336 111
2023 Japan TGR-DC Racing School 6 8 22 5 290 58

Independent Cup

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Season Driver Team Wins (Indep/Cup) Podiums (Indep/Cup) Points (Indep/Cup) Margin
2018 Japan Masayuki Ueda Japan Rn-sports 2 10 207 6
2019 Japan Sergeyevich Sato Japan Field Motorsport 5 11 241 59
2020 Japan Sergeyevich Sato Japan Field Motorsport 6 10 225 27.5
2021 Japan "Hirobon" Japan Rn-sports 4 11 238 15
2022 Japan Yutaka Toriba Japan HELM Motorsports 10 12 306 104
2023 Japan Makoto Fujiwara Japan B-Max Racing Team 3 5 191 12

Circuits

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  • Bold denotes a circuit will be used in the 2024 season.
Number Circuits Rounds Years
1 Japan Fuji Speedway 20[a] 2015–present
2 Japan Suzuka International Racing Course 13[b] 2015–present
3 Japan Mobility Resort Motegi 11[c] 2015–present
4 Japan Sportsland Sugo 9 2015–2019, 2021–present
5 Japan Autopolis 7 2015, 2017–2019, 2022–present
6 Japan Okayama International Circuit 5 2015–2019

In other media

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

Notes

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  1. ^ Fuji Speedway has hosted 2 rounds every year.
  2. ^ Suzuka International Racing Course hosted 2 rounds in 2022–2024.
  3. ^ Mobility Resort Motegi hosted 2 rounds in 2021.

References

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  1. ^ a b c "F4 JAPANESE CHAMPIONSHIP selects Dunlop Tire as its official designated tire". Super GT. GT–Association. 16 December 2014. Retrieved 15 February 2015.
  2. ^ "FIA reveals Formula 4 plan". Autosport. Retrieved 15 February 2015.
  3. ^ "DOME CO., LTD". DOME CO., LTD. (in Japanese). Retrieved 2024-05-02.
  4. ^ Wood, Ida (2022-08-10). "Japanese F4 reveals Gen2 design to be introduced in 2024". Formula Scout. Retrieved 2024-05-02.
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