F4 Japanese Championship

F4 Japanese Championship
CategoryFIA Formula 4
CountryJapan
ConstructorsToray Carbon Magic
Engine suppliersTOM'S Toyota
Tyre suppliersDunlop (Sumitomo)
Drivers' championChampion:
Japan Ryo Shirasaki
Independent:
Japan "Hirobon"
Teams' championChampion:
Japan HYDRANGEA Kageyama Racing
Independent:
Japan Team 5ZIGEN
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) 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. 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. 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.

Point system

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

Champions

All teams and drivers were Japanese-registered.

Drivers

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
2024 Japan Yuto Nomura Japan HFDP with B-Max Racing Team 3 7 10 4 236 Race 13 of 14 69
2025 Japan Tokiya Suzuki Japan TGR-DC Racing School 3 4 9 1 219 Race 14 of 14 7.5
2026 Japan Ryo Shirasaki Japan HYDRANGEA Kageyama Racing 6 6 8 3 194 Race 12 of 14 83

Teams

Season Team Poles Wins Podiums Fastest laps Points Margin Independent Class Team
2015 Japan TOM'S Spirit 4 7 10 4 225 9 not held
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
2024 Japan HFDP with B-Max Racing Team 9 8 18 8 260 80 Japan B-Max Racing Team
2025 Japan HYDRANGEA Kageyama Racing 5 8 17 8 269.5 44.5 Japan B-Max Racing Team
2026 Japan TBC Japan Team 5ZIGEN

Independent Cup

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 5 151 12
2024 Japan "Dragon" Japan B-Max Racing Team 5 9 202 2.5
2025 Japan Nobuhiro Imada Japan B-Max Racing Team 3 11 226 1.5
2026 Japan "Hirobon" Japan Team 5ZIGEN 6 9 201 66

Circuits

Number Circuits Rounds Years
1 Shizuoka Prefecture Fuji Speedway 22 2015–present
2 Mie Prefecture Suzuka Circuit 14 2015–present
3 Tochigi Prefecture Mobility Resort Motegi 12 2015–present
4 Miyagi Prefecture Sportsland Sugo 10 2015–2019, 2021–present
5 Ōita Prefecture Autopolis 8 2015, 2017–2019, 2022–present
6 Okayama Prefecture Okayama International Circuit 5 2015–2019, 2026

In other media

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

Notes

  1. ↑ Fuji Speedway has hosted 2 rounds every year.
  2. ↑ Suzuka Circuit hosted 2 rounds in 2022–2024.
  3. ↑ Mobility Resort Motegi hosted 2 rounds in 2021.

References

  1. 1 2 3 "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.