1999 Formula Nippon Championship

1999 Formula Nippon Championship

Previous

1998

Next

2000

Related series:
1999 International Formula 3000 Championship
1999 Italian Formula 3000 Championship

The 1999 Formula Nippon Championship was the twenty-seventh season of premier Japanese single-seater racing, and the fourth under the Formula Nippon name and Japan Race Promotion (JRP) management. The series was contested over ten rounds at five venues. 14 different teams, 26 different drivers, and three different chassis suppliers competed in the championship. Nakajima Racing driver Tom Coronel won the championship in his second season.

The series introduced the Exciting Point championship in 1999, which awarded points to drivers for setting the fastest laps of the race, running in the top six at each quarter of the race, and improving position throughout the race. ^[1]

Teams and drivers

All teams used tyres supplied by Bridgestone and Mugen MF308 engines.

Team	#	Driver	Chassis	Rounds
Unlimited Racing Team LeMans	1	Satoshi Motoyama	Reynard 99L	All
	2	Koji Yamanishi		All
Asahi Kiko Sports	3	Atsushi Kawamoto	Reynard 99L	All
Team 5ZIGEN	5	Shigekazu Wakisaka	Reynard 99L	1–3
		Tetsuya Tanaka		5–10
	6	Tetsuya Tanaka		1
		Michael Krumm		2–10
Shionogi Team Nova	9	Ralph Firman Jr.	G-Force GF03B	All
	10	Hiroki Katoh		All
Cosmo Oil Racing Team Cerumo	11	Yuji Tachikawa	Reynard 99L	All
	12	Akira Iida		All
Speedmaster Mooncraft	14	Ryō Michigami	Lola B99/51	All
	15	Masahiko Kageyama		All
Team TMS	17	Dominik Schwager	Lola B99/51	1–6
	18	Takuya Kurosawa		1–6
Be Brides Team Impul	19	Masami Kageyama	Lola B99/51 Reynard 99L	All
	20	Hideki Noda		All
Mirai	32	Masahiko Kondo	Lola B99/51	1–3
Takagi B-1 Racing	36	Tetsuji Tamanaka	Lola B99/51 Reynard 99L	1, 3–10
Autobacs Racing Team Aguri	55	Katsutomo Kaneishi	Lola B99/51 Reynard 99L	All
	56	Juichi Wakisaka		All
Team LeyJun	62	Peter Dumbreck	Reynard 99L	All
	63	"Osamu"	Reynard 99L Lola B99/51	1–3
		Shinsuke Shibahara		6–10
PIAA Nakajima Racing	64	Tom Coronel	Reynard 99L	All
	65	Hidetoshi Mitsusada		All
DoCoMo Team Dandelion Racing	68	Rubén Derfler	Reynard 99L	All

Race calendar and results

All races were held in Japan.

Race	Track	Date	Pole position	Fastest Race Lap	Winning driver	Winning team
1	Suzuka Circuit	18 April	Hidetoshi Mitsusada	Satoshi Motoyama	Satoshi Motoyama	Unlimited Racing Team LeMans
2	Twin Ring Motegi	9 May	Tom Coronel	Ralph Firman Jr.	Hidetoshi Mitsusada	PIAA Nakajima Racing
3	Mine Circuit	23 May	Satoshi Motoyama	Ralph Firman Jr.	Satoshi Motoyama	Unlimited Racing Team LeMans
4	Fuji Speedway	6 June	Peter Dumbreck	Koji Yamanishi	Tom Coronel	PIAA Nakajima Racing
5	Suzuka Circuit	4 July	Satoshi Motoyama	Tom Coronel	Masami Kageyama	Be Brides Team Impul
6	Sportsland SUGO	1 August	Tom Coronel	Satoshi Motoyama	Tom Coronel	PIAA Nakajima Racing
7	Fuji Speedway	5 September	Tom Coronel	Satoshi Motoyama	Tom Coronel	PIAA Nakajima Racing
8	Mine Circuit	19 September	Tom Coronel	Hidetoshi Mitsusada	Hidetoshi Mitsusada	PIAA Nakajima Racing
9	Twin Ring Motegi	3 October	Satoshi Motoyama	Hideki Noda	Satoshi Motoyama	Unlimited Racing Team LeMans
10	Suzuka-East Circuit	14 November	Ralph Firman Jr.	Yuji Tachikawa	Ralph Firman Jr.	Shionogi Team Nova

Championship standings

Drivers' Championship

Scoring system

Position	1st	2nd	3rd	4th	5th	6th
Points	10	6	4	3	2	1

Rank	Name	SUZ	MOT	MIN	FUJ	SUZ	SGO	FUJ	MIN	MOT	SUZ	Points
1	Tom Coronel	2	Ret	3	1	2	1	1	Ret	3	Ret	50
2	Satoshi Motoyama	1	2	1	Ret	Ret	2	3	Ret	1	Ret	46
3	Hidetoshi Mitsusada	3	1	8	10	5	11	4	1	5	9	31
4	Ralph Firman Jr.	Ret	3	2	9	Ret	6	10	9	8	1	21
5	Michael Krumm		5	Ret	3	11	4	9	4	Ret	2	19
6	Masami Kageyama	Ret	Ret	6	12	1	Ret	Ret	Ret	4	4	17
7	Peter Dumbreck	4	6	5	2	Ret	Ret	5	5	10	10	16
8	Juichi Wakisaka	Ret	15	10	Ret	9	5	2	3	11	3	16
9	Takuya Kurosawa	Ret	Ret	12	5	3	3					10
10	Ryō Michigami	6	8	7	8	Ret	Ret	7	Ret	2	5	9
11	Hideki Noda	Ret	16	13	14	6	Ret	Ret	2	9	11	7
12	Koji Yamanishi	DNS	DNS	4	4	8	9	8	Ret	Ret	Ret	6
13	Yuji Tachikawa	5	4	Ret	7	7	Ret	Ret	Ret	6	8	6
14	Tetsuya Tanaka	Ret				4	Ret	11	Ret	14	Ret	3
15	Dominik Schwager	Ret	7	Ret	6	Ret	7					1
16	Katsutomo Kaneishi	9	Ret	Ret	11	Ret	8	6	Ret	Ret	7	1
17	Masahiko Kageyama	Ret	12	Ret	13	Ret	13	Ret	6	12	13	1
18	Hiroki Katoh	Ret	10	Ret	15	10	12	12	Ret	7	6	1
19	Atsushi Kawamoto	8	Ret	11	18	13	Ret	13	7	Ret	16	0
20	Akira Iida	7	Ret	Ret	16	Ret	10	Ret	Ret	13	12	0
21	Shinsuke Shibahara						Ret	Ret	8	15	14	0
22	Rubén Derfler	Ret	11	9	17	12	14	Ret	Ret	Ret	15	0
23	Shigekazu Wakisaka	Ret	9	Ret								0
24	Tetsuji Tamanaka	Ret		14	19	14	Ret	Ret	10	Ret	17	0
25	Masahiko Kondo	Ret	13	Ret								0
26	"Osamu"	Ret	14	Ret								0

Teams' Championship

Rank	Name	Car	SUZ	MOT	MIN	FUJ	SUZ	SGO	FUJ	MIN	MOT	SUZ	Points
1	PIAA Nakajima	64	2	Ret	3	1	2	1	1	Ret	3	Ret	81
		65	3	1	8	10	5	11	4	1	5	9
2	Unlimited LeMans	1	1	2	1	Ret	Ret	2	3	Ret	1	Ret	52
		2	DNS	DNS	4	4	8	9	8	Ret	Ret	Ret
3	Be Brides Impul	19	Ret	Ret	6	12	1	Ret	Ret	Ret	4	4	24
		20	Ret	16	13	14	6	Ret	Ret	2	9	11
4	Shionogi Nova	9	Ret	3	2	9	Ret	6	10	9	8	1	22
		10	Ret	10	Ret	15	10	12	12	Ret	7	6
5	5ZIGEN	5	Ret	9	Ret		4	Ret	11	Ret	14	Ret	21
		6	Ret	5	Ret	3	11	4	9	4	Ret	2
6	ARTA	55	9	Ret	Ret	11	Ret	8	6	Ret	Ret	7	17
		56	Ret	15	10	Ret	9	5	2	3	11	3
7	Team LeyJun	62	4	6	5	2	Ret	Ret	5	5	10	10	16
		63	Ret	14	Ret			Ret	Ret	8	15	14
8	Team TMS	17	Ret	7	Ret	6	Ret	7					11
		18	Ret	Ret	12	5	3	3
9	Speedmaster Mooncraft	14	6	8	7	8	Ret	Ret	7	Ret	2	5	10
		15	Ret	12	Ret	13	Ret	13	Ret	6	12	13
10	Cosmo Oil Cerumo	11	5	4	Ret	7	7	Ret	Ret	Ret	6	8	6
		12	7	Ret	Ret	16	Ret	10	Ret	Ret	13	12
11	Asahi Kiko Sports	3	8	Ret	11	18	13	Ret	13	7	Ret	16	0
12	DoCoMo Dandelion	68	Ret	11	9	17	12	14	Ret	Ret	Ret	15	0
13	Takagi B-1 Racing	36	Ret		14	19	14	Ret	Ret	10	Ret	17	0
14	Mirai	32	Ret	13	Ret								0

External links

• 1999 Japanese Championship Formula Nippon

1. "1999 All Japan Championship Formula Nippon - 日本の4輪レース記録" (in Japanese). Retrieved 2026-02-03.