2002 Formula Nippon Championship

2002 Formula Nippon Championship

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2001

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2003

Related series:
2002 International Formula 3000 Championship
2002 Euro Formula 3000 Championship

The 2002 Formula Nippon Championship was the thirtieth season of premier Japanese single-seater racing, and the seventh under the Formula Nippon moniker. The series was contested over 10 rounds at five venues. 11 different teams and 22 different drivers completed in the series.

Reynard became the sole supplier of chassis to all teams after the withdrawal of G-Force Technologies, but this would only last one season after the company declared bankruptcy in February 2002.

Nakajima Racing driver Ralph Firman won the series championship before moving to Formula One in 2003.

Teams and drivers

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

Team	#	Driver	Chassis	Rounds
Xbox Team Impul	1	Satoshi Motoyama	Reynard 01L	All
	2	Michael Krumm	Reynard 99L	1–2
Olympic Kondo Racing Team	3	Seiji Ara	Reynard 99L	All
	4	Katsutomo Kaneishi	Reynard 99L Reynard 2KL	All
Team 5ZIGEN	5	Naoki Hattori	Reynard 01L	All
	6	Ryō Michigami		1–2, 5–10
		Hidetoshi Mitsusada		3–4
Team LeMans	7	Masami Kageyama	Reynard 99L Reynard 01L	1–2
		Dominik Schwager		3–10
	8	Takeshi Tsuchiya	Reynard 01L	All
Soft On Demand Team Nova Forward Team Nova	9	Kiyoto Yamamoto	Reynard 99L	All
	10	Haruki Kurosawa		All
Cosmo Oil Racing Team Cerumo	11	Benoît Tréluyer	Reynard 99L Reynard 01L	1–5
		Yuji Tachikawa		6–10
Mooncraft	14	Yudai Igarashi	Reynard 01L	All
Team 22	22	Daisuke Itō	Reynard 99L	All
PIAA Nakajima Racing	31	Ralph Firman Jr.	Reynard 01L	All
	32	Tsugio Matsuda		All
Autobacs Racing Team Aguri	55	Juichi Wakisaka	Reynard 99L Reynard 01L	All
	56	Toshihiro Kaneishi	Reynard 01L	All
DoCoMo Team Dandelion Racing	68	Jonathan Cochet	Reynard 2KL	1–2
		Richard Lyons		3–10

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	24 March	Ralph Firman Jr.	Ralph Firman Jr.	Ralph Firman Jr.	PIAA Nakajima Racing
2	Fuji Speedway	7 April	Satoshi Motoyama	Naoki Hattori	Satoshi Motoyama	Xbox Team Impul
3	Mine Circuit	19 May	Ralph Firman Jr.	Satoshi Motoyama	Satoshi Motoyama	Xbox Team Impul
4	Suzuka-East Circuit	7 July	Takeshi Tsuchiya	Hidetoshi Mitsusada	Ralph Firman Jr.	PIAA Nakajima Racing
5	Twin Ring Motegi	21 July	Juichi Wakisaka	Satoshi Motoyama	Satoshi Motoyama	Xbox Team Impul
6	Sportsland SUGO	4 August	Takeshi Tsuchiya	Naoki Hattori	Ralph Firman Jr.	PIAA Nakajima Racing
7	Fuji Speedway	1 September	Takeshi Tsuchiya	Ryō Michigami	Juichi Wakisaka	Autobacs Racing Team Aguri
8	Mine Circuit	22 September	Takeshi Tsuchiya	Satoshi Motoyama	Satoshi Motoyama	Xbox Team Impul
9	Twin Ring Motegi	20 October	Juichi Wakisaka	Juichi Wakisaka	Ralph Firman Jr.	PIAA Nakajima Racing
10	Suzuka Circuit	3 November	Juichi Wakisaka	Ryō Michigami	Satoshi Motoyama	Xbox Team Impul

Championship standings

Drivers' Championship

Scoring system

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

Rank	Name	SUZ	FUJ	MIN	SUZ	MOT	SGO	FUJ	MIN	MOT	SUZ	Points
1	Ralph Firman Jr.	1	2	Ret	1	9	1	2	2	1	3	62
2	Satoshi Motoyama	Ret	1	1	5	1	Ret	3	1	3	1	60
3	Juichi Wakisaka	5	3	Ret	3	3	Ret	1	8	2	4	33
4	Takeshi Tsuchiya	2	6	3	Ret	2	4	Ret	7	6	2	27
5	Tsugio Matsuda	3	10	2	Ret	Ret	5	Ret	4	4	6	19
6	Ryō Michigami	4	DNS			4	3	4	3	12	11	17
7	Toshihiro Kaneishi	Ret	Ret	4	6	5	6	5	5	Ret	7	11
8	Naoki Hattori	6	Ret	Ret	4	6	12	6	6	8	5	9
9	Hidetoshi Mitsusada			5	2							8
10	Richard Lyons			7	8	11	2	7	Ret	7	Ret	6
11	Seiji Ara	8	4	9	10	Ret	Ret	NC	9	11	10	3
12	Haruki Kurosawa	9	5	Ret	Ret	12	10	12	Ret	Ret	12	2
13	Dominik Schwager			Ret	11	Ret	8	9	10	5	Ret	2
14	Benoît Tréluyer	11	Ret	6	7	7						1
15	Michael Krumm	7	7									0
16	Yudai Igarashi	Ret	Ret	11	13	10	7	Ret	Ret	13	Ret	0
17	Daisuke Itō	10	9	10	9	8	9	8	11	10	8	0
18	Katsutomo Kaneishi	12	Ret	8	12	Ret	11	10	12	14	9	0
19	Jonathan Cochet	13	8									0
20	Yuji Tachikawa						Ret	11	Ret	9	Ret	0
21	Kiyoto Yamamoto	15	11	12	Ret	Ret	Ret	13	DNS	15	13	0
22	Masami Kageyama	Ret	Ret									0

Teams' Championship

Rank	Team	Car	SUZ	FUJ	MIN	SUZ	MOT	SGO	FUJ	MIN	MOT	SUZ	Points
1	PIAA Nakajima	31	1	2	Ret	1	9	1	2	2	1	3	81
		32	3	10	2	Ret	Ret	5	Ret	4	4	6
2	Xbox Impul	1	Ret	1	1	5	1	Ret	3	1	3	1	60
		2	7	7
3	ARTA	55	5	3	Ret	3	3	Ret	1	8	2	4	44
		56	Ret	Ret	4	6	5	6	5	5	Ret	7
4	5ZIGEN	5	6	Ret	Ret	4	6	12	6	6	8	5	34
		6	4	DNS	5	2	4	3	4	3	12	11
5	LeMans	7	Ret	Ret	Ret	11	Ret	8	9	10	5	Ret	29
		8	2	6	3	Ret	2	4	Ret	7	6	2
6	DoCoMo Dandelion	68	13	8	7	8	11	2	7	Ret	7	Ret	6
7	Olympic Kondo	3	8	4	9	10	Ret	Ret	NC	9	11	10	3
		4	12	Ret	8	12	Ret	11	10	12	14	9
8	Nova	9	15	11	12	Ret	Ret	Ret	13	DNS	15	13	2
		10	9	5	Ret	Ret	12	10	12	Ret	Ret	12
9	Cosmo Oil Cerumo	11	11	Ret	6	7	7	Ret	11	Ret	9	Ret	1
10	Mooncraft	14	Ret	Ret	11	13	10	7	Ret	Ret	13	Ret	0
11	Team 22	22	10	9	10	9	8	9	8	11	10	8	0

External links

• 2002 Japanese Championship Formula Nippon