The 2008 Formula Nippon Championship was the thirty-sixth season of the premier Japanese open-wheel motor racing series. The series for Formula Nippon racing cars was contested over eight rounds. All teams were required to use Lola chassis (Lola FN06) and have the choice between utilising Mugen Honda (Mugen HF386E) or Toyota (Toyota RV8J) engines.
Defending champion Tsugio Matsuda secured the championship with a round in hand. Together with teammate Benoît Tréluyer, Matsuda's Team Impul also secured the teams championship with a round to go.
| Round | Circuit | Date | Pole Position | Fastest Lap | Winning Driver | Winning Team |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Fuji Speedway | 6 April |  Tsugio Matsuda | Yuji Tachikawa | Tsugio Matsuda | Team Impul |
| 2 | Suzuka Circuit | 11 May | Tsugio Matsuda | Yuji Tachikawa | Tsugio Matsuda | Team Impul |
| 3 | Twin Ring Motegi | 25 May | Tsugio Matsuda | Tsugio Matsuda | Tsugio Matsuda | Team Impul |
| 4 | Okayama International Circuit | 8 June | Tsugio Matsuda | Satoshi Motoyama |  Loïc Duval | Nakajima Racing |
| 5 | Suzuka Circuit | 13 July | Tsugio Matsuda | Hiroaki Ishiura | Tsugio Matsuda | Team Impul |
| Satoshi Motoyama |  Roberto Streit | Kohei Hirate | Team Impul | |||
| 6 | Twin Ring Motegi | 10 August | Tsugio Matsuda | Roberto Streit | Loïc Duval | Nakajima Racing |
| Takeshi Tsuchiya | Takeshi Tsuchiya | Seiji Ara | TOM'S Racing | |||
| 7 | Fuji Speedway | 31 August | João Paulo de Oliveira | Takashi Kogure | João Paulo de Oliveira | Kondō Racing |
| Kosuke Matsuura | Toshihiro Kaneishi | Kosuke Matsuura | Dandelion Racing | |||
| 8 | Sportsland SUGO | 21 September | Satoshi Motoyama | Loïc Duval | Tsugio Matsuda | Team Impul |
| Position | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | PP | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rds 1–4, 8 | Points | 15 | 12 | 10 | 8 | 6 | 5 | 4 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 1 |
| Rds 5–7 R1 | Points | 10 | 8 | 6 | 5 | 4 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | |
| Rds 5–7 R2 | Points | 5 | 4 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 0 | |||||
* – In race 2 at the August Fuji meeting, the race was run behind the safety car for five laps before the race was halted. Half points were awarded.
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| Position | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rds 1–4, 8 | Points | 15 | 12 | 10 | 8 | 6 | 5 | 4 | 3 | 2 | 1 |
| Rds 5–7 R1 | Points | 10 | 8 | 6 | 5 | 4 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 0 | |
| Rds 5–7 R2 | Points | 5 | 4 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 0 | ||||
| Pos | Team | Car | FUJ | SUZ | MOT | OKA | SUZ | MOT | FUJ | SUG | Pts | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Lawson Team Impul | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | Ret | 1 | 8 | 2 | 2 | 4 | 5 | 1 | 114.5 |
| 2 | 4 | 7 | Ret | 8 | Ret | 13 | 15 | Ret | 7 | 2 | 4 | |||
| 2 | PIAA Nakajima Racing | 31 | 10 | 10 | 3 | 1 | 6 | 2 | 1 | Ret | 2 | 7 | 3 | 103 |
| 32 | 6 | 5 | Ret | 9 | 3 | 7 | 5 | Ret | 3 | 6 | 2 | |||
| 3 | Petronas Team TOM'S | 36 | Ret | 3 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 4 | 11 | 7 | 5 | 4 | 12 | 58 |
| 37 | Ret | 11 | 10 | 10 | 13 | 11 | 7 | 1 | 10 | 10 | 16 | |||
| 4 | Cerumo/Inging | 47 | 5 | 8 | Ret | 7 | 10 | 9 | Ret | 13 | 6 | 3 | 7 | 52.5 |
| 48 | 2 | 17 | 7 | 4 | 17 | 12 | 4 | 4 | 9 | 9 | 15 | |||
| 5 | Kondo Racing | 3 | NC | 6 | 11 | 6 | 7 | 6 | Ret | 11 | 12 | 12 | Ret | 44 |
| 4 | Ret | Ret | 9 | 11 | 4 | 5 | 3 | 3 | 1 | 8 | 6 | |||
| 6 | TP Checker Impul | 20 | Ret | 2 | 6 | 3 | 5 | 1 | Ret | DNS | 13 | 13 | 5 | 42 |
| 7 | Team LeMans | 7 | Ret | 4 | 16 | Ret | 8 | 3 | 9 | 5 | 14 | 14 | Ret | 22 |
| 8 | 7 | 13 | 8 | Ret | 14 | Ret | 13 | 8 | 17 | 16 | 9 | |||
| 8 | Autobacs Racing Team Aguri | 55 | 9 | 18 | 15 | NC | 15 | Ret | 12 | Ret | NC | 19 | 17 | 21 |
| 56 | Ret | 9 | 4 | 5 | 12 | Ret | Ret | 12 | 18 | 17 | 8 | |||
| 9 | Stonemarket Cerumo/Inging | 67 | 3 | 15 | Ret | Ret | 11 | 10 | Ret | 9 | 19 | 18 | 10 | 11 |
| 10 | SG Team 5Zigen | 5 | 11 | Ret | 5 | 14 | Ret | 14 | 6 | Ret | 16 | 20 | 11 | 9 |
| 6 | Ret | 12 | 13 | 15 | 18 | 15 | 14 | 10 | 15 | 15 | Ret | |||
| 11 | DoCoMo Team Dandelion Racing | 40 | 12 | 16 | 12 | 13 | 9 | Ret | 10 | 6 | 8 | 1 | 13 | 7.5 |
| 41 | 8 | 14 | 14 | 12 | 16 | Ret | 8 | 14 | 11 | 11 | 14 | |||
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