2018 Super Formula Championship

2018 Super Formula Championship

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The 2018 Japanese Super Formula Championship was the forty-sixth season of premier Japanese open-wheel motor racing, and the sixth under the moniker of Super Formula. The season began on 22 April and is scheduled to end on 28 October at the same place after seven rounds. ^[1]

2018 was the final season that the Dallara SF14 chassis package—which débuted in the 2014 Super Formula Championship—was used in competition; as a brand new chassis package will be introduced for the 2019 season but the engine configuration will remain the same.

Teams and drivers

Every Honda-powered car used a Honda HR-414E engine and every Toyota-powered car used a Toyota RI4A engine.

Team	Engine	No.	Driver	Rounds
JMS P.mu/cerumo・INGING [2]	Toyota	1	Hiroaki Ishiura [2]	All
		2	Yuji Kunimoto [2]	All
Kondo Racing [2]	Toyota	3	Nick Cassidy [2]	All
		4	Kenta Yamashita [2]	All
Docomo Team Dandelion Racing [3]	Honda	5	Tomoki Nojiri [3]	All
		6	Nobuharu Matsushita [3]	All
UOMO Sunoco Team LeMans [2]	Toyota	7	Pietro Fittipaldi [4]	1
			Tom Dillmann [5]	2–7
		8	Kazuya Oshima [2]	All
Team Mugen [3]	Honda	15	Nirei Fukuzumi [3]	1, 5–7
			Sena Sakaguchi [6]	2
			Dan Ticktum [7]	3–4
		16	Naoki Yamamoto [3]	All
REAL Racing	Honda	17	Koudai Tsukakoshi [3]	All
carrozzeria Team KCMG [2]	Toyota	18	Kamui Kobayashi [2]	1–4, 6–7
			Yuichi Nakayama [8]	5
Itochu Enex Team Impul [2]	Toyota	19	Yuhi Sekiguchi [2]	All
		20	Ryo Hirakawa [2]	All
Vantelin Team Tom's [2]	Toyota	36	Kazuki Nakajima [2]	1–4, 6–7
			João Paulo de Oliveira [8]	5
		37	James Rossiter [2]	All
B-MAX Racing Team [3]	Honda	50	Katsumasa Chiyo [9]	All
TCS Nakajima Racing [3]	Honda	64	Narain Karthikeyan [3]	All
		65	Takuya Izawa [3]	All

Driver changes

• Nissan Super GT driver Katsumasa Chiyo replaced Takashi Kogure in the B-MAX Racing Team. ^[9]
• 2017 World Series Formula V8 3.5 champion Pietro Fittipaldi replaced Felix Rosenqvist in the Team LeMans. ^[4] Tom Dillmann is scheduled to substitute Fittipaldi at the Autopolis and Sugo rounds, who will be busy due to his 2018 IndyCar Series commitments. After Fittipaldi was injured at the 6 Hours of Spa-Francorchamps, Dillman replaced Fittipaldi for more rounds. ^[5]
• Pierre Gasly left the series to compete in Formula One with Scuderia Toro Rosso. ^[10] His place at Team Mugen was taken by Nirei Fukuzumi, who finished third in the 2017 GP3 Series. ^[3] Fukuzumi will also compete in the FIA Formula 2 Championship, and is set to prioritise F2 rounds over Super Formula where any dates clash. ^[11]
• André Lotterer left the TOM'S team and the championship after fifteen consecutive seasons since 2003. ^[12] His seat was taken by James Rossiter, formerly of Kondo Racing who returns after a season out. ^[2]
• Nobuharu Matsushita returned to Japan after two seasons in the GP2 Series and one season in the FIA Formula 2 Championship, joining Docomo Team Dandelion Racing. ^[3] He takes the seat of Takuya Izawa, who moved to Nakajima Racing.
• Ryo Hirakawa returned to Super Formula for the first time since 2015 with Team Impul, replacing Jann Mardenborough. ^[2]

Race calendar and results

Due to scheduling restrictions imposed by the concurrent Japan WTCR round, the final round of the calendar at Suzuka Circuit will now feature a single race instead of the originally planned double-header. ^[13]

Round		Circuit	Date	Pole position	Fastest lap	Winning driver	Winning team
1		Suzuka Circuit	22 April	Naoki Yamamoto	James Rossiter	Naoki Yamamoto	Team Mugen
2		Autopolis	13 May	Ryo Hirakawa	Race cancelled due to weather conditions [14]
3		Sportsland SUGO	27 May	Tomoki Nojiri	Yuhi Sekiguchi	Naoki Yamamoto	Team Mugen
4		Fuji Speedway	8 July	Nick Cassidy	Nick Cassidy	Nick Cassidy	Kondo Racing
5		Twin Ring Motegi	19 August	Hiroaki Ishiura	Nirei Fukuzumi	Hiroaki Ishiura	JMS P.mu/Cerumo・INGING
6		Okayama International Circuit	9 September	Yuhi Sekiguchi	Kamui Kobayashi	Yuhi Sekiguchi	Itochu Enex Team Impul
7		Suzuka Circuit	27 October	Naoki Yamamoto	Yuhi Sekiguchi	Naoki Yamamoto	Team Mugen

Championship standings

Drivers' Championship

Scoring system

Position	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	Pole
Rounds 1-6	10	8	6	5	4	3	2	1	1
Round 7 [N 1]	13	8	6	5	4	3	2	1	1

Driver standings

Pos	Driver	SUZ	AUT	SUG	FUJ	MOT	OKA [N 2]	SUZ	Points
1	Naoki Yamamoto	1	C	1	8	7	10	1	38
2	Nick Cassidy	7	C	2	1	3	5	2	37
3	Hiroaki Ishiura	4	C	11	2	1	7	11	25
4	Yuhi Sekiguchi	2	C	13	6	16	1	8	18
5	Ryo Hirakawa	Ret	C	9	4	2	3	Ret	17
6	Kazuki Nakajima	8	C	3	5		17	5	15
7	Tomoki Nojiri	3	C	7	14	8	4	9	12.5
8	Yuji Kunimoto	13	C	Ret	3	15	8	4	11.5
9	Kenta Yamashita	9	C	8	18	6	6	3	11.5
10	Kamui Kobayashi	10	C	6	12		2	13	7
11	Nobuharu Matsushita	12	C	10	9	4	9	7	7
12	Kazuya Oshima	15	C	15	7	5	16	14	6
13	Koudai Tsukakoshi	6	C	12	13	10	12	6	6
14	Tom Dillmann		C	4	10	12	Ret	15	5
15	Narain Karthikeyan	17	C	5	16	11	13	17	4
16	Takuya Izawa	5	C	14	15	14	14	16	4
17	James Rossiter	11	C	Ret	19	9	11	Ret	0
18	Katsumasa Chiyo	14	C	Ret	17	19	15	10	0
19	Dan Ticktum			Ret	11				0
20	Nirei Fukuzumi	Ret				17	18	12	0
21	Yuichi Nakayama					13			0
22	Pietro Fittipaldi	16							0
23	João Paulo de Oliveira					18			0
—	Sena Sakaguchi		C						—
Pos	Driver	SUZ	AUT	SUG	FUJ	MOT	OKA	SUZ	Points

Teams' Championship

Pos	Team	No.	SUZ	AUT	SUG	FUJ	MOT	OKA [N 2]	SUZ	Points
1	Kondo Racing	3	7	C	2	1	3	5	2	47.5
		4	9	C	8	18	6	6	3
2	Team Mugen	15	Ret	C	Ret	11	17	18	12	36
		16	1	C	1	8	7	10	1
3	P.mu/Cerumo・INGING	1	4	C	11	2	1	7	11	35.5
		2	13	C	Ret	3	15	8	4
4	Itochu Enex Team Impul	19	2	C	13	6	16	1	8	33
		20	Ret	C	9	4	2	3	Ret
5	Docomo Team Dandelion Racing	5	3	C	7	14	8	4	9	18.5
		6	12	C	10	9	4	9	7
6	Vantelin Team Tom's	36	8	C	3	5	18	17	5	15
		37	11	C	Ret	19	9	11	Ret
7	UOMO Sunoco Team LeMans	7	16	C	4	10	12	Ret	15	11
		8	15	C	15	7	5	16	14
8	TCS Nakajima Racing	64	17	C	5	16	11	13	17	8
		65	5	C	14	15	14	14	16
9	carrozzeria Team KCMG	18	10	C	6	12	13	2	13	7
10	REAL Racing	17	6	C	12	13	10	12	6	6
11	B-MAX Racing Team	50	14	C	Ret	17	19	15	10	0
Pos	Team	No.	SUZ	AUT	SUG	FUJ	MOT	OKA	SUZ	Points

Notes

1. Three extra points awarded to the winner of the season finale at Suzuka. ^[15]
2. The race was red flagged after completing 34 laps. Due to less than 75% of the scheduled distance being completed, half points were awarded to the classified finishers. ^[16]

References

1. "2018 Calendar". superformula.net. Japan Race Promotion Inc. Retrieved 20 January 2018.
2. "Toyota GAZOO Racing Outlines 2018 Motorsports Activities". Toyota Motor Corporation. 8 February 2018. Retrieved 9 February 2018.
3. "Honda 2018 Motorsports Program Overview". world.honda.com. Honda Motor Co., Ltd. 12 January 2017. Retrieved 20 January 2017.
4. Khorounzhiy, Valentin (27 March 2018). "Fittipaldi lands 2018 Super Formula drive". motorsport.com . Motorsport Network . Retrieved 28 March 2018.
5. "Dillmann to make Super Formula debut with Team LeMans". motorsport.com . Motorsport Network. 10 April 2018. Archived from the original on 15 June 2018. Retrieved 10 April 2018.
6. "トム・ディルマンと阪口晴南が、スーパーフォーミュラに代役参戦決定". motorsport.com (in Japanese). Motorsport Network. Archived from the original on 16 June 2018. Retrieved 11 April 2018.
7. Wood, Elliot (1 May 2018). "Red Bull junior Dan Ticktum to contest two Super Formula rounds". formulascout.com. Formula Scout. Retrieved 1 May 2018.
8. "Round 5 Entry List". superformula.net. Japan Race Promotion, Inc. n.d. Retrieved 17 August 2018.
9. Hirano, Ryuji (13 March 2018). "スーパーフォーミュラ：B-MAX Racing Teamのドライバーは千代勝正に決定！". as-web.jp (in Japanese). AUTOSPORTweb. Retrieved 13 March 2018.
10. Freeman, Glenn (16 November 2017). "Toro Rosso keeps Pierre Gasly, Brendon Hartley for 2018 F1 season". Autosport . Motorsport Network. Archived from the original on 17 November 2017.
11. Thukral, Rachit (19 January 2018). "Fuzkuzumi set to prioritise F2 over Super Formula". Motorsport.com .
12. Watkins, Gary (20 January 2018). "Lotterer leaves Super Formula after 15 seasons". Motorsport.com . Motorsport Network . Retrieved 20 January 2018.
13. Thukral, Rachit (18 August 2018). "Super Formula finale reduced to a single race". motorsport.com . Motorsport Network . Retrieved 18 August 2018.
14. Thukral, Rachit (13 May 2018). "Weather forces Autopolis Super Formula race cancellation". motorsport.com . Motorsport Network. Archived from the original on 2 July 2018. Retrieved 13 May 2018.
15. Klein, Jamie (26 October 2018). "Super Formula's five-way fight set to reach climax". motorsport.com. Motorsport Network.
16. Thukral, Rachit. "Okayama Super Formula: Sekiguchi wins wet thriller". motorsport.com. Motorsport Network. Retrieved 9 September 2018.

External links

• Japanese Championship Super Formula official website (in English)