2024 Super Formula Championship

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The 2024 Japanese Super Formula Championship is the fifty-second season of premier Japanese open-wheel motor racing, and the twelfth under the moniker of Super Formula. It started in March at Suzuka Circuit and is due to be contested over seven race weekends, ending in November at Suzuka. [1]

Contents

Reigning drivers' champion Ritomo Miyata did not defend his title in 2024 after leaving the series to compete in the FIA Formula 2 Championship and European Le Mans Series. [2] Team Mugen entered 2024 as the defending teams' champion.

Teams and drivers

All teams use identical Dallara-built SF23 chassis with either Honda or Toyota engines. Every Honda-powered car uses a Honda HR-417E engine and every Toyota-powered car uses a Toyota TRD-01F engine.

EntrantEngineNo.Driver nameRounds
Flag of Japan.svg Kondo Racing [3] Toyota 3 Flag of Japan.svg Kenta Yamashita [3] 1
4 Flag of Japan.svg Kazuto Kotaka [3] 1
Flag of Japan.svg Docomo Team Dandelion Racing [4] Honda 5 Flag of Japan.svg Tadasuke Makino [4] 1
6 Flag of Japan.svg Kakunoshin Ohta [4] 1
Flag of Hong Kong.svg Kids com Team KCMG [3] Toyota 7 Flag of Japan.svg Kamui Kobayashi [3] 1
8 Flag of Japan.svg Nirei Fukuzumi [3] 1
Flag of Japan.svg ThreeBond Racing [4] Honda 12 Flag of Japan.svg Atsushi Miyake [4] 1
Flag of Japan.svg docomo business ROOKIE [3] Toyota 14 Flag of Japan.svg Kazuya Oshima [3] 1
Flag of Japan.svg Team Mugen [5] Honda 15 Flag of Japan.svg Ayumu Iwasa [5] 1
16 Flag of Japan.svg Tomoki Nojiri [5] 1
Flag of Japan.svg Itochu Enex Team Impul [3] Toyota 19 Flag of France.svg Théo Pourchaire [3] 1
20 Flag of Japan.svg Yuji Kunimoto [3] 1
Flag of Japan.svg Vantelin Team TOM’S [3] Toyota 36 Flag of Japan.svg Sho Tsuboi [3] 1
37 Flag of Japan.svg Ukyo Sasahara [3] 1
Flag of Japan.svg Vertex Partners CerumoINGING [3] Toyota 38 Flag of Japan.svg Sena Sakaguchi [3] 1
39 Flag of Japan.svg Toshiki Oyu [3] 1
Flag of Japan.svg San-Ei Gen with B-Max [4] [6] Honda 50 Flag of Japan.svg Iori Kimura [4] 1
Flag of Japan.svg TGM Grand Prix [4] Honda 53 Flag of Japan.svg "Juju" [4] [7] 1
55 Flag of Japan.svg Nobuharu Matsushita [8] 1
Flag of Japan.svg PONOS Nakajima Racing [4] Honda 64 Flag of Japan.svg Naoki Yamamoto [4] 1
65 Flag of Japan.svg Ren Sato [4] 1

Team changes

Cerumo-INGING acquired a new title sponsor in finance advisory firm Vertex Partners, and the team is now known as Vertex Partners Cerumo-INGING. [3]

Nakajima Racing acquired a new title sponsor in video game developer PONOS to replace Tata Consultancy Services (TCS), and the team is now known as PONOS Nakajima Racing. [4]

B-Max Racing Team downsized from running two cars in 2023 to a single-car entry in 2024. The team also gained a new title sponsor in food ingredient manufacturer San-Ei Gen, and is now known as San-Ei Gen with B-Max. [6]

Driver changes

Championship runner-up Liam Lawson left Team Mugen and the series to focus on his reserve driver role at Red Bull Racing in Formula One. He was replaced at Team Mugen by fellow Red Bull Junior Team member Ayumu Iwasa, who returned to Japan to make his series debut. [5]

Reigning champion Ritomo Miyata left Team TOM'S and the series to move to Formula 2 and the European Le Mans Series in preparation to step up to the FIA World Endurance Championship with Toyota Gazoo Racing. [2] Miyata's replacement at Vantelin Team TOM'S was Sho Tsuboi, who spent the last five seasons at INGING, and was Miyata's co-driver in their 2023 Super GT GT500 class championship campaign. Ukyo Sasahara, who raced with TOM'S for the last three rounds of the 2023 season, returned on a full-time contract for 2024. Both drivers swapped numbers from the end of last season with Tsuboi driving the No. 36 car and Sasahara the No. 37 car. [3]

Cerumo・INGING signed Toshiki Oyu, who left Honda after losing his Super Formula ride with TGM Grand Prix before the end of the 2023 season. He joined Toyota and the team, replacing Sho Tsuboi. Sena Sakaguchi took over Tsuboi's old number 38, and Oyu was given the number 39. [3] [9]

Itochu Enex Team Impul recruited an all-new lineup of 2023 FIA Formula 2 Champion Théo Pourchaire, who made his series debut as the only non-Japanese driver on that year's grid, and 2016 Super Formula champion Yuji Kunimoto, who had spent the last four seasons with KCMG. [3] Impul's former drivers left the series, with Ryō Hirakawa electing to focus on his new role as the reserve driver for McLaren Racing in Formula One and Yuhi Sekiguchi joining KCMG as a reserve driver and team coordinator. [3] [10] [11]

KCMG replaced Impul-bound Kunimoto with Nirei Fukuzumi, who left ThreeBond Racing and also left Honda after being contracted by the manufacturer since his junior years, to join Toyota and drive the No. 8 entry alongside Kamui Kobayashi. [3]

TGM Grand Prix entered 2024 with an all-new driver lineup, as Cem Bölükbaşı left the team and the championship after a single season to join DKR Engineering in the LMP2 class of the European Le Mans Series, and Toshiki Oyu joined Cerumo・INGING. [12] [3] The team signed Juju Noda to drive its No. 53 car, driving under the mononym "Juju". [7] [4] Noda became the first Japanese woman and youngest driver to race in the history of the series, after spending 2023 in Euroformula Open, the Drexler-Automotive Formula Cup, and BOSS GP. [13] Nobuharu Matsushita also joined TGM, the week before the opening round of the season, to drive the No. 55 car. [8]

ThreeBond Racing signed Atsushi Miyake to replace KCMG-bound Nirei Fukuzumi. Miyake returned to Super Formula after driving for Team Goh during the 2022 season, where he finished 14th in the standings. [4]

B-Max Racing Team recruited reigning Super Formula Lights champion Iori Kimura to drive the team's single car, the number 50. [4] Nobuharu Matsushita left B-Max after four seasons, and Raoul Hyman left after just one season in the number 51 car.

Race calendar

The provisional calendar was announced on 3 August 2023. [1] The final two rounds were later made to be double-headers. [14] Fuji Speedway's double-header weekend has been moved from the start of the season to 12–13 October, serving as the sixth and seventh rounds of the championship. Suzuka now hosted the opening round of the championship on 10 March. On 25 December 2023, the calendar was slightly amended, with the season finale moved forward by two weeks. [15]

RoundCircuitLocationDateSupport billMap of circuit locations
1 Suzuka International Racing Course Suzuka, Mie 10 March All Japan Road Race Championship
Formula Regional Japanese Championship
2 Autopolis Hita, Oita 17–19 May Super Formula Lights
3 Sportsland SUGO Shibata, Miyagi 21–23 June Super Formula Lights
4 Fuji Speedway Oyama, Shizuoka 19–21 July Super Formula Lights
Kyojo Cup
5 Mobility Resort Motegi Motegi, Tochigi 23–25 August Formula Regional Japanese Championship
6 Fuji Speedway Oyama, Shizuoka 11–13 October Formula Regional Japanese Championship
7
8 Suzuka International Racing Course Suzuka, Mie 8–10 November Super Formula Lights
9

Race results

RoundCircuitPole positionFastest lapWinning driverWinning team
1 Suzuka International Racing Course Flag of Japan.svg Sena Sakaguchi Flag of Japan.svg Naoki Yamamoto Flag of Japan.svg Tomoki Nojiri Flag of Japan.svg Team Mugen
2 Autopolis
3 Sportsland SUGO
4 Fuji Speedway
5 Mobility Resort Motegi
6 Fuji Speedway
7
8 Suzuka International Racing Course
9

Championship standings

Race points
Position 1st  2nd  3rd  4th  5th  6th  7th  8th  9th  10th 
Points2015118654321
Qualifying points
Position 1st  2nd  3rd 
Points321

Drivers' championship

PosDriver SUZ1 AUT SUG FUJ1 MOT FUJ2 SUZ2 Points
1 Flag of Japan.svg Tomoki Nojiri 1321
2 Flag of Japan.svg Kenta Yamashita 215
3 Flag of Japan.svg Naoki Yamamoto 311
4 Flag of Japan.svg Kakunoshin Ohta 4210
5 Flag of Japan.svg Sena Sakaguchi 717
6 Flag of Japan.svg Ren Sato 56
7 Flag of Japan.svg Nirei Fukuzumi 65
8 Flag of Japan.svg Nobuharu Matsushita 83
9 Flag of Japan.svg Ayumu Iwasa 92
10 Flag of Japan.svg Tadasuke Makino 101
11 Flag of Japan.svg Sho Tsuboi 110
12 Flag of Japan.svg Iori Kimura 120
13 Flag of Japan.svg Kazuya Oshima 130
14 Flag of Japan.svg Atsushi Miyake 140
15 Flag of Japan.svg Ukyo Sasahara 150
16 Flag of Japan.svg Toshiki Oyu 160
17 Flag of Japan.svg "Juju" 170
18 Flag of France.svg Théo Pourchaire 180
19 Flag of Japan.svg Kamui Kobayashi 19†0
Flag of Japan.svg Yuji Kunimoto Ret
Flag of Japan.svg Kazuto Kotaka Ret
PosDriver SUZ1 AUT SUG FUJ1 MOT FUJ2 SUZ2 Points
Key
ColourResult
GoldWinner
SilverSecond place
BronzeThird place
GreenOther points position
BlueOther classified position
Not classified, finished (NC)
PurpleNot classified, retired (Ret)
RedDid not qualify (DNQ)
Did not pre-qualify (DNPQ)
BlackDisqualified (DSQ)
WhiteDid not start (DNS)
Race cancelled (C)
BlankDid not practice (DNP)
Excluded (EX)
Did not arrive (DNA)
Withdrawn (WD)
Did not enter (cell empty)
Text formattingMeaning
Bold Pole position
Italics Fastest lap

Teams' championship

PosTeamNo. SUZ1 AUT SUG FUJ1 MOT FUJ2 SUZ2 Points
1 Flag of Japan.svg Team Mugen 15922
161
2 Flag of Japan.svg PONOS Nakajima Racing 64317
655
3 Flag of Japan.svg Kondo Racing 3215
4Ret
4 Flag of Japan.svg Docomo Team Dandelion Racing 5109
64
5 Flag of Hong Kong.svg Kids com Team KCMG 719†5
86
6 Flag of Japan.svg Vertex Partners CerumoINGING 3874
3916
7 Flag of Japan.svg TGM Grand Prix 53173
558
8 Flag of Japan.svg Vantelin Team TOM’S 36110
3715
9 Flag of Japan.svg San-Ei Gen with B-Max 50120
10 Flag of Japan.svg docomo business ROOKIE 14130
11 Flag of Japan.svg ThreeBond Racing 12140
12 Flag of Japan.svg Itochu Enex Team Impul 19180
20Ret
PosTeamNo. SUZ1 AUT SUG FUJ1 MOT FUJ2 SUZ2 Points

Notes

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