F4 Japanese Championship

Sports festival

Not to be confused with Japan Formula 4, known as Formula Beat from 2023.

F4 Japanese Championship

Category| FIA Formula 4
Country| Japan
Constructors| Toray Carbon Magic
Engine suppliers| TOM'S Toyota
Tyre suppliers| Dunlop (Sumitomo)
Drivers' champion| Champion:
Yuto Nomura
Independent:
"Dragon"
Teams' champion| Champion:
HFDP with B-Max Racing Team
Independent:
B-Max Racing Team
Official website| Official website
Current season

The F4 Japanese Championship (ＦＩＡ－フォーミュラ４ 地方選手権, FIA F4 Chihou Senshuken)[1] is a formula racing series held in Japan regulated according to FIA Formula 4 regulations. The inaugural season was held in 2015.

## History

[edit]

Gerhard Berger and the FIA Single Seater Commission launched the current FIA Formula 4 in March 2013.[2] The goal of FIA Formula 4 was to make the ladder to Formula 1 more transparent. Besides sporting and technical regulations, costs are regulated too: Any eligible car may not exceed a purchase price of €30,000. A single season in Formula 4 may not exceed €100,000 in costs.

The F4 Japanese Championship was launched by the GT Association on 16 December 2014, as one of the second phases of Formula 4 championships to be launched following the Italian F4 Championship and Formula 4 Sudamericana which launched in 2014.[1] All rounds are support events to the Super GT Series.

Japanese race car constructor Dome was contracted to design and build the spec F110 chassis.[1] The cars are constructed out of carbon fibre and feature a monocoque chassis. The engine is a 2.0-litre TOM'S Toyota inline-four. Dunlop (Sumitomo Rubber Industries) is the tyre supplier.

The series is open to drivers aged 16 and up.[3] While primarily contested by young drivers moving up the single-seater ladder, older amateur drivers also compete in the series in the Independent Cup category.

A second-generation F4 Japanese Championship car built by Toray Carbon Magic, called the MCSC-24, was first revealed in 2022 and will debut in 2024, with an integrated halo safety device and a more powerful TOM'S Toyota engine.[4]

## Point system

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Position  |  1st |  2nd |  3rd |  4th |  5th |  6th |  7th |  8th |  9th |  10th

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Points  | 20  | 15  | 12  | 10  | 8  | 6  | 4  | 3  | 2  | 1

## Champions

[edit]

All teams and drivers were Japanese-registered.

### Drivers

[edit]

Season  | Driver  | Team  | Poles | Wins  | Podiums  | Fastest laps  | Points  | Clinched  | Margin

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2015 |  Sho Tsuboi |  TOM'S Spirit | 4  | 7  | 10  | 4  | 195 | Race 14 of 14  | 3
2016 |  Ritomo Miyata |  TOM'S Spirit | 2  | 2  | 5  | 3  | 142  | Race 14 of 14  | 4
2017 |  Ritomo Miyata |  TOM'S Spirit | 5  | 4  | 11  | 6  | 231  | Race 14 of 14  | 7
2018 |  Yuki Tsunoda |  Honda Formula Dream Project | 8  | 7  | 11  | 4  | 245  | Race 14 of 14  | 14
2019 |  Ren Sato |  Honda Formula Dream Project | 8  | 11  | 13  | 5  | 311  | Race 10 of 14  | 164
2020 |  Hibiki Taira |  TGR-DC Racing School | 7  | 10  | 12  | 4  | 270.5  | Race 10 of 12  | 90
2021 |  Seita Nonaka |  TGR-DC Racing School | 1  | 6  | 8  | 5  | 217  | Race 14 of 14  | 4
2022 |  Syun Koide |  Honda Formula Dream Project | 8  | 9  | 12  | 6  | 279  | Race 14 of 14  | 33
2023 |  Rikuto Kobayashi |  TGR-DC Racing School | 5  | 5  | 9  | 4  | 221  | Race 14 of 14  | 12
2024 |  Yuto Nomura |  HFDP with B-Max Racing Team | 3  | 7  | 10  | 4  | 236  | Race 13 of 14  | 69

### Teams

[edit]

Season  | Team  | Poles | Wins  | Podiums  | Fastest laps  | Points  | Margin  | Independent Class Team

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2015 |  TOM'S Spirit | 4  | 7  | 10  | 4  | 225  | 9  | not held
2016 |  Honda Formula Dream Project | 1  | 2  | 12  | 3  | 203  | 21
2017 |  Honda Formula Dream Project | 9  | 11  | 26  | 6  | 314  | 83
2018 |  Honda Formula Dream Project | 12  | 10  | 23  | 7  | 316  | 106
2019 |  Honda Formula Dream Project | 14  | 14  | 25  | 14  | 350  | 213
2020 |  TGR-DC Racing School | 7  | 10  | 17  | 4  | 273.5  | 93
2021 |  TGR-DC Racing School | 3  | 8  | 17  | 10  | 285  | 25
2022 |  Honda Formula Dream Project | 10  | 12  | 23  | 7  | 336  | 111
2023 |  TGR-DC Racing School | 6  | 8  | 22  | 5  | 290  | 58
2024 |  HFDP with B-Max Racing Team | 9  | 8  | 18  | 8  | 260  | 80  |  B-Max Racing Team

### Independent Cup

[edit]

Season  | Driver  | Team  | Wins (Indep/Cup)  | Podiums (Indep/Cup)  | Points (Indep/Cup)  | Margin

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2018 |  Masayuki Ueda  |  Rn-sports  | 2  | 10  | 207  | 6
2019 |  Sergeyevich Sato  |  Field Motorsport  | 5  | 11  | 241  | 59
2020 |  Sergeyevich Sato  |  Field Motorsport  | 6  | 10  | 225  | 27.5
2021 |  "Hirobon"  |  Rn-sports  | 4  | 11  | 238  | 15
2022 |  Yutaka Toriba  |  HELM Motorsports | 10  | 12  | 306  | 104
2023 |  Makoto Fujiwara  |  B-Max Racing Team | 3  | 5  | 191  | 12
2024 |  "Dragon" |  B-Max Racing Team | 5  | 9  | 202  | 2.5

## Circuits

[edit]

* Bold denotes a circuit will be used in the 2024 season.

Number  | Circuits  | Rounds  | Years

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1  |  Fuji Speedway | 20[a] | 2015–present
2  |  Suzuka International Racing Course | 13[b] | 2015–present
3  |  Mobility Resort Motegi | 11[c] | 2015–present
4  |  Sportsland Sugo | 9  | 2015–2019, 2021–present
5  |  Autopolis | 7  | 2015, 2017–2019, 2022–present
6  |  Okayama International Circuit | 5  | 2015–2019

## In other media

[edit]

The 2023 anime Overtake! is based around the F4 Japanese Championship.

## Notes

[edit]

1. ^ Fuji Speedway has hosted 2 rounds every year.
2. ^ Suzuka International Racing Course hosted 2 rounds in 2022–2024.
3. ^ Mobility Resort Motegi hosted 2 rounds in 2021.

## References

[edit]

1. ^ a b c "F4 JAPANESE CHAMPIONSHIP selects Dunlop Tire as its official designated tire". Super GT. GT–Association. 16 December 2014. Retrieved 15 February 2015.
2. ^ "FIA reveals Formula 4 plan". Autosport. Retrieved 15 February 2015.
3. ^ "DOME CO., LTD". DOME CO., LTD. (in Japanese). Retrieved 2024-05-02.
4. ^ Wood, Ida (2022-08-10). "Japanese F4 reveals Gen2 design to be introduced in 2024". Formula Scout. Retrieved 2024-05-02.

## External links

[edit]

* Official website

* v
* t
* e

Formula racing ladder in Japan

Tier I|

* Super Formula Championship (1973–present)

Tier II|

* Super Formula Lights (2020–present)
* Formula Regional Japanese Championship (2020–present)
* Japanese Formula 3 Championship (1979–2019)
* Formula Crane 45 (1991–1992)

Tier III|

* Formula Mirage (1990–1995)
* Formula Toyota (1990–2007)
* Formula Beat (1993–present)
* Formula Dream (1999–2005)
* Formula Challenge Japan (2006–2013)
* F4 Japanese Championship (2015–present)

Tier IV|

* FJ1600 (1980–2010)
* Super FJ (2007–present)

* v
* t
* e

FIA Formula 4 Championships

Italian F4 Championship|

* 2014
* 2015
* 2016
* 2017
* 2018
* 2019
* 2020
* 2021
* 2022
* 2023
* 2024
* 2025

F4 British Championship|

* 2015
* 2016
* 2017
* 2018
* 2019
* 2020
* 2021
* 2022
* 2023
* 2024
* 2025

F4 Japanese Championship|

* 2015
* 2016
* 2017
* 2018
* 2019
* 2020
* 2021
* 2022
* 2023
* 2024
* 2025

F4 Chinese Championship|

* 2015–16
* 2016
* 2017
* 2018
* 2019
* 2020
* 2021
* 2022
* 2023
* 2024
* 2025

Formula 4 Australian Championship
AU4 Australian Championship|

* 2015
* 2016
* 2017
* 2018
* 2019
* 2023
* 2024
* 2025

NACAM Formula 4 Championship|

* 2015–16
* 2016–17
* 2017–18
* 2018–19
* 2019–20
* ~~2021~~
* 2022
* 2023
* 2024
* 2025

F4 Spanish Championship|

* 2016
* 2017
* 2018
* 2019
* 2020
* 2021
* 2022
* 2023
* 2024
* 2025

Formula 4 United States Championship|

* 2016
* 2017
* 2018
* 2019
* 2020
* 2021
* 2022
* 2023
* 2024
* 2025

Formula 4 South East Asia Championship|

* 2016–17
* 2017–18
* 2018
* 2019
* 2023
* 2025

F4 Danish Championship
Nordic 4 Championship|

* 2017
* 2018
* 2019
* 2020
* 2021
* 2022
* 2023
* 2024
* 2025

French F4 Championship|

* 2018
* 2019
* 2020
* 2021
* 2022
* 2023
* 2024
* 2025

F4 Brazilian Championship|

* 2022
* 2023
* 2024
* 2025

GB4 Championship|

* 2022
* 2023
* 2024
* 2025

Formula 4 CEZ Championship|

* 2022
* 2023
* 2024
* 2025

Formula Winter Series|

* 2023
* 2024
* 2025
* 2026

F1 Academy|

* 2023
* 2024
* 2025

E4 Championship|

* 2023
* 2024
* 2025

F4 Indian Championship|

* 2023
* 2024

Ligier JS F4 Series|

* 2024
* 2025

Formula Trophy UAE|

* 2024

F4 Middle East Championship|

* 2025

Eurocup-4 Spanish Winter Championship|

* 2025

Upcoming/Proposed

iM4 Cup|

* 2025

Defunct

ADAC Formula 4|

* 2015
* 2016
* 2017
* 2018
* 2019
* 2020
* 2021
* 2022

F4 NEZ Championship
SMP F4 Championship|

* 2015
* 2016
* 2017
* 2018
* 2019

Formula 4 UAE Championship|

* 2016–17
* 2017–18
* 2019
* 2020
* 2021
* 2022
* 2023
* 2024

F4 Argentina Championship|

* 2021

F4 Saudi Arabian Championship|

* 2024

* v
* t
* e

FIA Global Pathway

Tier I|

* Formula One (1950–present)

Tier II|

* FIA Formula 2 Championship (2017–present)

Tier III|

* FIA Formula 3 Championship (2019–present)
* FIA Formula 3 World Cup (2016–2019, 2023)

Tier IV|

* FIA Formula Regional World Cup (2024)
* Formula Regional Americas Championship (2018–present)
* Formula Regional Asian Championship (2018–2022)
* Formula Regional European Championship (2019–present)
* Formula Regional Japanese Championship (2020–present)
* Formula Regional Middle East Championship (2023–present)
* Formula Regional Oceania Championship (2023–present)
* Formula Regional Australia (2025)

Tier V|

* ADAC Formula 4 (2015–2022)
* Australian Formula 4 Championship (2015–2019, 2024–present)
* China Formula 4 Championship (2015–present)
* F4 Argentina Championship (2021)
* F4 Brazilian Championship (2022–present)
* F4 British Championship (2015–present)
* F4 Danish Championship (2017–2023)
* F4 Indian Championship (2023–present)
* F4 Japanese Championship (2015–present)
* F4 Middle East Championship (2025)
* F4 Saudi Arabian Championship (2024)
* F4 Spanish Championship (2016–present)
* French F4 Championship (2018–present)
* Formula 4 CEZ Championship (2023–present)
* Formula 4 South East Asia Championship (2016–2020, 2023, 2025)
* Formula 4 UAE Championship (2016–2024)
* Formula 4 United States Championship (2016–present)
* Italian F4 Championship (2014–present)
* NACAM Formula 4 Championship (2015–2020, 2022–present)
* SMP F4 Championship (2015–2019)

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