The 2005 Formula Nippon Championship was the thirty-third season of premier Japanese single-seater racing, and the tenth under the Formula Nippon moniker. It was contested over nine rounds at five venues. The newly renovated Fuji Speedway returned to the calendar, replacing Sepang International Circuit. Miné Circuit, which had been a staple venue of the series since 1977, closed for spectator events after 2005. Eight teams and 17 drivers competed in the series.

This would be the final season for Mugen as the sole engine supplier to Formula Nippon, with Toyota and Honda introducing new engines for the 2006 season.

Satoshi Motoyama of Team Impul won his fourth series championship, becoming the most successful driver of the "modern era" of Japanese top formula racing.

Teams and drivers All teams used tyres supplied by Bridgestone, Lola B03/51 chassis, and Mugen MF308 engines. Team # Driver RoundsDoCoMo Team Dandelion Racing1 Richard LyonsAll2 Naoki HattoriAllKondo Racing Team3 Sakon YamamotoAll4 Jaroslav Janiš1–3 Ronnie Quintarelli4–9Team 5ZIGEN5 Tsugio MatsudaAllForum Engineering Team LeMans7 Tatsuya KataokaAll8 Takeshi TsuchiyaAllTeam CerumoTakagi Planning with Cerumo11 Katsuyuki HiranakaAll12 Toranosuke TakagiAllmobilecast Team Impul19 Benoît TréluyerAll20 Yuji IdeAllarting Racing Team with Impul23 Satoshi MotoyamaAllCarrozzeria Team MOHN27 Masanobu Kato128 Hideki NodaAllPIAA Nakajima Racing31 André LottererAll32 Takashi KogureAll

Race calendar and results

All races were held in Japan. Round Track Date Pole position Fastest lap Winner Team 1 Twin Ring Motegi 3 April Yuji Ide Katsuyuki Hiranaka Richard Lyons DoCoMoTeam Dandelion Racing 2 Suzuka Circuit 17 April Benoît Tréluyer Takashi Kogure Yuji Ide mobilecast Team Impul 3 Sportsland SUGO 15 May Takashi Kogure Hideki Noda Satoshi Motoyama arting Team Impul 4 Fuji Speedway 5 June Richard Lyons Tsugio Matsuda Benoît Tréluyer mobilecast Team Impul 5 Suzuka Circuit 3 July Satoshi Motoyama Yuji Ide Satoshi Motoyama arting Team Impul 6 Mine Circuit 31 July Benoît Tréluyer Yuji Ide Yuji Ide mobilecast Team Impul 7 Fuji Speedway 28 August Richard Lyons Satoshi Motoyama André Lotterer Nakajima Racing 8 Twin Ring Motegi 23 October Satoshi Motoyama Sakon Yamamoto Satoshi Motoyama arting Team Impul 9 Suzuka Circuit 27 November Tsugio Matsuda Benoît Tréluyer André Lotterer PIAA Nakajima Racing

Calendar changes

The race in Sepang International Circuit was dropped, while Fuji returned with two races.

Championship standings

Drivers' Championship Scoring system Position 1st 2nd 3rd 4th 5th 6th Points 10 6 4 3 2 1 Rank Name MOT SUZ SGO FUJ SUZ MIN FUJ MOT SUZ Points 1 Satoshi Motoyama 4 4 1 2 1 3 13 1 2 52 2 Yuji Ide 2 1 5 7 8 1 3 4 3 39 3 Richard Lyons 1 5 2 4 3 Ret 4 13 5 30 4 André Lotterer 11 Ret 9 Ret Ret 10 1 Ret 1 20 5 Takashi Kogure Ret 3 3 8 2 Ret 11 9 6 15 6 Benoît Tréluyer 6 9 Ret 1 Ret Ret 12 11 4 14 7 Tsugio Matsuda 10 2 Ret 3 6 4 9 10 8 14 8 Takeshi Tsuchiya 5 Ret 4 Ret Ret 5 5 3 Ret 13 9 Ronnie Quintarelli 5 5 2 Ret 5 10 12 10 Sakon Yamamoto 14 Ret Ret Ret 4 8 Ret 2 11 9 11 Tatsuya Kataoka 7 8 8 Ret Ret 7 2 6 7 7 12 Naoki Hattori 3 6 6 10 7 6 7 7 14 7 13 Katsuyuki Hiranaka 8 Ret Ret 6 Ret Ret 6 12 9 2 14 Jaroslav Janiš 12 7 7 0 15 Toranosuke Takagi 9 Ret 11 9 10 9 8 Ret 12 0 16 Hideki Noda Ret Ret 10 Ret 9 Ret 10 8 13 0 17 Masanobu Kato 13 0

Teams' Championship

Rank Team Car MOT SUZ SGO FUJ SUZ MIN FUJ MOT SUZ Points1 mobilecast Impularting Impul 19 6 9 Ret 1 Ret Ret 12 11 4 101 20 2 1 5 7 8 1 3 4 3 23 4 4 1 2 1 3 13 1 22 DoCoMo Dandelion 1 1 5 2 4 3 Ret 4 13 5 37 2 3 6 6 10 7 6 7 7 143 PIAA Nakajima 31 11 Ret 9 Ret Ret 10 1 Ret 1 35 32 Ret 3 3 8 2 Ret 11 9 64 Kondo Racing Team 3 14 Ret Ret Ret 4 8 Ret 2 11 21 4 12 7 7 5 5 2 Ret 5 105 Team LeMans 7 7 8 8 Ret Ret 7 2 6 7 20 8 5 Ret 4 Ret Ret 5 5 3 Ret6 5ZIGEN 5 10 2 Ret 3 6 4 9 10 8 147 Cerumo 11 8 Ret Ret 6 Ret Ret 6 12 9 2 12 9 Ret 11 9 10 9 8 Ret 128 Team MOHN 27 13 0 28 Ret Ret 10 Ret 9 Ret 10 8 13

References

External links 2005 Japanese Championship Formula Nippon