The 2017 Japanese Super Formula Championship was the forty-fifth season of premier Japanese open-wheel motor racing, and the fifth under the moniker of Super Formula. Yuji Kunimoto was the defending series champion.
Hiroaki Ishiura won his second Driver's Championship in three years, finishing only half a point ahead of Pierre Gasly after the final round was cancelled due to Typhoon Lan. The Cerumo INGING team won their second successive Team Championship.
Teams and drivers Every Honda-powered car used a Honda HR-414E engine and every Toyota-powered car used a Toyota RI4A engine. Manufacturer Engine Driver Rounds P.mu/cerumo・INGING Toyota 1 Yuji Kunimoto All 2 Hiroaki Ishiura All Kondō Racing Toyota 3 Nick Cassidy All 4 Kenta Yamashita All SUNOCO Team LeMans Toyota 7 Felix Rosenqvist All 8 Kazuya Oshima All Real Racing Honda 10 Koudai Tsukakoshi All Team Mugen Honda 15 Pierre Gasly All 16 Naoki Yamamoto All KCMG Toyota 18 Kamui Kobayashi All Itochu Enex Team Impul Toyota 19 Yuhi Sekiguchi All 20 Jann Mardenborough All Vantelin Team Tom's Toyota 36 André Lotterer All 37 Kazuki Nakajima All Docomo Team Dandelion Racing Honda 40 Tomoki Nojiri All 41 Takuya Izawa All B-MAX Racing Team Honda 50 Takashi Kogure All TCS Nakajima Racing Honda 64 Daisuke Nakajima All 65 Narain Karthikeyan All
Driver changes Leaving Super Formula Stoffel Vandoorne will leave the series to compete in Formula One with McLaren. Bertrand Baguette will leave the series to compete in Super GT Series. Yuichi Nakayama is replaced at the single car KCMG team by Kamui Kobayashi. Joao Paulo de Oliveira, 2010 Formula Nippon champion, leaves after seven seasons with Team Impul and ten in the series.
Entering Super Formula 2016 GP2 Series champion, Red Bull Racing and Scuderia Toro Rosso reserve driver Pierre Gasly moved to Super Formula with Team Mugen. He replaced Daniil Kvyat at Scuderia Toro Rosso from the 2017 Malaysian Grand Prix, but skipped the 2017 United States Grand Prix to finish the Super Formula season. Nick Cassidy and Kenta Yamashita, the 2015 and 2016 Japanese Formula 3 champions, join the series with Kondo Racing, replacing James Rossiter and William Buller. GT Academy winner Jann Mardenborough makes his series debut with Team Impul. 2015 European F3 champion Felix Rosenqvist joins the series. He is joined at Team LeMans by Kazuya Oshima, making his full-time return to Super Formula for the first time since 2012.
Race calendar Round Circuit Date Pole position Fastest lap Winning driver Winning team 1 Suzuka Circuit 23 April Kazuki Nakajima Koudai Tsukakoshi Kazuki Nakajima Vantelin Team Tom's 2 R1 Okayama International Circuit 27 May Yuhi Sekiguchi Felix Rosenqvist André Lotterer Vantelin Team Tom's R2 28 May Hiroaki Ishiura Kamui Kobayashi Yuhi Sekiguchi Itochu Enex Team Impul 3 Fuji Speedway 9 July Yuji Kunimoto Felix Rosenqvist Hiroaki Ishiura P.mu/cerumo・INGING 4 Twin Ring Motegi 20 August Kenta Yamashita Koudai Tsukakoshi Pierre Gasly Team Mugen 5 Autopolis 10 September Tomoki Nojiri Jann Mardenborough Pierre Gasly Team Mugen 6 Sportsland SUGO 24 September Nick Cassidy Hiroaki Ishiura Yuhi Sekiguchi Itochu Enex Team Impul 7 R1 Suzuka Circuit 22 October André Lotterer Races cancelled due to Typhoon Lan R2 Jann Mardenborough Source:
Championship standings Drivers' Championship Scoring system
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Pole Rounds 1, 3–6 10 8 6 5 4 3 2 1 1 Round 2 5 4 3 2.5 2 1.5 1 0.5 1 Round 7 8 4 3 2.5 2 1.5 1 0.5 1
Driver standings
Pos Driver SUZOKA FUJ MOT AUT SUG SUZ Points 1 Hiroaki Ishiura 4 8 2 1 4 4 6 C C 33.5 2 Pierre Gasly 10 19 7 5 1 1 2 C C 33 3 Felix Rosenqvist 11 12 4 2 3 2 5 C C 28.5 4 Yuhi Sekiguchi 12 2 1 4 16 10 1 C C 25 5 Kazuki Nakajima 1 9 18 7 11 6 3 C C 22 6 André Lotterer 5 1 3 3 7 Ret 10 C C 21 7 Kamui Kobayashi 9 4 5 15 2 7 7 C C 16.5 8 Yuji Kunimoto 3 10 9 Ret 15 5 4 C C 16 9 Naoki Yamamoto 2 5 8 Ret 13 16 18 C C 10.5 10 Nick Cassidy 17 3 11 Ret 5 Ret 19 C C 8 11 Kenta Yamashita 14 7 6 Ret6 13 11 C C 6.5 12 Kazuya Oshima Ret 15 12 12 10 3 15 C C 6 13 Takuya Izawa 8 14 Ret 6 Ret 15 8 C C 5 14 Jann Mardenborough 18 6 17 8 14 8 9 C C 4.5 15 Koudai Tsukakoshi 6 11 16 9 9 9 16 C C 3 16 Daisuke Nakajima 7 16 14 11 12 11 17 C C 2 17 Tomoki Nojiri 16 13 10 10 8 14 12 C C 2 18 Takashi Kogure 15 18 15 13 17 12 14 C C 0 19 Narain Karthikeyan 13 17 13 14 Ret Ret 13 C C 0 Pos Driver SUZOKA FUJ MOT AUT SUG SUZ PointsBold – Pole Italics – Fastest Lap
Teams' Championship
Pos Team No. SUZOKA FUJ MOT AUT SUG SUZ Points 1 P.mu/cerumo・INGING 1 3 10 9 Ret 15 5 4 C C 47.5 2 4 8 2 1 4 4 6 C C 2 Team Mugen 15 10 19 7 5 1 1 2 C C 43.5 16 2 5 8 Ret 13 Ret 18 C C 3 Vantelin Team TOM's 36 5 1 3 3 7 Ret 10 C C 41 37 1 9 18 7 11 6 3 C C 4 SUNOCO Team LeMans 7 11 12 4 2 3 2 5 C C 34.5 8 Ret 15 12 12 10 3 15 C C 5 ITOCHU ENEX Team Impul 19 12 2 1 4 16 10 1 C C 27.5 20 18 6 17 8 14 8 17 C C 6 KCMG 18 9 4 5 15 2 7 7 C C 16.5 7 Kondo Racing 3 17 3 11 Ret 5 Ret 19 C C 12.5 4 14 7 6 Ret6 13 11 C C 8 DOCOMO Team Dandelion Racing 40 16 13 10 10 8 14 12 C C 6 41 8 14 Ret 6 Ret 15 8 C C 9 Real Racing 10 6 11 16 9 9 9 16 C C 3 10 TCS Nakajima Racing 64 7 16 14 11 12 11 17 C C 2 65 13 17 13 14 Ret Ret 13 C C 11 B-MAX Racing Team 50 15 18 15 13 17 12 14 C C 0 Pos Team No. SUZOKA FUJ MOT AUT SUG SUZ Points
References
External links Japanese Championship Super Formula official website