The 2022 Super Formula Lights Championship was the third Super Formula Lights Championship season, after the Japanese Formula 3 Championship was rebranded following the end of the 2019 season. It featured drivers competing in Dallara 320 chassis and with engines made by three different manufacturers, a similar regulation format to the Euroformula Open Championship.

After 18 races over six rounds, Kazuto Kotaka took the Drivers' Championship, while his team, TOM'S, took the Teams' Championship and the Manufacturers' Championship. Nobuhiro Imada (B-Max Racing Team) won the Masters' Cup.

Teams and drivers Team Engine Driver Status RoundsB-Max Racing TeamSpiess A411 Iori KimuraAll4 Nobuhiro Imada All30 "Dragon" All50 Togo SuganamiAll98 Roberto Merhi6Toda RacingSpiess A412 Kakunoshin OhtaAllRn-SportsSpiess A4110 Kohta Kawaai 1, 3–5 Seiya Motojima2, 611 Masayuki Ueda 1–2TOM'STOM'S TAZ3135 Seita NonakaAll36 Yuga FurutaniAll37 Kazuto KotakaAll38 Hibiki TairaAllHELM MotorsportsTomei TB14F3 202062 Yuya Hiraki1–563 Reiji Hiraki1–5 Icon Class Masters' Cup.

Race Calendar & Results The calendar for the 2022 season was announced on 25 November 2021. The championship supported Super Formula at five of its six events. The season finale was held over the Okayama Challenge Cup weekend. Round Circuit Date Pole position Fastest lap Winning driver Winning team Masters winner 1 R1 Fuji Speedway 9 April Kohta Kawaai Kazuto Kotaka Seita Nonaka TOM'S Masayuki Ueda R2 10 April Kazuto Kotaka Kakunoshin Ohta Kazuto Kotaka TOM'S "Dragon" R3 Hibiki Taira Hibiki Taira TOM'S "Dragon" 2 R4 Suzuka International Racing Course 23 April Kazuto Kotaka Kakunoshin Ohta Kazuto Kotaka TOM'S Nobuhiro Imada R5 24 April Kakunoshin Ohta Kakunoshin Ohta Kakunoshin Ohta Toda Racing Nobuhiro Imada R6 Iori Kimura Kazuto Kotaka TOM'S "Dragon" 3 R7 Autopolis 21 May Kakunoshin Ohta Iori Kimura Iori Kimura B-Max Racing Team Nobuhiro Imada R8 Kakunoshin Ohta Kakunoshin Ohta Kakunoshin Ohta Toda Racing "Dragon" R9 22 May Iori Kimura Iori Kimura B-Max Racing Team Nobuhiro Imada 4 R10 Sportsland SUGO 18 June Kakunoshin Ohta Kazuto Kotaka Kazuto KotakaTOM'S Nobuhiro Imada R11 19 June Kazuto Kotaka Kakunoshin Ohta Kazuto KotakaTOM'S Nobuhiro Imada R12 Seita Nonaka Kazuto KotakaTOM'S Nobuhiro Imada 5 R13 Mobility Resort Motegi 20 August Iori Kimura Kazuto Kotaka Kazuto KotakaTOM'S "Dragon" R14 21 August Kakunoshin Ohta Kakunoshin Ohta Hibiki Taira TOM'S Nobuhiro Imada R15 Iori Kimura Iori Kimura B-Max Racing Team Nobuhiro Imada 6 R16 Okayama International Circuit 24 September Kakunoshin Ohta Kakunoshin Ohta Kakunoshin Ohta Toda Racing Nobuhiro Imada R17 25 September Iori Kimura Iori Kimura Kazuto Kotaka TOM'S No finishers R18 Iori Kimura Kakunoshin Ohta Toda Racing "Dragon"

Season report The championship began in early April at Fuji Speedway with Kohta Kawaai taking a surprise debut pole. He was overtaken at the start by Kakunoshin Ohta and then rear-ended him into the next turn, causing Ohta to retire and Kawaai dropping down the field. The new lead trio of Seita Nonaka, Iori Kimura and Hibiki Taira pulled away to finish in that order. The second race was also decided by the time lap one was over: Kazuto Kotaka led Ohta from pole, while Taira passed Kawaai for third. The pair remained busy fighting each other all race, so Kotaka and Ohta were free to pull away and finish first and second. Race three started with Taira passing both Nonaka and Kimura around the outside of turn 1 to claim the lead. Kimura then passed Nonaka and held him behind until the finish. Two third places and a win granted Taira the championship lead.

Two weeks later, the second round at Suzuka International Racing Course started with Kotaka taking pole for the first race. Ohta started second, Nonaka third and those positions stood unchanged until the end. Race two was a very wet one, Ohta on pole had to fight off one attack from Nonaka, who was then overtaken by Kotaka when that attempt failed. Nonaka then aquaplaned off in turn three later on, so Yuga Furutani was able to gain his maiden podium. The final race was wet, too, and Ohta used his drier start position to move past Kotaka into first, with Furutani doing the same to Nonaka for third. Ohta pulled away, but Kotaka was able to reel him back in and attack him through the last two laps, passing him in the end. Their efforts over the weekend saw Kotaka take the championship lead and Ohta second in the standings, six points back.

The third round was held at Autopolis. Race one began with two drivers stalling on the grid, and poleman Ohta was overtaken by Kimura. He then pulled away, and Nonaka began closing in on Ohta, but did not come in attacking range. The second race began with a collision, as Togo Suganami had a slow start from second and was defending from Kimura before crashing into Ohta. On the restart, the gaps at the front quickly grew, and Ohta won the race. A flurry of penalties meant he was joined on the podium by Furutani and Nonaka. Kimura was among those who were penalized, but came back to win race three in a dominant lights-to-flag display, only dropping behind Ohta shortly before turn one. Nonaka was third and ex-championship leader Kotaka grabbed his third sixth place in as many races, ceding the lead to Ohta by 19 points.

The second half of the season began at Sportsland SUGO, and race one had chaos from the start that took out Suganami, while Kotaka moved past Ohta for the lead. On the restart, Kimura hit Ohta's rear and the resulting oil leaking on track caused a lengthy red flag. Kotaka restarted from the lead and avoided further drama, while behind him Taira and Reiji Hiraki eventually completed the podium. The second race was more straightforward, with Kotaka winning from pole as Furutani dispatched Ohta behind him and the trio finished that way. Race three looked much the same for Kotaka, although his gap to Taira in second was not as dominant. Nonaka was third, and Kotaka's triple win sent him back into the championship lead, demoting Ohta to second place with a margin of four points. Taira was a distant third, a further 26 points back.

The Mobility Resort Motegi was the host of the next round, and a wet track caused wheelspin for race one polesitter Kimura, who was then overtaken by Kotaka, Ohta and Suganami. Kotaka pulled away into the distance, as the others had to contend with limited visibility. Ohta came second and Kimura third, after Suganami made a mistake and dropped back. Race two began chaotic, with Taira taking the lead, while Ohta and Kimura sustained damage behind him. This promoted Nonaka and Suganami to the podium. The weather for race three was better, and Kimura ended his weekend with a bang, slicing past Ohta and then Kotaka to claim the lead, while the other podium positions did not change. Kotaka's two podiums meant he widened his gap in the standings to 13 points, while Kimura's strong showing promoted him to third, 34 points from Ohta.

The season concluded at Okayama International Circuit, and Ohta took pole for race one. He converted pole to win in a race where overtakes were hard to come by, and Kimura and Kotaka completed the podium. Race two saw Kotaka pass polesitter Kimura at the start, with the lead gap staying very close all race, but Kimura could not produce an attack on the leader. Ohta was third, and started the final race of the season from pole. He had to defend from Kimura once at the start, and after that it was processional once again, with Nonaka in third and soon-to-be champion Kotaka in fourth. Dropped scores came into play and Kotaka's four-point gap to Ohta grew to six points at the end of the season as he took a deserved championship with eight wins from 18 races. Kimura solidified third in the standings, and Nonaka came fourth in the end.

Championship standings The points were awarded as follows: 123456PPFL107532111 Every drivers' four worst results were dropped.

Drivers' Championships

Overall PosDriverFUJSUZAUTSUGMOTOKAPointsR1R2R3R1R2R3R1R2R3R1R2R3R1R2R3R1R2R31 Kazuto Kotaka4171216661111423142 Kakunoshin OhtaRet24212212Ret352941313 Iori Kimura262557181Ret563Ret12224 Seita Nonaka1533126333463928473635 Hibiki Taira3317454Ret52421017665626 Yuga Furutani779433827524453756457 Togo Suganami5956645104Ret78736548258 Kohta KawaaiRet469Ret9Ret8Ret565109 Reiji Hiraki6889797483127 WD WD WD910 Yuya Hiraki810101091010510810Ret WD WD WD211 "Dragon"Ret1111121011127127111068Ret11Ret10112 Nobuhiro ImadaRet1212118121191169987910Ret11113 Seiya Motojima8Ret8887014 Roberto Merhi9Ret9015 Masayuki Ueda913131311130PosDriverR1R2R3R1R2R3R1R2R3R1R2R3R1R2R3R1R2R3PointsFUJSUZAUTSUGMOTOKA

Masters Class PosDriverFUJSUZAUTSUGMOTOKAPointsR1R2R3R1R2R3R1R2R3R1R2R3R1R2R3R1R2R31 Nobuhiro ImadaRet221121211112111Ret22 "Dragon"Ret1122121222212Ret2Ret13 Masayuki Ueda13333335PosDriverR1R2R3R1R2R3R1R2R3R1R2R3R1R2R3R1R2R3PointsFUJSUZAUTSUGMOTOKA

Teams' standings PosTeamFUJSUZAUTSUGMOTOKAPointsR1R2R3R1R2R3R1R2R3R1R2R3R1R2R3R1R2R31TOM'S1111213231111123131512Toda RacingRet24212212Ret352941311003B-Max Racing Team262554171656331222874HELM Motorsports6889797483710WDWDWD95Rn-Sports94681189Ret9Ret8Ret5658879PosTeamR1R2R3R1R2R3R1R2R3R1R2R3R1R2R3R1R2R3PointsFUJSUZAUTSUGMOTOKA

Engine manufacturer standings PosEngine manufacturerFUJSUZAUTSUGMOTOKAPointsR1R2R3R1R2R3R1R2R3R1R2R3R1R2R3R1R2R31TOM'S1111213231111123131512Siegfried Spiess Motorenbau2222121116352311211323 Tomei Engine6889797483710WDWDWD9PosEngine manufacturerR1R2R3R1R2R3R1R2R3R1R2R3R1R2R3R1R2R3PointsFUJSUZAUTSUGMOTOKA

References

External links

Super Formula Lights official website – Japanese / English