The 2023 Formula Regional Japanese Championship was a multi-event, Formula Regional open-wheel single seater motor racing championship held in Japan. The drivers competed in Formula Regional cars that conformed to the FIA Formula Regional regulations for the championship. This was the fourth season of the series, promoted by New Pacific Sports Marketing Inc., and the 45th overall season of an FIA ladder series (dating to the 1979 Japanese Formula 3 Championship).
The season started on 1 April at Fuji Speedway and ran over six weekends until 26 November.
Sota Ogawa, driving for Bionic Jack Racing, won the Drivers' Championship, while Rn-Sports driver Yoshitsugu Kondo was victorious in the Masters' Class. Sutekina Racing Team won the Teams' Championship.
Teams and drivers All teams and drivers competed using the Dome F111/3 Regional F3 car. All teams were Japanese-registered. TeamNo.DriverStatusRounds Team KRM2 Masahiro Hayashi1 Sutekina Racing Team 3 Ryunosuke Sawa1, 5 Kaleb Ngatoa2 Yu Kanamaru3 Michael Sauter4 Jiei Okuzumi614 Mizuki Ishizaka527 Liam SceatsAll Rn-Sports11 "Motoki"2, 599 Yoshitsugu Kondo3–4, 6 HELM Motorsports14 Tomohito Watabe262 Yuya Hiraki1 Wang Zhongwei3 Buzz Racing14 Jiei Okuzumi3 TOM'S Formula14 Enzo Trulli4, 6 NILZZ Racing18 "Yuki"1, 4–5 N-Speed23 "Yugo"1, 5 Sky Motor Sports36 Sky Chen5–6 Tokaidenso MD44 Toshihiro Kubota5 PONOS Racing45 Yorikatsu Tsujiko1, 5 Kazuki Oki2, 6 Bionic Jack Racing97 Yugo Iwasawa1–3 Jiei Okuzumi4 Anna Inotsume5 Michael Sauter698 Sota OgawaAllPrivateer62 Kizuku Hirota6Sources: Icon Class Masters' Cup.
Race calendar The 2023 calendar was revealed in late 2022. RoundCircuitDateSupport BillMap of circuit locations1R1Fuji Speedway, Oyama1 AprilFuji Champion Race SeriesPorsche Sprint Challenge JapanYaris Cup West Japan SeriesFormula BeatR22 AprilR32R4Suzuka International Racing Course, Suzuka14 MayTCR Japan Touring Car SeriesSuzuka Clubman RaceR53R6Okayama International Circuit, Mimasaka10 JuneTCR Japan Touring Car SeriesOkayama Challenge CupFormula BeatRoadster Party RaceR711 JuneR84R9Mobility Resort Motegi, Motegi22 JulyGT World Challenge Asia (Japan Cup)GT4 Asia SeriesMotegi Champion CupSuper FJR1023 JulyR115R12Fuji Speedway, Oyama9 SeptemberFIA World Endurance Championship (6 Hours of Fuji)R136R14Sportsland Sugo, Murata25 NovemberTCR Japan Touring Car SeriesSugo Champion CupMotegi - Sugo Challenge CupJapanese Roadster CupR1526 NovemberR16
Race results RoundCircuitPole positionFastest lapWinning driverWinning teamMasters class winner1R1Fuji Speedway Sota Ogawa Yuya Hiraki Yuya Hiraki HELM Motorsports Yorikatsu TsukijoR2 Sota Ogawa Ryunosuke Sawa Ryunosuke Sawa Sutekina Racing Team Yorikatsu TsukijoR3 Sota Ogawa Sota Ogawa Sota Ogawa Bionic Jack Racing "Yuki"2R4Suzuka International Racing Course Kazuki Oki Yugo Iwasawa Kazuki Oki PONOS Racing ”Motoki”R5 Sota Ogawa Liam Sceats Sota Ogawa Bionic Jack Racing ”Motoki”3R6Okayama International Circuit Sota Ogawa Jiei Okuzumi Sota Ogawa Bionic Jack Racing Yoshitsugu KondoR7 Sota Ogawa Yu Kanamaru Yu Kanamaru Sutekina Racing Team Yoshitsugu KondoR8 Sota Ogawa Sota Ogawa Liam Sceats Sutekina Racing Team Yoshitsugu Kondo4R9Mobility Resort Motegi Sota Ogawa Sota Ogawa Jiei Okuzumi Bionic Jack Racing Yoshitsugu KondoR10 Sota Ogawa Sota Ogawa Sota Ogawa Bionic Jack Racing Yoshitsugu KondoR11 Sota Ogawa Liam Sceats Liam Sceats Sutekina Racing Team Yoshitsugu Kondo5R12Fuji Speedway Ryunosuke Sawa Ryunosuke Sawa Ryunosuke Sawa Sutekina Racing Team Yorikatsu TsukijoR13 Sota Ogawa Ryunosuke Sawa Liam Sceats Sutekina Racing Team ”Motoki”6R14Sportsland Sugo Enzo Trulli Michael Sauter Jiei Okuzumi Sutekina Racing TeamNo classified finishersR15 Michael Sauter Sota Ogawa Jiei Okuzumi Sutekina Racing TeamR16 Michael Sauter Michael Sauter Michael Sauter Bionic Jack Racing
Season report Nine cars entered the season opener at Fuji Speedway, where Bionic Jack's Sota Ogawa took pole positions for all three races. HELM's Yuya Hiraki started race one by taking the lead, and the pair fought all race long, with the latter coming out in front at the end. Sutekina's Ryunosuke Sawa stalled at the start, but managed to recover to third place. The second race saw Ogawa run off track at the start and rejoining fourth. Sawa benefitted to take the lead and the win. Ogawa was able to climb back to second place, with Hiraki completing the podium. The third race finally saw Ogawa able to convert a pole position into a win, as his teammate Yugo Iwasawa, who started alongside him, was unable to keep up. He fell back throughout the race, allowing Sawa and Hiraki onto the podium. Ogawa left Fuji with a three-point championship lead over Sawa.
The grid shrunk to seven cars at Suzuka Circuit as PONOS Racing's Kazuki Oki and Ogawa shared pole positions. The track was hit by a huge weather front for race day, causing torrential rains. The first race saw three laps of safety car conditions, before race control declared the conditions as too dangerous and waved the red flag. The race was not restarted, allowing Oki to take an uncontested win ahead of Ogawa and Sutekina's Liam Sceats. The second race later in the day was not much better: even through the race was started under green flag conditions, they only lasted for a single lap before Sutekina's Kaleb Ngatoa went off. The ensuing safety car turned into a red flag that ended the race, with Ogawa the one to take the win ahead of Sceats and Iwasawa. Both races were awarded half points, with Ogawa now 24.5 points ahead of the absent Sawa.
Round three at Okayama saw Ogawa sweep qualifying for all three races once again. After fending off Sceats at the start of race one, he was free to lead the whole race and take the win. Sceats was unable to muster an attack on the lead, before he dropped back behind Iwasawa and Sutekina's returning category veteran Yu Kanamaru. The second race saw Ogawa build a gap right from the start, but Kanamaru was the fastest car. The latter started fifth, but once he got into third, he caught the leaders by several seconds per lap. He passed his teammate Jiei Okuzumi on lap twelve and took the lead on lap 16 to win. Sceats overtook Ogawa at the start of the third race and held on to become the first foreign race winner in championship history and move into second in the standings, 56 points from Ogawa. Kanamaru ended his weekend with another podium.
The second half of the season began at Motegi, where Ogawa was once again unbeaten in qualifying. He gapped the field through the first half of race one, before making a mistake that saw him run into the gravel and retire. This promoted Okuzumi in the lead, and he won the race ahead of TOM'S's Formula Regional debutant Enzo Trulli and Sceats. Trulli put pressure on Ogawa all throughout the second race despite having a poor start. His efforts culminated in a photo-finish that saw Ogawa win by 0.010s, with Okuzumi further behind in third. The last race began with a five-car battle for the lead that saw Ogawa run into the gravel again. This time though, he was able to fight his way back into second, ahead of Trulli, while Sceats took the win. This saw Ogawa's lead being reduced for the first time of the season, with his advantage now at 47 points.
Eleven cars turned up when the series supported the 6 Hours of Fuji, and Sawa and Ogawa shared pole positions for the two races. As were both qualifying sessions, the first race was held on a wet track. Ogawa overtook Sawa for the lead at the start and continued in first place until he had to lap backmarker traffic through the second half. This brought Sawa back into contention, and as rain then started to fall, he got into the lead and won. Sutekina's Mizuki Ishizaka completed the rostrum. Race two saw the grid take on a foggy and rainy track. Both Ogawa and Sawa went off, with the former doing so two times and having to retire after his second mistake. This promoted Sceats to the front and allowed him to win ahead of Ishizaka and Sawa. Ogawa's championship lead was reduced once again and now stood at only 28 points.
The final round of the season at Sugo saw the grid reduced back to nine entries, with two of them unable to qualify. All three pole positions were earned by foreign drivers, with Trulli and Bionic Jack's Michael Sauter on top. The first race began with another bad start for Trulli that saw him drop behind Sauter. The latter then had to concede the lead to Okuzumi while the Italian crashed and retired. Sauter retook the lead from Okuzumi and came first, but a penalty dropped him to fourth, behind Sceats and Ogawa. Six cars started the second race that saw polesitter Sauter drop to fourth right at the start, before eventually having to retire. Okuzumi led Oki and Sceats home, with the latter keeping the championship open into the final race. That was won by Sauter, ahead of Okuzumi and Oki, while Ogawa came fourth ahead of Sceats to win the championship.
While Sauter, Trulli and Sceats became the first foreign drivers to contest multiple rounds in the history of the championship, the series still struggled heavily to attract competitive entries. Only two drivers contested the full season, and only six drivers entered more than two rounds. Ogawa became champion in his third year in the championship, by virtue of being the only driver with previous knowledge of both the car and the tracks that contested all rounds.
Championship standings
Scoring system Points were awarded to the top ten drivers. Position 1st 2nd 3rd 4th 5th 6th 7th 8th 9th 10th Points251815121086421
Drivers' championship PosDriverFUJ1SUZOKAMOTFUJ2SUGPtsR1R2R3R4R5R6R7R8R9R10R11R12R13R14R15R16 1 Sota Ogawa 2 2 1 2 1 1 2 2 Ret 12 2 Ret 3 4 4 243.5 2 Liam Sceats 4 Ret 5 3 2 4 4 1 3 4 1 4 1 2 3 5 219.5 3 Jiei Okuzumi Ret 3 4 1 3 5 1 1 2 145 4 Ryunosuke Sawa 3 1 2 1 3 98 5 Yugo Iwasawa 5 4 4 5 3 2 5 5 84.5 6 Michael Sauter 4 5 4 4 Ret 1 71 7 Kazuki Oki 1 4 5 2 3 61.5 8 Yuya Hiraki 1 3 3 55 9 Yu Kanamaru 3 1 3 55 10 Enzo Trulli 2 2 3 Ret DNS Ret 51 11 Yoshitsugu Kondo 5 6 7 5 6 6 DNQ DNQ DNQ 50 12 "Yuki" 7 8 6 6 7 7 9 10 41 13 Yorikatsu Tsujiko 6 5 7 6 9 34 14 Mizuki Ishizaka 3 2 33 15 Kizuku Hirota 6 5 6 26 16 Anna Inotsume 5 4 22 17 “Motoki” 7 5 8 5 22 18 "Yugo" 8 6 8 11 8 20 19 Wang Zhongwei Ret 7 6 14 20 Toshihiro Kubota 7 6 14 21 Masahiro Hayashi 9† 7 9 10 22 Tomohito Watabe 6 6 8 23 Sky Chen 10 7 DNQ DNQ DNQ 7 24 Kaleb Ngatoa 4 Ret 6PosDriverR1R2R3R4R5R6R7R8R9R10R11R12R13R14R15R16PtsFUJ1SUZOKAMOTFUJ2SUG
Masters' class PosDriverFUJ1SUZOKAMOTFUJ2SUGPtsR1R2R3R4R5R6R7R8R9R10R11R12R13R14R15R16 1 Yoshitsugu Kondo 1 1 1 1 1 1 DNQ DNQ DNQ 150 2 "Yuki" 2 4 1 2 2 2 4 6129 3 Yorikatsu Tsujiko 1 1 2 1 5103 4 "Yugo" 3 2 3 6 468 5 “Motoki”11 31 65 6 Masahiro Hayashi 4† 3 4 39 7 Toshihiro Kubota 2 2 36 8 Sky Chen 5 3 DNQ DNQ DNQ 25PosDriverR1R2R3R4R5R6R7R8R9R10R11R12R13R14R15R16PtsFUJ1SUZOKAMOTFUJ2SUG
Teams' championship Only the best finishing driver of each team was eligible for teams' championship points. PosDriverFUJ1SUZOKAMOTFUJ2SUGPtsR1R2R3R4R5R6R7R8R9R10R11R12R13R14R15R161 Sutekina Racing Team 3 1 2 3 2 3 1 1 3 4 1 1 1 1 1 2309.52 Bionic Jack Racing 2 2 1 2 1 1 2 2 1 1 2 2 4 3 4 1293.53 PONOS Racing 6 5 7 1 4 6 9 5 2 395.54 HELM Motorsports 1 3 3 6 6 Ret 7 6775 Rn-Sports 7 5 5 6 7 5 6 6 8 5 DNQ DNQ DNQ726 TOM'S Formula 2 2 3 Ret DNS Ret517 NILZZ Racing 7 8 6 6 7 7 9 10418 Buzz Racing Ret 3 4 27 9Privateer 6 5 6 2610 N-Speed 8 6 8 11 820 11 Tokaidenso MD 7 6 1412 Team KRM 9† 7 910 13 Sky Motor Sports 10 7 DNQ DNQ DNQ 7PosDriverR1R2R3R4R5R6R7R8R9R10R11R12R13R14R15R16PtsFUJ1SUZOKAMOTFUJ2SUG
Notes
References
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