The 2009 Formula Challenge Japan was a multi-event motor racing championship for open-wheel formula racing cars, and the fourth season of the Formula Challenge Japan racing series, a young driver development series jointly supported by Honda, Toyota, and Nissan. The championship featured a mix of manufacturer-affiliated drivers and independent entries, and commenced on 4 April and ended on 27 September. All championship rounds were run in support of the Formula Nippon Championship.
Honda Formula Dream Project driver won the championship in his second year in the series, taking four consecutive race victories to claim the title over Nissan-supported Daiki Sasaki. All race winners - Miura, Sasaki, third-placed finisher Naoya Gamou, and his Honda stablemates Makoto Kanai and Tsubasa Mekaru - won both races of their winning race weekends, with the first round at Fuji Speedway being the only round to have two different race winners.
Teams and drivers All drivers competed in identical Tatuus FC106 chassis powered by Nismo-maintained Renault F4R engines. The entry list originally consisted of 27 entries, but would drop to 18 entries, largely due to the repercussions of the 2008 financial crisis in Japan. Team Driver Rounds FTRS RAJAS FCJTakagi Planning FTRSFTRS FTRS Scholarship 1 Yūichi NakayamaAll2 Kazuya IshiiAll3 Makoto KanaiAll5 Tsubasa Mekaru1–126 Tobio OhtaniAll16 Naoya GamouAll18 Ryō OhtaniAllNDDP Autobacs FCJNDDP Provile FCJNDDP Azillion FCJNDDP FCJ4 Daiki SasakiAll12 Takeshi MatsumotoAll14 Shōgo SuzukiAll15 Tatsuya HattoriAllAvanzza × BOMEX6 Igor SushkoAllNichiryo7 Kazusa ŌuchiAllHFDP/SRS-F/ARTAHFDP/SRS-F Scholarship8 Tomoki NojiriAll11 Ryōji MotojimaAll18 AllDragon Knight10 Zhu DaiweiAllProject KK13 Kazuki KawamuraAllSource
Race calendar and results All races were held in Japan in support of Formula Nippon. Round Circuit Date 1 Fuji Speedway, Oyama 4 April Naoya Gamou Daiki Sasaki Daiki Sasaki2 5 April Daiki Sasaki Tsubasa Mekaru Naoya Gamou 3Suzuka Circuit, Suzuka 16 May Tomoki Nojiri Tomoki Nojiri Makoto Kanai4 17 May Takeshi Matsumoto Tomoki Nojiri Makoto Kanai 5Twin Ring Motegi, Motegi 30 May Daiki Sasaki Daiki Sasaki Daiki Sasaki631 May Daiki Sasaki Tomoki Nojiri Daiki Sasaki7Fuji Speedway, Oyama27 June Tsubasa Mekaru Tsubasa Mekaru Kazuki Miura8 28 June Tsubasa Mekaru Kazuya Ishii Kazuki Miura9Suzuka Circuit, Suzuka 11 July Kazuki Miura Kazuki Miura Kazuki Miura 10 12 July Kazuki Miura Kazuki Miura Kazuki Miura11Twin Ring Motegi, Motegi8 August Kazuki Miura Kazuya Ishii Tsubasa Mekaru129 August Kazuki Miura Daiki Sasaki Tsubasa Mekaru13Sportsland SUGO, Murata26 September Naoya Gamou Yūichi Nakayama Naoya Gamou1427 September Naoya Gamou Yūichi Nakayama Naoya Gamou
Championship standings Drivers' Championship Points were awarded to the top six classified finishers, with one point awarded for pole position and fastest lap respectively. 1 2 3 4 5 6 PP FL 10 7 5 3 2 1 1 1 Driver FUJ SUZMOTFUJSUZMOTSUG Points 1 Kazuki Miura95592311112366 76 2 Daiki Sasaki14641126346453 703 Naoya Gamou2121231084435711654 Yūichi Nakayama3314Ret673211518822415 Tomoki Nojiri1218337Ret7112241034396 Makoto Kanai861192125568577357 Tsubasa MekaruRet17171055111561611298 Kazuya IshiiRet27Ret11111013783213Ret219 Takeshi Matsumoto68421044715179174132110 Ryō Ohtani591151395313976851411 Tobio Ohtani131287466887139119512 Kazuki Kawamura4718Ret17Ret1516Ret1011141012313 Zhu Daiwei71015688Ret121711151212141- Shōgo Suzuki1611108Ret151314141210111580- Tatsuya Hattori101612Ret161699101816139100- Ryōji Motojima11139131213Ret1091512RetRet150- Kazusa Ōuchi14151611151416171613171614110- Igor Sushko151413Ret1412141812141415Ret160 Driver FUJ SUZ MOTFUJSUZMOTSUG PointsBold – Pole Italics – Fastest Lap
References