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2023 Formula Regional Japanese Championship

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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 K2 Planet, and the 45th overall season of an FIA ladder series (dating to the 1979 Japanese Formula 3 Championship).[1]

The season started on 1 April at Fuji Speedway and ran over six weekends until 26 November.[2]

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

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All teams and drivers competed using the Dome F111/3 Regional F3 car.[1] All teams were Japanese-registered.

Team No. Driver Status Rounds
Team KRM 2 Japan Masahiro Hayashi M 1
Sutekina Racing Team 3 Japan Ryunosuke Sawa 1, 5
New Zealand Kaleb Ngatoa 2
Japan Yu Kanamaru 3
Switzerland Michael Sauter 4
Japan Jiei Okuzumi 6
14 Japan Mizuki Ishizaka 5
27 New Zealand Liam Sceats All
Rn-Sports 11 Japan "Motoki" M 2, 5
99 Japan Yoshitsugu Kondo M 3–4, 6
HELM Motorsports 14 Japan Tomohito Watabe 2
62 Japan Yuya Hiraki 1
China Wang Zhongwei 3
Buzz Racing 14 Japan Jiei Okuzumi 3
TOM'S Formula[a]
PONOS Racing[a]
14 Italy Enzo Trulli 4, 6
45 Japan Yorikatsu Tsujiko M 1, 5
Japan Kazuki Oki 2, 6
NILZZ Racing 18 Japan "Yuki" M 1, 4–5
N-Speed 23 Japan "Yugo" M 1, 5
Sky Motor Sports 36 China Sky Chen M 5–6
Tokaidenso MD 44 Japan Toshihiro Kubota M 5
Bionic Jack Racing 97 Japan Yugo Iwasawa 1–3
Japan Jiei Okuzumi 4
Japan Anna Inotsume 5
Switzerland Michael Sauter 6
98 Japan Sota Ogawa All
Privateer 62 Japan Kizuku Hirota 6
Sources: [3][4][5][6][7][8][9]

Race calendar

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The 2023 calendar was revealed in late 2022.[2]

Round Circuit Date Support Bill Map of circuit locations
1 R1 Fuji Speedway, Oyama 1 April Fuji Champion Race Series
Porsche Sprint Challenge Japan
Yaris Cup West Japan Series
Formula Beat
R2 2 April
R3
2 R4 Suzuka International Racing Course, Suzuka 14 May TCR Japan Touring Car Series
Suzuka Clubman Race
R5
3 R6 Okayama International Circuit, Mimasaka 10 June TCR Japan Touring Car Series
Okayama Challenge Cup
Formula Beat
Roadster Party Race
R7 11 June
R8
4 R9 Mobility Resort Motegi, Motegi 22 July GT World Challenge Asia (Japan Cup)
GT4 Asia Series
Motegi Champion Cup
Super FJ
R10 23 July
R11
5 R12 Fuji Speedway, Oyama 9 September FIA World Endurance Championship (6 Hours of Fuji)
R13
6 R14 Sportsland Sugo, Murata 25 November TCR Japan Touring Car Series
Sugo Champion Cup
Motegi - Sugo Challenge Cup
Japanese Roadster Cup
R15 26 November
R16

Race results

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Round Circuit Pole position Fastest lap Winning driver Winning team Masters class winner
1 R1 Fuji Speedway Japan Sota Ogawa Japan Yuya Hiraki Japan Yuya Hiraki HELM Motorsports Japan Yorikatsu Tsukijo
R2 Japan Sota Ogawa Japan Ryunosuke Sawa Japan Ryunosuke Sawa Sutekina Racing Team Japan Yorikatsu Tsukijo
R3 Japan Sota Ogawa Japan Sota Ogawa Japan Sota Ogawa Bionic Jack Racing Japan "Yuki"
2 R4 Suzuka International Racing Course Japan Kazuki Oki Japan Yugo Iwasawa Japan Kazuki Oki PONOS Racing Japan ”Motoki”
R5 Japan Sota Ogawa New Zealand Liam Sceats Japan Sota Ogawa Bionic Jack Racing Japan ”Motoki”
3 R6 Okayama International Circuit Japan Sota Ogawa Japan Jiei Okuzumi Japan Sota Ogawa Bionic Jack Racing Japan Yoshitsugu Kondo
R7 Japan Sota Ogawa Japan Yu Kanamaru Japan Yu Kanamaru Sutekina Racing Team Japan Yoshitsugu Kondo
R8 Japan Sota Ogawa Japan Sota Ogawa New Zealand Liam Sceats Sutekina Racing Team Japan Yoshitsugu Kondo
4 R9 Mobility Resort Motegi Japan Sota Ogawa Japan Sota Ogawa Japan Jiei Okuzumi Bionic Jack Racing Japan Yoshitsugu Kondo
R10 Japan Sota Ogawa Japan Sota Ogawa Japan Sota Ogawa Bionic Jack Racing Japan Yoshitsugu Kondo
R11 Japan Sota Ogawa New Zealand Liam Sceats New Zealand Liam Sceats Sutekina Racing Team Japan Yoshitsugu Kondo
5 R12 Fuji Speedway Japan Ryunosuke Sawa Japan Ryunosuke Sawa Japan Ryunosuke Sawa Sutekina Racing Team Japan Yorikatsu Tsukijo
R13 Japan Sota Ogawa Japan Ryunosuke Sawa New Zealand Liam Sceats Sutekina Racing Team Japan ”Motoki”
6 R14 Sportsland Sugo Italy Enzo Trulli Switzerland Michael Sauter Japan Jiei Okuzumi Sutekina Racing Team No classified finishers
R15 Switzerland Michael Sauter Japan Sota Ogawa Japan Jiei Okuzumi Sutekina Racing Team
R16 Switzerland Michael Sauter Switzerland Michael Sauter Switzerland Michael Sauter Bionic Jack Racing

Season report

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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.[10]

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.[11]

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.[12]

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.[13]

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.[14]

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.[15]

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

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Scoring system

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Points were awarded to the top ten drivers.

Position  1st   2nd   3rd   4th   5th   6th   7th   8th   9th   10th 
Points 25 18 15 12 10 8 6 4 2 1

Drivers' championship

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Pos Driver FUJ1 SUZ[b] OKA MOT FUJ2 SUG Pts
R1 R2 R3 R1 R2 R1 R2 R3 R1 R2 R3 R1 R2 R1 R2 R3
1 Japan Sota Ogawa 2 2 1 2 1 1 2 2 Ret 1 2 2 Ret 3 4 4 243.5
2 New Zealand Liam Sceats 4 Ret 5 3 2 4 4 1 3 4 1 4 1 2 3 5 219.5
3 Japan Jiei Okuzumi Ret 3 4 1 3 5 1 1 2 145
4 Japan Ryunosuke Sawa 3 1 2 1 3 98
5 Japan Yugo Iwasawa 5 4 4 5 3 2 5 5 84.5
6 Switzerland Michael Sauter 4 5 4 4 Ret 1 71
7 Japan Kazuki Oki 1 4 5 2 3 61.5
8 Japan Yuya Hiraki 1 3 3 55
9 Japan Yu Kanamaru 3 1 3 55
10 Italy Enzo Trulli 2 2 3 Ret DNS Ret 51
11 Japan Yoshitsugu Kondo 5 6 7 5 6 6 DNQ DNQ DNQ 50
12 Japan "Yuki" 7 8 6 6 7 7 9 10 41
13 Japan Yorikatsu Tsujiko 6 5 7 6 9 34
14 Japan Mizuki Ishizaka 3 2 33
15 Japan Kizuku Hirota 6 5 6 26
16 Japan Anna Inotsume 5 4 22
17 Japan “Motoki” 7 5 8 5 22
18 Japan "Yugo" 8 6 8 11 8 20
19 China Wang Zhongwei Ret 7 6 14
20 Japan Toshihiro Kubota 7 6 14
21 Japan Masahiro Hayashi 9† 7 9 10
22 Japan Tomohito Watabe 6 6 8
23 China Sky Chen 10 7 DNQ DNQ DNQ 7
24 New Zealand Kaleb Ngatoa 4 Ret 6
Pos Driver R1 R2 R3 R1 R2 R1 R2 R3 R1 R2 R3 R1 R2 R1 R2 R3 Pts
FUJ1 SUZ OKA MOT FUJ2 SUG

Masters' class

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Pos Driver FUJ1 SUZ[b] OKA MOT FUJ2 SUG Pts
R1 R2 R3 R1 R2 R1 R2 R3 R1 R2 R3 R1 R2 R1 R2 R3
1 Japan Yoshitsugu Kondo 1 1 1 1 1 1 DNQ DNQ DNQ 150
2 Japan "Yuki" 2 4 1 2 2 2 4 6 129
3 Japan Yorikatsu Tsujiko 1 1 2 1 5 103
4 Japan "Yugo" 3 2 3 6 4 68
5 Japan “Motoki” 1 1 3 1 65
6 Japan Masahiro Hayashi 4† 3 4 39
7 Japan Toshihiro Kubota 2 2 36
8 China Sky Chen 5 3 DNQ DNQ DNQ 25
Pos Driver R1 R2 R3 R1 R2 R1 R2 R3 R1 R2 R3 R1 R2 R1 R2 R3 Pts
FUJ1 SUZ OKA MOT FUJ2 SUG

Teams' championship

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Only the best finishing driver of each team was eligible for teams' championship points.

Pos Driver FUJ1 SUZ[b] OKA MOT FUJ2 SUG Pts
R1 R2 R3 R1 R2 R1 R2 R3 R1 R2 R3 R1 R2 R1 R2 R3
1 Sutekina Racing Team 3 1 2 3 2 3 1 1 3 4 1 1 1 1 1 2 309.5
2 Bionic Jack Racing 2 2 1 2 1 1 2 2 1 1 2 2 4 3 4 1 293.5
3 PONOS Racing 6 5 7 1 4 6 9 5 2 3 95.5
4 HELM Motorsports 1 3 3 6 6 Ret 7 6 77
5 Rn-Sports 7 5 5 6 7 5 6 6 8 5 DNQ DNQ DNQ 72
6 TOM'S Formula 2 2 3 Ret DNS Ret 51
7 NILZZ Racing 7 8 6 6 7 7 9 10 41
8 Buzz Racing Ret 3 4 27
9 Privateer 6 5 6 26
10 N-Speed 8 6 8 11 8 20
11 Tokaidenso MD 7 6 14
12 Team KRM 9† 7 9 10
13 Sky Motor Sports 10 7 DNQ DNQ DNQ 7
Pos Driver R1 R2 R3 R1 R2 R1 R2 R3 R1 R2 R3 R1 R2 R1 R2 R3 Pts
FUJ1 SUZ OKA MOT FUJ2 SUG

Notes

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  1. ^ a b Car No. 14 entered as TOM'S Formula, and car No. 45 entered as PONOS Racing
  2. ^ a b c Half points were awarded in both races of round two due to limited running caused by bad weather conditions.

References

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  1. ^ a b Wood, Elliot (2019-09-11). "Japanese Regional F3 series and car revealed". Formula Scout. Retrieved 2020-02-18.
  2. ^ a b "Formula Regional Japanese Championship". frj.jp. Retrieved 2023-01-19.
  3. ^ "Formula Regional Japanese Championship". frj.jp. Retrieved 2023-03-27.
  4. ^ Wood, Ida (2023-04-27). "M2 Competition sets up management company, sends Ngatoa to FRJC". Formula Scout. Retrieved 2023-04-27.
  5. ^ "Formula Regional Japanese Championship". frj.jp. Retrieved 2023-05-08.
  6. ^ "Formula Regional Japanese Championship". frj.jp. Retrieved 2023-06-05.
  7. ^ "Formula Regional Japanese Championship". frj.jp. Retrieved 2023-07-18.
  8. ^ "Formula Regional Japanese Championship". frj.jp. Retrieved 2023-09-04.
  9. ^ "Formula Regional Japanese Championship". frj.jp. Retrieved 2023-11-17.
  10. ^ Wood, Ida (2023-04-02). "Sota Ogawa takes FRegional Japan lead in round one at Fuji Speedway". Formula Scout. Retrieved 2023-12-19.
  11. ^ Wood, Ida (2023-05-14). "FRegional Japan's seven-car field gets just one racing lap at wet Suzuka". Formula Scout. Retrieved 2023-12-19.
  12. ^ Wood, Ida (2023-06-11). "Ogawa extends FRegional Japan lead in up-and-down Okayama round". Formula Scout. Retrieved 2023-12-19.
  13. ^ Wood, Ida (2023-07-23). "Sota Ogawa wins once but loses twice at Motegi in FRegional Japan". Formula Scout. Retrieved 2023-12-19.
  14. ^ Wood, Ida (2023-09-09). "Sceats wins at Fuji to reduce Ogawa's FRegional Japan lead". Formula Scout. Retrieved 2023-12-19.
  15. ^ Wood, Ida (2023-11-26). "Ogawa becomes FRegional Japan champion as Okuzumi wins at Sugo". Formula Scout. Retrieved 2023-12-19.
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