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2008 Formula Challenge Japan

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The 2008 Formula Challenge Japan was a multi-event motor racing championship for open-wheel formula racing cars, and the third 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 5 April and ended on 21 September.[1][2] All but one of the race weekends were run in support of the Formula Nippon Championship.

Toyota junior driver Yūji Kunimoto, whose brother Keisuke had won the previous year's title, dominated the championship in his second year of competition. Kunimoto took eight wins and seven pole positions from the season's sixteen races, and finished all but one race on the podium to secure a 101-point lead over his nearest rival, Nissan junior and former Formula BMW UK driver Kimiya Satō. Nissan stablemate Katsumasa Chiyo won thrice to finish third in the standings, while Takamitsu Matsui and Tsubasa Mekaru took the remaining race victories.

Teams and drivers

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Team No. Driver Rounds
XGamut Mitsuba-ya FCJ 1 Japan Hikaru Abe All
C-SPAN San-M FCJ 2 Japan Kazuumi Kobayashi All
Rêve RT FCJ 3 Japan Kazuki Kawamura All
SRS-F Scholarship
SRS-F SANAI FCJ
4 Japan Takashi Kobayashi All
6 Japan Shigetomo Shimono All
15 Japan Kazuki Miura [ja] All
26 Japan Kazuma Kokubu All
FTRS
TDP Scholarship
Sugamata Sekkotsuin FTRS
Café Julia FTRS
Team Samurai FTRS
FTRS Team NATS [ja]
Citykart FTRS
5 Japan Naoya Gamou All
8 Japan Yūji Kunimoto All
9 Japan Tsubasa Mekaru All
13 Japan Toshihiro Hinata All
17 Japan Tohjirō Azuma All
20 Japan Takamitsu Matsui All
21 Japan Makoto Kanai All
22 Japan Yūichi Nakayama All
23 Japan Kōta Matsui All
Iwasaki Industry 7 Japan Yūki Iwasaki All
NDDP
NDDP MyBrans
10 Japan Kimiya Satō All
12 Japan Daiki Sasaki All
18 Japan Katsumasa Chiyo All
19 Japan Masayuki Yamashita All
DL Team Naoki 11 Japan Mika Kagoshima [ja] All
Broval.jp NAC 14 Japan Kenji Hosokawa All
A-Project FCJ 16 Japan Kōta Lee All
H.I.S. Travel FCJ 24 Ukraine Igor Sushko All
Winds Nikoya FCJ 25 Japan Kōtarō Hatano All
Source[2]

Race calendar and results

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All races were held in Japan. All rounds, with the exception of rounds 7–8, were run in support of Formula Nippon.

Round Circuit Date Pole position Fastest lap Winning driver
1 Fuji Speedway, Oyama 5 April Japan Takamitsu Matsui Japan Yūji Kunimoto Japan Takamitsu Matsui
2 6 April Japan Yūji Kunimoto Japan Takamitsu Matsui Japan Yūji Kunimoto
3 Suzuka Circuit, Suzuka 10 May Japan Takamitsu Matsui Japan Kenji Hosokawa Japan Katsumasa Chiyo
4 11 May Japan Katsumasa Chiyo Japan Katsumasa Chiyo Japan Katsumasa Chiyo
5 Twin Ring Motegi, Motegi 24 May Japan Takamitsu Matsui Japan Yūji Kunimoto Japan Yūji Kunimoto
6 25 May Japan Yūji Kunimoto Japan Takamitsu Matsui Japan Katsumasa Chiyo
7 Fuji Speedway, Oyama 28 June Japan Yūji Kunimoto Japan Yūji Kunimoto Japan Yūji Kunimoto
8 29 June Japan Yūji Kunimoto Japan Takamitsu Matsui Japan Takamitsu Matsui
9 Suzuka Circuit, Suzuka 12 July Japan Yūji Kunimoto Japan Kimiya Satō Japan Yūji Kunimoto
10 13 July Japan Naoya Gamou Japan Kimiya Satō Japan Kimiya Satō
11 Twin Ring Motegi, Motegi 9 August Japan Tsubasa Mekaru Japan Takashi Kobayashi Japan Tsubasa Mekaru
12 10 August Japan Kimiya Satō Japan Takashi Kobayashi Japan Takamitsu Matsui
13 Fuji Speedway, Oyama 30 August Japan Masayuki Yamashita Japan Kimiya Satō Japan Yūji Kunimoto
14 31 August Japan Makoto Kanai Japan Yūji Kunimoto Japan Yūji Kunimoto
15 Sportsland SUGO, Murata 20 September Japan Yūji Kunimoto Japan Yūji Kunimoto Japan Yūji Kunimoto
16 21 September Japan Yūji Kunimoto Japan Takamitsu Matsui Japan Yūji Kunimoto

Championship standings

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Drivers' Championship

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Points were awarded to the top ten classified finishers, with one point awarded for pole position and fastest lap respectively.

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 PP FL
20 15 12 10 8 6 4 3 2 1 1 1
Pos. Driver FUJ SUZ MOT FUJ SUZ MOT FUJ SUG Points
1 Japan Yūji Kunimoto 2 1 3 3 1 2 1 4 1 3 3 3 1 1 1 1 272
2 Japan Kimiya Satō 4 6 4 6 6 7 2 2 2 1 14 2 3 3 6 2 171
3 Japan Katsumasa Chiyo 3 14 1 1 2 1 7 9 7 5 15 4 2 21 7 Ret 136
4 Japan Takamitsu Matsui 1 2 DNS 22 23 6 3 1 10 16 6 1 4 14 9 4 129
5 Japan Makoto Kanai 16 15 6 5 13 16 13 5 21 10 2 5 9 2 5 6 78
6 Japan Masayuki Yamashita 14 10 Ret 2 12 4 4 3 3 6 Ret 24 17 12 18 17 67
7 Japan Tsubasa Mekaru 7 5 Ret 4 4 Ret 9 Ret 12 19 1 6 16 9 DNS 15 63
8 Japan Naoya Gamou 13 12 13 7 24 Ret 6 Ret 4 2 10 10 15 22 3 3 62
9 Japan Takashi Kobayashi 5 3 Ret 16 Ret 9 26 13 11 9 7 8 8 Ret 2 21 51
10 Japan Kazuki Miura 6 19 11 Ret 25 3 23 6 5 4 22 17 Ret 24 10 8 46
11 Japan Kōta Lee 17 Ret 7 14 7 8 5 24 Ret 12 17 11 5 6 12 10 34
12 Japan Tohjirō Azuma 11 13 Ret 8 5 18 10 11 18 18 8 7 14 4 11 7 33
13 Japan Yūichi Nakayama 10 4 8 13 20 Ret 12 8 6 Ret 5 Ret 11 10 13 13 32
14 Japan Kenji Hosokawa 18 8 2 18 11 Ret 14 7 13 11 21 12 7 7 15 Ret 31
15 Japan Daiki Sasaki 9 11 Ret 12 10 DNS 15 21 15 14 Ret 18 12 5 4 5 29
16 Japan Kazuma Kokubu 23 21 5 Ret 8 Ret 8 10 16 21 4 9 13 13 14 12 27
17 Japan Yūki Iwasaki 8 9 9 11 3 12 11 14 14 13 12 14 18 11 16 16 19
18 Japan Toshihiro Hinata 12 7 Ret 9 18 5 17 16 9 Ret Ret 21 10 18 19 9 19
19 Japan Shigetomo Shimono 15 16 DNS 20 9 10 16 15 Ret 7 11 15 22 8 22 14 10
20 Japan Hikaru Abe 20 24 15 Ret 15 14 21 12 8 22 9 13 19 19 8 18 8
21 Japan Kōtarō Hatano 26 22 10 15 14 13 19 20 17 15 Ret 23 6 15 20 11 7
22 Ukraine Igor Sushko 22 18 12 10 19 15 22 19 Ret 8 13 16 24 16 17 22 4
- Japan Kazuumi Kobayashi 21 23 14 19 17 11 18 18 19 20 18 19 20 17 24 20 0
- Japan Mika Kagoshima 25 20 16 21 16 Ret 24 17 23 23 16 Ret 21 20 23 24 0
- Japan Kōta Matsui 19 17 Ret Ret 21 17 25 22 22 24 19 22 23 23 21 23 0
- Japan Kazuki Kawamura 24 25 Ret 17 22 Ret 20 23 20 17 20 20 Ret 25 Ret 19 0
Pos. Driver FUJ SUZ MOT FUJ SUZ MOT FUJ SUG Points
Key
Colour Result
Gold Race winner
Silver 2nd place
Bronze 3rd place
Green Points finish
Blue Non-points finish
Non-classified finish (NC)
Purple Did not finish (Ret)
Black Disqualified (DSQ)
Excluded (EX)
White Did not start (DNS)
Race cancelled (C)
Withdrew (WD)
Blank Did not participate

Bold – Pole
Italics – Fastest Lap

References

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  1. ^ "2008 Formula Challenge Japan - rounds". Super Formula | Formula Challenge Japan official website (in Japanese). Retrieved 2023-11-11.
  2. ^ a b "2008 Formula Challenge Japan - Point standings". Super Formula | Formula Challenge Japan official website (in Japanese). Retrieved 2023-11-11.