The 2004 Formula Nippon Championship was the thirty-second season of premier Japanese single-seater racing, and the ninth under the Formula Nippon moniker. Eight teams and 17 drivers competed in the series.

The series was contested over nine rounds at five venues. Fuji Speedway was closed for 2004 due to renovations, and for the first time, the series raced outside of Japan as Sepang International Circuit in Malaysia was added to the calendar.

Dandelion Racing driver Richard Lyons won his first series championship, defeating André Lotterer after scoring more points in the final race of the season, which was the championship tiebreaker. Lyons became the third driver to win the Formula Nippon and All-Japan Grand Touring Car GT500 Championships in the same year.

Teams and drivers All teams used tyres supplied by Bridgestone, Lola B03/51 chassis, and Mugen MF308 engines. Team # Driver RoundsADiRECT Team 5ZIGEN1 Satoshi MotoyamaAll2 Toshihiro KaneishiAllYellow Hat Kondo Racing Team3 Ryō MichigamiAll4 Yuji TachikawaAllTeam LeMans7 Juichi WakisakaAll8 Takeshi TsuchiyaAllCosmo Oil Racing Team Cerumo11 Tsugio MatsudaAll12 Masami Kageyama6–9mobilecast Team Impul19 Benoît TréluyerAll20 Yuji IdeAllLeMans Spirit25 Tatsuya KataokaAllCarrozzeria Team MOHN27 Koji Yamanishi4–5, 828 Hideki NodaAllPIAA Nakajima Racing31 André LottererAll32 Takashi KogureAllDoCoMo Team Dandelion Racing40 Richard LyonsAll41 Naoki HattoriAll

Race calendar and results

Race Track Date Pole position Fastest race lap Winning driver Winning team 1 Suzuka Circuit 28 March Yuji Ide Richard Lyons Takashi Kogure PIAA Nakajima Racing 2 Sportsland SUGO 2 May Richard Lyons Takashi Kogure Richard Lyons DoCoMo Team Dandelion Racing 3 Twin Ring Motegi 6 June Richard Lyons Richard Lyons André Lotterer PIAA Nakajima Racing 4 Suzuka Circuit 4 July Richard Lyons Naoki Hattori Richard Lyons DoCoMo Team Dandelion Racing 5 Sportsland SUGO 1 August Richard Lyons Juichi Wakisaka Satoshi Motoyama ADiRECT Team 5ZIGEN 6 Mine Circuit 29 August Benoît Tréluyer Juichi Wakisaka Benoît Tréluyer mobilecast Team Impul 7 Sepang International Circuit 19 September André Lotterer Richard Lyons André Lotterer PIAA Nakajima Racing 8 Twin Ring Motegi 24 October Juichi Wakisaka André Lotterer Yuji Ide mobilecast Team Impul 9 Suzuka Circuit 7 November Richard Lyons Yuji Ide Benoît Tréluyer mobilecast Team Impul

In Rounds 4 and 7, sprint races set the grid for the main race. Round 4 sprint race winner Richard Lyons started from pole in the main race. Round 7 sprint race winner André Lotterer started from pole in the main race. Naoki Hattori set pole position for the sprint race.

Championship standings

Drivers' Championship Scoring system Position 1st 2nd 3rd 4th 5th 6th Points 10 6 4 3 2 1 Rank Name SUZ SGO MOT SUZ SGO MIN MYS MOT SUZ Points 1 Richard Lyons 8 1 8 1 4 8 9 2 3 33 2 André Lotterer 2 4 1 8 Ret Ret 1 3 7 33 3 Yuji Ide 12 2 2 3 7 7 10 1 2 32 4 Benoît Tréluyer Ret 6 4 2 10 1 7 Ret 1 30 5 Juichi Wakisaka 13 3 Ret 5 3 2 3 Ret 4 23 6 Satoshi Motoyama 5 12 5 4 1 6 Ret 5 6 21 7 Takashi Kogure 1 9 9 7 2 Ret 6 9 8 17 8 Tatsuya Kataoka 10 11 3 13 Ret 4 5 4 12 12 9 Naoki Hattori 7 7 Ret 10 6 10 2 Ret 10 7 10 Ryō Michigami 3 5 6 Ret Ret 11 8 10 13 7 11 Tsugio Matsuda 4 NC 12 9 DSQ 12 4 6 Ret 7 12 Toshihiro Kaneishi 6 13 10 Ret 12 3 Ret Ret 11 5 13 Takeshi Tsuchiya 11 10 7 11 8 5 Ret Ret 5 4 14 Yuji Tachikawa Ret NC Ret 6 5 9 Ret 7 9 3 15 Hideki Noda 9 8 11 Ret 11 Ret Ret 11 14 0 16 Koji Yamanishi 12 9 8 0 17 Masami Kageyama Ret 11 Ret 15 0

Teams' Championship

Rank Team Car SUZ SGO MOT SUZ SGO MIN MYS MOT SUZ Points1 mobilecast Impul 19 Ret 6 4 2 10 1 7 Ret 162 20 12 2 2 3 7 7 10 1 22 PIAA Nakajima 31 2 4 1 8 Ret Ret 1 3 7 50 32 1 9 9 7 2 Ret 6 9 83 DoCoMo Dandelion 40 8 1 8 1 4 8 9 2 3 40 41 7 7 Ret 10 6 10 2 Ret 104 LeMansLeMans Spirit 7 13 3 Ret 5 3 2 3 Ret 4 37 8 11 10 7 11 8 5 Ret Ret 5 25 10 11 3 13 Ret 4 5 4 125 ADiRECT 5ZIGEN 1 5 12 5 4 1 6 Ret 5 6 26 2 6 13 10 Ret 12 3 Ret Ret 116 Yellow Hat Kondo 3 3 5 6 Ret Ret 11 8 10 13 10 4 Ret NC Ret 6 5 9 Ret 7 97 Cosmo Oil Cerumo 11 4 NC 12 9 DSQ 12 4 6 Ret 7 12 Ret 11 Ret 158 Team MOHN 27 12 9 8 0 28 9 8 11 Ret 11 Ret Ret 11 14

References

External links 2004 Japanese Championship Formula Nippon