The 2006 Formula Nippon Championship was the thirty-fourth season of premier Japanese single-seater racing, and the eleventh under the Formula Nippon moniker. It was contested over nine rounds at five venues, with Autopolis returning to the calendar for the first time since 1992, replacing Miné Circuit. 12 teams and 25 drivers competed in the championship.

For the first time since 1997, multiple companies supplied engines to Formula Nippon teams, with Toyota and Honda each introducing new three-litre, naturally-aspirated V8 engines derived from their previous offerings in the IndyCar Series. Lola also introduced a new spec chassis, the B06/51 (aka FN06), to replace the previous B03/51 that had served the series since 2003.

Team Impul driver Benoît Tréluyer won his first series championship.

Teams and drivers All teams used tyres supplied by Bridgestone and Lola B06/51 chassis. Team # Driver Engine Roundsarting Racing Team with Impul1 Satoshi MotoyamaToyota RV8JAll2 Kazuki HoshinoAllKondo Racing3 Sakon YamamotoToyota RV8J1–3 Seiji Ara4–94 Masataka YanagidaAllTeam Reckless 5ZIGENTeam 5ZIGENM&O with Team 5ZIGEN5 Ryō MichigamiHonda HF386EAll6 Ryo Orime1–8 João Paulo de Oliveira9Team LeMans7 Tatsuya KataokaToyota RV8JAll8 Toranosuke TakagiAllTeam CerumoTeam Reckless Cerumo11 Yuji TachikawaToyota RV8JAllEMS Racing17 Katsuyuki HiranakaHonda HF386E5–9mobilecast Team Impul19 Benoît TréluyerToyota RV8JAll20 Tsugio MatsudaAllDPR Direxiv27 Shogo MitsuyamaHonda HF386E1–4PIAA Nakajima Racing31 Loïc DuvalHonda HF386EAll32 Hideki MutohAllTeam BOSS INGING Formula Nippon33 Ronnie QuintarelliToyota RV8JAll34 Naoki YokomizoAllDHG TOM'S Racing36 André LottererToyota RV8JAll37 Takeshi TsuchiyaAllDoCoMo Team Dandelion Racing40 Björn WirdheimHonda HF386EAll41 Katsuyuki Hiranaka1–3 Yuji Ide4–9Autobacs Racing Team Aguri55 Toshihiro KaneishiHonda HF386EAll56 Takashi KogureAll

Race calendar and results

Round Circuit Date Pole position Fastest lap Winning driver Winning team 1 Fuji Speedway 2 April Benoît Tréluyer Masataka Yanagida Benoît Tréluyer mobilecast IMPUL 2 Suzuka Circuit 16 April Benoît Tréluyer Benoît Tréluyer Loïc Duval PIAA Nakajima 3 Twin Ring Motegi 28 May Takashi Kogure Tsugio Matsuda André Lotterer DHG TOM'S 4 Suzuka Circuit 9 July Benoît Tréluyer Benoît Tréluyer Benoît Tréluyer mobilecast IMPUL 5 Autopolis 6 August Takashi Kogure Loïc Duval Tsugio Matsuda mobilecast IMPUL 6 Fuji Speedway 27 August Takashi Kogure Satoshi Motoyama Benoît Tréluyer mobilecast IMPUL 7 Sportsland SUGO 17 September Takashi Kogure Hideki Mutoh Loïc Duval PIAA Nakajima 8 Twin Ring Motegi 22 October Takashi Kogure Satoshi Motoyama Benoît Tréluyer mobilecast IMPUL 9 Suzuka Circuit 19 November Tsugio Matsuda Benoît Tréluyer André Lotterer DHG TOM'S

Championship standings

Drivers' Championship Scoring system Position 1st 2nd 3rd 4th 5th 6th Points 10 6 4 3 2 1 Rank Name FUJ SUZ MOT SUZ ATP FUJ SGO MOT SUZ Points 1 Benoît Tréluyer 1 3 2 1 7 1 2 1 Ret 51 2 Tsugio Matsuda 2 9 5 2 1 7 3 2 2 37 3 André Lotterer 8 5 1 5 8 2 Ret Ret 1 30 4 Loïc Duval 11 1 6 Ret 18 9 1 4 6 25 5 Satoshi Motoyama 3 8 3 3 Ret 3 5 Ret Ret 16 6 Björn Wirdheim 4 2 4 Ret 6 6 6 11 9 13.5 7 Tatsuya Kataoka 13 7 Ret 6 3 Ret 9 3 3 13 8 Yuji Tachikawa 12 Ret 10 4 4 5 7 5 Ret 10 9 Toshihiro Kaneishi 16 Ret Ret Ret 2 4 Ret Ret 7 9 10 Ronnie Quintarelli 5 Ret Ret Ret 5 10 4 9 12 6 11 Sakon Yamamoto 6 4 14 3.5 12 Takashi Kogure 10 17 Ret 9 19 Ret DSQ Ret 4 3 13 Takeshi Tsuchiya 9 10 Ret 7 9 Ret 8 8 5 2 14 Hideki Mutoh 19 6 8 Ret 17 16 10 10 Ret 1 15 Masataka Yanagida 7 Ret 9 13 13 12 Ret 6 13 1 16 Ryō Michigami 20 18 7 Ret 11 15 12 Ret 11 0 17 Naoki Yokomizo 14 13 Ret 11 Ret Ret 11 7 Ret 0 18 Toranosuke Takagi 22 16 11 8 16 8 Ret Ret Ret 0 19 João Paulo de Oliveira 8 0 20 Seiji Ara 10 10 18 13 Ret Ret 0 21 Yuji Ide 12 12 11 Ret Ret 10 0 22 Katsuyuki Hiranaka 17 11 Ret 15 14 Ret Ret Ret 0 23 Ryo Orime 21 15 12 Ret Ret 17 DSQ 12 0 24 Shogo Mitsuyama 15 12 13 Ret 0 25 Kazuki Hoshino 18 14 Ret Ret 14 13 Ret Ret 14 0

Note:

Because of heavy rain at Fuji during the race, the event ended after two laps. Half points were awarded because of the stoppage before the 75% point.

Teams' Championship

Rank Team Car FUJ SUZ MOT SUZ ATP FUJ SGO MOT SUZ Points1 mobilecast Impul 19 1 3 2 1 7 1 2 1 Ret 88 20 2 9 5 2 1 7 3 2 22 DHG TOM'S 36 8 5 1 5 8 2 Ret Ret 1 32 37 9 10 Ret 7 9 Ret 8 8 53 PIAA Nakajima 31 11 1 6 Ret 18 9 1 4 6 26 32 19 6 8 Ret 17 16 10 10 Ret4 arting Impul 1 3 8 3 3 Ret 3 5 Ret Ret 16 2 18 14 Ret Ret 14 13 Ret Ret 145 DoCoMo Dandelion 40 4 2 4 Ret 6 6 6 11 9 13.5 41 17 11 Ret 12 12 11 Ret Ret 106 Team LeMans 7 13 7 Ret 6 3 Ret 9 3 3 13 8 22 16 11 8 16 8 Ret Ret Ret7 ARTA 55 16 Ret Ret Ret 2 4 Ret Ret 7 12 56 10 17 Ret 9 19 Ret DSQ Ret 48 Reckless Cerumo 11 12 Ret 10 4 4 5 7 5 Ret 109 BOSS INGING 33 5 Ret Ret Ret 5 10 4 9 12 6 34 14 13 Ret 11 Ret Ret 11 7 Ret10 Kondo Racing 3 6 4 14 10 10 18 13 Ret Ret 4.5 4 7 Ret 9 13 13 12 Ret 6 1311 Team 5ZIGEN 5 20 18 7 Ret 11 15 12 Ret 11 0 6 21 15 12 Ret Ret 17 DSQ 12 812 DPR Direxiv 27 15 12 13 Ret 0

External links 2006 Japanese Championship Formula Nippon