The 2018 Japanese Super Formula Championship was the forty-sixth season of premier Japanese open-wheel motor racing, and the sixth under the moniker of Super Formula. The season began on 22 April and is scheduled to end on 28 October at the same place after seven rounds.
2018 was the final season that the Dallara SF14 chassis package—which débuted in the 2014 Super Formula Championship—was used in competition; as a brand new chassis package will be introduced for the 2019 season but the engine configuration will remain the same.
Teams and drivers Every Honda-powered car used a Honda HR-414E engine and every Toyota-powered car used a Toyota RI4A engine. Team Engine Driver Rounds JMS P.mu/cerumo・INGING Toyota 1 Hiroaki Ishiura All 2 Yuji Kunimoto All Kondo Racing Toyota 3 Nick Cassidy All 4 Kenta Yamashita All Docomo Team Dandelion Racing Honda 5 Tomoki Nojiri All 6 Nobuharu Matsushita All UOMO Sunoco Team LeMans Toyota 7 Pietro Fittipaldi 1 Tom Dillmann 2–7 8 Kazuya Oshima All Team Mugen Honda 15 Nirei Fukuzumi 1, 5–7 Sena Sakaguchi 2 Dan Ticktum 3–4 16 Naoki Yamamoto All REAL Racing Honda 17 Koudai Tsukakoshi All carrozzeria Team KCMG Toyota 18 Kamui Kobayashi 1–4, 6–7 Yuichi Nakayama 5 Itochu Enex Team Impul Toyota 19 Yuhi Sekiguchi All 20 Ryo Hirakawa All Vantelin Team Tom's Toyota 36 Kazuki Nakajima 1–4, 6–7 João Paulo de Oliveira 5 37 James Rossiter All B-MAX Racing Team Honda 50 Katsumasa Chiyo All TCS Nakajima Racing Honda 64 Narain Karthikeyan All 65 Takuya Izawa All
Driver changes Nissan Super GT driver Katsumasa Chiyo replaced Takashi Kogure in the B-MAX Racing Team. 2017 World Series Formula V8 3.5 champion Pietro Fittipaldi replaced Felix Rosenqvist in the Team LeMans. Tom Dillmann is scheduled to substitute Fittipaldi at the Autopolis and Sugo rounds, who will be busy due to his 2018 IndyCar Series commitments. After Fittipaldi was injured at the 6 Hours of Spa-Francorchamps, Dillman replaced Fittipaldi for more rounds. Pierre Gasly left the series to compete in Formula One with Scuderia Toro Rosso. His place at Team Mugen was taken by Nirei Fukuzumi, who finished third in the 2017 GP3 Series. Fukuzumi will also compete in the FIA Formula 2 Championship, and is set to prioritise F2 rounds over Super Formula where any dates clash. André Lotterer left the TOM'S team and the championship after fifteen consecutive seasons since 2003. His seat was taken by James Rossiter, formerly of Kondo Racing who returns after a season out. Nobuharu Matsushita returned to Japan after two seasons in the GP2 Series and one season in the FIA Formula 2 Championship, joining Docomo Team Dandelion Racing. He takes the seat of Takuya Izawa, who moved to Nakajima Racing. Ryo Hirakawa returned to Super Formula for the first time since 2015 with Team Impul, replacing Jann Mardenborough.
Race calendar and results Due to scheduling restrictions imposed by the concurrent Japan WTCR round, the final round of the calendar at Suzuka Circuit will now feature a single race instead of the originally planned double-header.
Round Circuit Date Pole position Fastest lap Winning driver Winning team 1 Suzuka Circuit 22 April Naoki Yamamoto James Rossiter Naoki Yamamoto Team Mugen 2 Autopolis 13 May Ryo Hirakawa Race cancelled due to weather conditions 3 Sportsland SUGO 27 May Tomoki Nojiri Yuhi Sekiguchi Naoki Yamamoto Team Mugen 4 Fuji Speedway 8 July Nick Cassidy Nick Cassidy Nick Cassidy Kondo Racing 5 Twin Ring Motegi 19 August Hiroaki Ishiura Nirei Fukuzumi Hiroaki Ishiura JMS P.mu/Cerumo・INGING 6 Okayama International Circuit 9 September Yuhi Sekiguchi Kamui Kobayashi Yuhi Sekiguchi Itochu Enex Team Impul 7 Suzuka Circuit 27 October Naoki Yamamoto Yuhi Sekiguchi Naoki Yamamoto Team Mugen
Championship standings Drivers' Championship Scoring system
Position 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Pole Rounds 1-6 10 8 6 5 4 3 2 1 1 Round 7 13 8 6 5 4 3 2 1 1
Driver standings
Pos Driver SUZ AUT SUG FUJ MOT OKA SUZ Points 1 Naoki Yamamoto 1 C 1 8 7 10 1 38 2 Nick Cassidy 7 C 2 1 3 5 2 37 3 Hiroaki Ishiura 4 C 11 2 1 7 11 25 4 Yuhi Sekiguchi 2 C 13 6 16 1 8 18 5 Ryo Hirakawa Ret C 9 4 2 3 Ret 17 6 Kazuki Nakajima 8 C 3 5 17 5 15 7 Tomoki Nojiri 3 C 7 14 8 4 9 12.5 8 Yuji Kunimoto 13 C Ret 3 15 8 4 11.5 9 Kenta Yamashita 9 C 8 18 6 6 3 11.5 10 Kamui Kobayashi 10 C 6 12 2 13 7 11 Nobuharu Matsushita 12 C 10 9 4 9 7 7 12 Kazuya Oshima 15 C 15 7 5 16 14 6 13 Koudai Tsukakoshi 6 C 12 13 10 12 6 6 14 Tom Dillmann C 4 10 12 Ret 15 5 15 Narain Karthikeyan 17 C 5 16 11 13 17 4 16 Takuya Izawa 5 C 14 15 14 14 16 4 17 James Rossiter 11 C Ret 19 9 11 Ret 0 18 Katsumasa Chiyo 14 C Ret 17 19 15 10 0 19 Dan Ticktum Ret 11 0 20 Nirei Fukuzumi Ret 17 18 12 0 21 Yuichi Nakayama 13 0 22 Pietro Fittipaldi 16 0 23 João Paulo de Oliveira 18 0 — Sena Sakaguchi C — Pos Driver SUZ AUT SUG FUJ MOT OKA SUZ Points
Teams' Championship
Pos Team No. SUZ AUT SUG FUJ MOT OKA SUZ Points 1 Kondo Racing 3 7 C 2 1 3 5 2 47.5 4 9 C 8 18 6 6 3 2 Team Mugen 15 Ret C Ret 11 17 18 12 36 16 1 C 1 8 7 10 1 3 P.mu/Cerumo・INGING 1 4 C 11 2 1 7 11 35.5 2 13 C Ret 3 15 8 4 4 Itochu Enex Team Impul 19 2 C 13 6 16 1 8 33 20 Ret C 9 4 2 3 Ret 5 Docomo Team Dandelion Racing 5 3 C 7 14 8 4 9 18.5 6 12 C 10 9 4 9 7 6 Vantelin Team Tom's 36 8 C 3 5 18 17 5 15 37 11 C Ret 19 9 11 Ret 7 UOMO Sunoco Team LeMans 7 16 C 4 10 12 Ret 15 11 8 15 C 15 7 5 16 14 8 TCS Nakajima Racing 64 17 C 5 16 11 13 17 8 65 5 C 14 15 14 14 16 9 carrozzeria Team KCMG 18 10 C 6 12 13 2 13 7 10 REAL Racing 17 6 C 12 13 10 12 6 6 11 B-MAX Racing Team 50 14 C Ret 17 19 15 10 0 Pos Team No. SUZ AUT SUG FUJ MOT OKA SUZ Points
Notes
References
External links Japanese Championship Super Formula official website