The 2010 Formula Challenge Japan was a multi-event motor racing championship for open-wheel formula racing cars, and the fifth 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 22 May and ended on 7 November. Four race weekends were run in support of Formula Nippon, with the October round at Suzuka being held in support of the Formula One Japanese Grand Prix.
Toyota junior driver Yūichi Nakayama dominated the championship, taking pole position in every qualifying session and winning ten of the twelve races on the calendar to complete the most successful campaign in series history. Nissan-supported Takamitsu Matsui finished the season as runner-up with one race win, having scored less than half of Nakayama's total points, ahead of top-placed rookie and Honda junior Kazuki Hiramine. Honda stablemate Yūya Motojima claimed the remaining race victory.
Teams and drivers Team Driver Rounds TDP ScholarshipTMC FCJ 1 Yūichi NakayamaAll6 Ryōsuke KagamiAllHFDP/SRS-F/ARTA/Kotira RHFDP/SRS Scholarship/Kotira R2 Tomoki NojiriAll7 Kazuki HiramineAll18 Shinji NakamuraAll19 Yūya MotojimaAllDragon Knight3 Zhu Hu'anAllClarion FCJ4 Ryō HirakawaAllR.Houka Racing5 Ryo OgawaAllWinds Garage8 Kei YamauraAllK-office FCJ9 Syunsuke MatsuzakiAllLuck10 Takamoto KatsutaAllMediaDo FCJ11 Ryōta TateishiAllNDDP FCJNDDP Maruso FCJ12 Mitsunori TakaboshiAll13 Zhu DaiweiAll20 Takamitsu MatsuiAll21 AllBiltmore14 Tobio OhtaniAllYagura Animal Hospital15 AllDunlop Team Naoki16 Keishi NikiAllTAKAGI PLANNING17 Kazuya IshiiAllSource
Race calendar and results All races were held in Japan. Rounds 1–2, 5–8, and 10–12 were held in support of the Formula Nippon championship, and Round 9 at Suzuka was held as a support race for the 2010 Japanese Grand Prix, the sixteenth round of the 2010 Formula One World Championship. Round Circuit Date 1 Twin Ring Motegi, Motegi 22 May Yūichi Nakayama Yūichi Nakayama Yūichi Nakayama2 23 May Yūichi Nakayama Yūichi Nakayama Yūichi Nakayama 3Fuji Speedway, Oyama 12 June Yūichi Nakayama Yūichi Nakayama Yūichi Nakayama4 13 June Yūichi Nakayama Yūichi Nakayama Yūichi Nakayama 5Fuji Speedway, Oyama 17 July Yūichi Nakayama Ryō Hirakawa Yūichi Nakayama618 July Yūichi Nakayama Yūya Motojima Yūya Motojima7Twin Ring Motegi, Motegi7 August Yūichi Nakayama Yūichi Nakayama Yūichi Nakayama8 8 August Yūichi Nakayama Yūya Motojima Takamitsu Matsui9Suzuka Circuit, Suzuka 9 October Yūichi Nakayama Yūichi Nakayama Yūichi Nakayama 10Suzuka Circuit, Suzuka 6 November Yūichi Nakayama Yūichi Nakayama Yūichi Nakayama11 Yūichi Nakayama Yūichi Nakayama Yūichi Nakayama127 November Yūichi Nakayama Yūichi Nakayama Yūichi Nakayama
Championship standings Drivers' Championship Points were awarded to the top six classified finishers, with one point awarded for pole position and fastest lap respectively. 1 2 3 4 5 6 PP FL 10 7 5 3 2 1 1 1 Driver MOT FUJFUJMOTSUZSUZ Points 1 Yūichi Nakayama111112121111 135 2 Takamitsu Matsui23326Ret17121822 563 Kazuki Hiramine3227463173243484 Yūya Motojima74562120461174325 Tomoki Nojiri1214211155234356276 Ryō Hirakawa481443312RetRet131010177 Tobio Ohtani6685Ret85135665128 Takamoto Katsuta201543714816129Ret1889 Zhu Daiwei55610894RetRet201311810 Tsubasa Kondō1517912Ret1668883Ret611 Kazuya Ishii8779104Ret5714Ret9512 Ryōta Tateishi91010Ret117131011488313 Shinji Nakamura111113Ret1311106165Ret73- Yūki Shiraishi109208Ret197121579Ret0- Zhu Hu'anRetRet16151213147Ret2115150- Syunsuke Matsuzaki14161716141599101012120- Mitsunori Takaboshi1913111491011DSQ141214140- Keishi Niki131215131512151191511130- Ryō Ogawa1819121817201814Ret1918170- Ryōsuke Kagami17DSQ1817161719Ret131717160- Kei Yamaura1618191918181615171616190 Driver MOT FUJ FUJMOTSUZSUZ PointsBold – Pole Italics – Fastest Lap
References