The 2011 Formula Challenge Japan was a multi-event motor racing championship for open-wheel formula racing cars, and the sixth 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 23 April and ended on 6 November.[1][2] Three 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 Takamoto Katsuta won the championship by a five-point margin after winning three of the four races in the final round at Motegi, with fellow Toyota drivers Ryō Hirakawa and Kazuya Ishii coming second and third in the points standings. Kazuki Hiramine finished fourth as the highest Honda-supported driver after taking three wins and the championship lead early on. Nissan junior driver Tsubasa Kondō and Yūya Motojima completed the top six, who were the only drivers to take race wins or pole positions throughout the season.

Teams and drivers

Team No. Driver Rounds
FTRS Scholarship
FTRS Clarion FCJ
LUCK FTRS
FTRS FCJ
FTRS K-office FCJ
1 Japan Shintarō Kawabata All
4 Japan Ryō Hirakawa All
9 Japan Takamoto Katsuta All
10 Japan Hiroki Shinotani All
11 Japan Kazuya Ishii All
19 Japan Syunsuke Matsuzaki All
HFDP/SRS-F/Kotira R
HFDP/SRS-F/ARTA
2 Japan Shinnosuke Yamada All
8 Japan Yūya Motojima All
17 Japan Kazuki Hiramine All
18 Japan Shōta Kiyohara All
NDDP Maruso
NDDP FCJ
3 Japan Tsubasa Kondō All
12 Japan Mitsunori Takaboshi All
16 China Zhu Daiwei All
Dream Max FCJ 5 Japan Kōhei Sutō All
Meikyō 602 Palm Town Garage 6 Japan Kunihiro Iwatsuki All
Houka Racing with Dunlop 7 Japan Ryō Ogawa All
AsT Team SBT 13 Japan Ryūnosuke Shibata All
Wings Garage 14 Japan Takanori Yamabe All
ALT Team Naoki 15 Japan Keishi Niki All
Source[2]

Race calendar and results

All races were held in Japan. Rounds 3–4, 9, and 8–14 were run in support of the Formula Nippon Championship, and Rounds 11–12 were held as support races for the 2011 Japanese Grand Prix, a round of the 2011 Formula One World Championship.

Rounds 8 and 9 were originally scheduled to be held on 3–4 September at Suzuka, but were cancelled due to adverse weather conditions caused by Tropical Storm Talas. Round 8 was moved to the final race weekend at Motegi.

Round Circuit Date Pole position Fastest lap Winning driver
1 Fuji Speedway, Oyama 23 April Japan Kazuya Ishii Japan Yūya Motojima Japan Takamoto Katsuta
2 24 April Japan Tsubasa Kondō Japan Kazuki Hiramine Japan Kazuki Hiramine
3 Suzuka Circuit, Suzuka 14 May Japan Kazuya Ishii Japan Kazuki Hiramine Japan Kazuya Ishii
4 15 May Japan Kazuki Hiramine Japan Kazuki Hiramine Japan Kazuki Hiramine
5 Fuji Speedway, Oyama 11 June Japan Kazuki Hiramine Japan Kazuki Hiramine Japan Kazuki Hiramine
6 Japan Kazuki Hiramine Japan Yūya Motojima Japan Ryō Hirakawa
7 12 June Japan Yūya Motojima Japan Yūya Motojima Japan Yūya Motojima
9 Suzuka Circuit, Suzuka 4 September Race cancelled
10 Suzuka Circuit, Suzuka 8 October Japan Kazuya Ishii Japan Takamoto Katsuta Japan Kazuya Ishii
11 9 October Japan Takamoto Katsuta Japan Takamoto Katsuta
8 Twin Ring Motegi, Motegi 5 November Japan Ryō Hirakawa Japan Mitsunori Takaboshi Japan Tsubasa Kondō
12 Japan Takamoto Katsuta Japan Takamoto Katsuta
13 6 November Japan Takamoto Katsuta Japan Takamoto Katsuta
14 Japan Takamoto Katsuta Japan Takamoto Katsuta

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
Pos. Driver FUJ SUZ FUJ SUZ SUZ MOT Points
1 Japan Takamoto Katsuta 1 3 3 4 19 7 11 C 3 1 3 1 1 1 78
2 Japan Ryō Hirakawa 2 2 7 3 2 1 3 C 4 5 2 3 2 2 73
3 Japan Kazuya Ishii Ret Ret 1 6 3 2 2 C 1 2 5 4 3 16 60
4 Japan Kazuki Hiramine 5 1 15 1 1 6 7 C 8 9 7 15 5 4 45
5 Japan Tsubasa Kondō 4 9 6 5 4 4 4 C 16 7 1 2 4 9 36
6 Japan Yūya Motojima 16 6 2 7 5 3 1 C 5 4 6 8 7 12 35
7 Japan Mitsunori Takaboshi 3 16 4 2 6 14 5 C 6 8 19 10 10 5 22
8 Japan Shinnosuke Yamada 8 8 9 10 10 8 8 C 2 3 10 7 8 7 12
9 Japan Shōta Kiyohara Ret 4 8 8 8 9 Ret C 11 6 4 6 6 11 9
10 Japan Keishi Niki 6 Ret 10 11 13 Ret 14 C 10 14 11 16 14 3 6
11 Japan Hiroki Shinotani 13 10 5 17 9 5 6 C 7 12 12 Ret 13 10 5
12 Japan Shintarō Kawabata 14 7 14 16 14 Ret 13 C Ret 16 9 5 11 DNS 2
13 Japan Syunsuke Matsuzaki 9 5 Ret 9 11 15 12 C 13 15 15 11 12 Ret 2
14 China Zhu Daiwei Ret DNS 11 Ret 12 12 9 C 9 11 8 9 9 6 1
- Japan Takanori Yamabe 7 13 13 12 7 10 10 C 12 13 13 Ret 15 8 0
- Japan Kōhei Sutō 11 12 16 15 18 Ret 17 C Ret 10 16 14 Ret Ret 0
- Japan Ryūnosuke Shibata 10 15 Ret 14 16 Ret 16 C 14 Ret 17 Ret 17 14 0
- Japan Ryō Ogawa 15 11 12 13 17 11 15 C DNS 17 14 12 16 13 0
- Japan Kunihiro Iwatsuki 12 14 17 18 15 13 18 C 15 18 18 13 18 15 0
Pos. Driver FUJ SUZ FUJ SUZ SUZ MOT Points
Key
ColourResult
GoldRace winner
Silver2nd place
Bronze3rd place
GreenPoints finish
Blue Non-points finish
Non-classified finish (NC)
PurpleDid not finish (Ret)
Black Disqualified (DSQ)
Excluded (EX)
White Did not start (DNS)
Race cancelled (C)
Withdrew (WD)
BlankDid not participate

Bold – Pole
Italics – Fastest Lap

References

  1. "2011 Formula Challenge Japan - rounds". Super Formula | Formula Challenge Japan official website (in Japanese). Retrieved 2023-11-08.
  2. 1 2 "2011 Formula Challenge Japan - Drivers". Super Formula | Formula Challenge Japan official website (in Japanese). Retrieved 2023-11-08.
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