2024 Super Formula Championship
The 2024 Japanese Super Formula Championship is the fifty-second season of premier Japanese open-wheel motor racing, and the twelfth under the moniker of Super Formula. It started in March at Suzuka Circuit and is due to be contested over seven race weekends, ending in November at Suzuka.[1]
Reigning drivers' champion Ritomo Miyata did not defend his title in 2024 after leaving the series to compete in the FIA Formula 2 Championship and European Le Mans Series.[2] Team Mugen entered 2024 as the defending teams' champion.
Teams and drivers
All teams use identical Dallara-built SF23 chassis with either Honda or Toyota engines. Every Honda-powered car uses a Honda HR-417E engine and every Toyota-powered car uses a Toyota TRD-01F engine.
| Entrant | Engine | No. | Driver name | Rounds |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Kondo Racing[3] | Toyota | 3 | Kenta Yamashita[3] | 1–3 |
| 4 | Kazuto Kotaka[3] | 1–3 | ||
| Docomo Team Dandelion Racing[4] | Honda | 5 | Tadasuke Makino[4] | 1–3 |
| 6 | Kakunoshin Ohta[4] | 1–3 | ||
| Kids com Team KCMG[3] | Toyota | 7 | Kamui Kobayashi[3] | 1–3 |
| 8 | Nirei Fukuzumi[3] | 1–3 | ||
| ThreeBond Racing[4] | Honda | 12 | Atsushi Miyake[4] | 1–3 |
| docomo business ROOKIE[3] | Toyota | 14 | Kazuya Oshima[3] | 1–3 |
| Team Mugen[5] | Honda | 15 | Ayumu Iwasa[5] | 1–3 |
| 16 | Tomoki Nojiri[5] | 1–3 | ||
| Itochu Enex Team Impul[3] | Toyota | 19 | Théo Pourchaire[3] | 1 |
| Ben Barnicoat[6] | 2 | |||
| Hibiki Taira[7] | 3 | |||
| 20 | Yuji Kunimoto[3] | 1–3 | ||
| Vantelin Team TOM’S[3] | Toyota | 36 | Sho Tsuboi[3] | 1–3 |
| 37 | Ukyo Sasahara[3] | 1–3 | ||
| Vertex Partners Cerumo・INGING[3] | Toyota | 38 | Sena Sakaguchi[3] | 1–3 |
| 39 | Toshiki Oyu[3] | 1–3 | ||
| San-Ei Gen with B-Max[4][8] | Honda | 50 | Iori Kimura[4] | 1–3 |
| TGM Grand Prix[4] | Honda | 53 | "Juju"[4][9] | 1–3 |
| 55 | Nobuharu Matsushita[10] | 1–3 | ||
| PONOS Nakajima Racing[4] | Honda | 64 | Naoki Yamamoto[4] | 1–3 |
| 65 | Ren Sato[4] | 1–3 |
Team changes
- Cerumo-INGING acquired a new title sponsor in finance advisory firm Vertex Partners, and the team is now known as "Vertex Partners Cerumo-INGING".[3]
- Nakajima Racing acquired a new title sponsor in video game developer PONOS to replace Tata Consultancy Services (TCS), and the team is now known as "PONOS Nakajima Racing".[4]
- B-Max Racing Team downsized from running two cars in 2023 to a single-car entry in 2024. The team also gained a new title sponsor in food ingredient manufacturer San-Ei Gen, and is now known as "San-Ei Gen with B-Max".[8]
Driver changes
- Reigning champion Ritomo Miyata left the series and moved to Formula 2 and the European Le Mans Series in preparation to step up to the FIA World Endurance Championship with Toyota Gazoo Racing.[2] Miyata's replacement at Vantelin Team TOM'S was Sho Tsuboi, who spent the last five seasons at INGING, and was Miyata's co-driver in their 2023 Super GT GT500 class championship campaign. Ukyo Sasahara, who raced with TOM'S for the last three rounds of the 2023 season, returned on a full-time contract for 2024. Both drivers swapped numbers from the end of last season with Tsuboi driving the No. 36 car and Sasahara the No. 37 car.[3]
- Championship runner-up Liam Lawson also left the series to focus on his dual reserve driver role at Red Bull Racing and RB Formula One Team in Formula One. He was replaced at Team Mugen by fellow Red Bull Junior Team member Ayumu Iwasa, who returned to Japan to make his series debut.[5]
- Cerumo・INGING signed former Honda and TGM Grand Prix driver Toshiki Oyu to replace Sho Tsuboi. Sena Sakaguchi took over Tsuboi's old number 38, and Oyu was given the number 39.[3][11]
- Itochu Enex Team Impul recruited an all-new lineup of 2023 FIA Formula 2 Champion Théo Pourchaire, who made his series debut as the only non-Japanese driver on the grid, and 2016 Super Formula champion Yuji Kunimoto, who had spent the last four seasons with KCMG.[3] Impul's former drivers left the series, with Ryō Hirakawa electing to focus on his new role as the reserve driver for McLaren in Formula One and Yuhi Sekiguchi joining KCMG as a reserve driver and team coordinator.[3][12][13]
- KCMG signed former Honda and ThreeBond Racing driver Nirei Fukuzumi to replace Yuji Kunimoto in the renumbered No. 8 entry, alongside team-mate Kamui Kobayashi.[3]
- TGM Grand Prix signed Juju Noda to drive its No. 53 car, replacing Toshiki Oyu.[3][9][4] Noda became the first Japanese woman and youngest driver to race in the history of the series, after spending 2023 in Euroformula Open, the Drexler-Automotive Formula Cup, and BOSS GP. Before the opening round of the season, TGM signed former B-Max Racing driver Nobuharu Matsushita to drive the No. 55 car.[10] Matsushita replaced Cem Bölükbaşı, who left the series after one year and went on to race in the European Le Mans Series for DKR Engineering.
- Atsushi Miyake rejoined Super Formula after a one-year absence, signing with ThreeBond Racing to replace Nirei Fukuzumi.[4]
- B-Max Racing Team recruited reigning Super Formula Lights champion Iori Kimura to drive the team's single No. 50 car.[4] Nobuharu Matsushita left B-Max after four seasons, and Raoul Hyman left after just one season in the No. 51 car.
Mid-season
- Théo Pourchaire signed a contract to join Arrow McLaren for the remainder of the 2024 IndyCar Series replacing David Malukas in April, departing Team Impul and Super Formula after just one race.[14] 2023 IMSA GTD Pro Champion and Toyota (Lexus Racing USA) works driver Ben Barnicoat replaced Pourchaire at Autopolis.[6] 2023 Super Formula Lights and Super GT - GT300 runner-up Hibiki Taira was announced to be filling the seat for the third round at SUGO.[7]
Race calendar
The provisional calendar was announced on 3 August 2023.[1] The final two rounds were later made to be double-headers.[15] Fuji Speedway's double-header weekend has been moved from the start of the season to 12–13 October, serving as the sixth and seventh rounds of the championship. Suzuka now hosted the opening round of the championship on 10 March. On 25 December 2023, the calendar was slightly amended, with the season finale moved forward by two weeks.[16]
| Round | Circuit | Location | Date | Support bill | Map of circuit locations |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Suzuka International Racing Course | Suzuka, Mie | 10 March | All Japan Road Race Championship Formula Regional Japanese Championship |
|
| 2 | Autopolis | Hita, Oita | 19 May | Super Formula Lights Honda N-One Owner's Cup | |
| 3 | Sportsland SUGO | Shibata, Miyagi | 23 June | Super Formula Lights Honda N-One Owner's Cup | |
| 4 | Fuji Speedway | Oyama, Shizuoka | 19–21 July | Super Formula Lights Kyojo Cup | |
| 5 | Mobility Resort Motegi | Motegi, Tochigi | 23–25 August | Formula Regional Japanese Championship | |
| 6 | Fuji Speedway | Oyama, Shizuoka | 11–13 October | Formula Regional Japanese Championship | |
| 7 | |||||
| 8 | Suzuka International Racing Course | Suzuka, Mie | 8–10 November | Super Formula Lights | |
| 9 |
Race results
| Round | Circuit | Pole position | Fastest lap | Winning driver | Winning team |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Suzuka International Racing Course | Sena Sakaguchi | Naoki Yamamoto | Tomoki Nojiri | Team Mugen |
| 2 | Autopolis | Ayumu Iwasa | Ben Barnicoat | Tadasuke Makino | Docomo Team Dandelion Racing |
| 3 | Sportsland SUGO | Tomoki Nojiri | Tomoki Nojiri | Tomoki Nojiri | Team Mugen |
| 4 | Fuji Speedway | ||||
| 5 | Mobility Resort Motegi | ||||
| 6 | Fuji Speedway | ||||
| 7 | |||||
| 8 | Suzuka International Racing Course | ||||
| 9 |
Championship standings
- Race points
| Position | 1st | 2nd | 3rd | 4th | 5th | 6th | 7th | 8th | 9th | 10th |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Points | 20 | 15 | 11 | 8 | 6 | 5 | 4 | 3 | 2 | 1 |
- Qualifying points
| Position | 1st | 2nd | 3rd |
|---|---|---|---|
| Points | 3 | 2 | 1 |
Drivers' championship
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Teams' championship
| Pos | Team | SUZ1 | AUT | SUG[lower-alpha 1] | FUJ1 | MOT | FUJ2 | SUZ2 | Points | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Team Mugen | 1 | 2 | 1 | 56.5 | ||||||
| 9 | 9 | 2 | |||||||||
| 2 | Docomo Team Dandelion Racing | 4 | 1 | 4 | 39 | ||||||
| 10 | 5 | 14 | |||||||||
| 3 | PONOS Nakajima Racing | 3 | 4 | 11 | 25 | ||||||
| 5 | Ret | DNS | |||||||||
| 4 | Kondo Racing | 2 | 7 | 6 | 23 | ||||||
| Ret | 18 | 8 | |||||||||
| 5 | Vantelin Team TOM’S | 11 | 3 | 3 | 16.5 | ||||||
| 15 | 12 | 16 | |||||||||
| 6 | Vertex Partners Cerumo・INGING | 7 | 6 | 5 | 12 | ||||||
| 16 | 15 | 12 | |||||||||
| 7 | Kids com Team KCMG | 6 | 8 | 10 | 9.5 | ||||||
| 19† | 10 | 13 | |||||||||
| 8 | TGM Grand Prix | 8 | 16 | 18 | 3 | ||||||
| 17 | 20 | 19 | |||||||||
| 9 | Itochu Enex Team Impul | 18 | 13 | 7 | 2 | ||||||
| Ret | 19 | 17 | |||||||||
| 10 | San-Ei Gen with B-Max | 12 | 14 | 9 | 1 | ||||||
| 11 | docomo business ROOKIE | 13 | 11 | Ret | 0 | ||||||
| 12 | ThreeBond Racing | 14 | 17 | 15 | 0 | ||||||
| Pos | Team | SUZ1 | AUT | SUG | FUJ1 | MOT | FUJ2 | SUZ2 | Points | ||
Notes
- The race was stopped due to bad weather conditions after less than 75% of laps were completed. Therefore, half points were awarded.
References
- "Provisional Super Formula calendar hints at F1 support race". motorsport.com. Retrieved 2023-08-03.
- "Toyota star Miyata gets dual F2, ELMS programme in 2024". www.motorsport.com. 2023-11-20. Retrieved 2023-11-20.
- "TOYOTA GAZOO Racing Presents its 2024 motorsport team setups in Japan". Toyota Gazoo Racing. 12 December 2023. Retrieved 12 December 2023.
- "Honda 2024 Motorsports Program Overview". Honda Racing. 19 January 2024. Retrieved 19 January 2024.
- Klein, Jamie (23 November 2023). "Red Bull junior Iwasa gets 2024 Mugen Super Formula seat". motorsport.com. Retrieved 23 November 2023.
- Thukral, Rachit (14 May 2024). "Barnicoat replaces IndyCar-bound Pourchaire at Autopolis Super Formula round". motorsport.com. Retrieved 14 May 2024.
- Wood, Ida (14 June 2024). "Hibiki Taira to make Super Formula debut with Team Impul at Sugo". formulascout.com. Retrieved 14 June 2024.
- "2024年スーパーフォーミュラ参戦体制". b-maxracing.co.jp. 9 February 2024. Retrieved 9 February 2024.
- Thukral, Rachit (9 January 2024). "Noda secures Super Formula drive with Honda squad TGM". motorsport.com. Retrieved 9 January 2024.
- Klein, Jamie (5 March 2024). "Nobuharu Matsushita completes 2024 Super Formula grid". Japan Racing Insider. Retrieved 5 March 2024.
- Klein, Jamie (2024-01-25). "What's the deal with Honda drivers moving to Toyota?". Japan Racing Insider. Retrieved 6 February 2024.
- "Hirakawa joins Miyata, Lawson in Super Formula exodus". motorsport.com. 2023-11-22. Retrieved 2023-11-22.
- Klein, Jamie (2024-02-20). "Super Formula Suzuka test: Media day paddock notes". Japan Racing Insider. Retrieved 2024-02-20.
- "McLaren picks Pourchaire for its IndyCar seat: All the details". The Race. 2024-05-09. Retrieved 2024-05-09.
- "２０２４年全日本レース選手権カレンダー申請一覧" (PDF).
- "Super Formula on X: "2024年スーパーフォーミュラ レース日程変更のお知らせ"". X. 23 December 2023. Retrieved 26 December 2023.
External links
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