The 2018 Japanese Super Formula Championship was the forty-sixth season of premier Japanese

open-wheel An open-wheel single-seater (often known as formula car) is a car with the wheels outside the car's main body, and usually having only one seat. Open-wheel cars contrast with street cars, sports cars, stock cars, and touring cars, which have thei ...

motor racing Motorsport, motorsports or motor sport is a global term used to encompass the group of competitive sporting events which primarily involve the use of motorized vehicles. The terminology can also be used to describe forms of competition of tw ...

, 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 The 2014 Japanese Championship Super Formula season was the forty-second season of the premier series in Japanese open-wheel motor racing, and the second under the name of Super Formula. 2014 was also the first season using the new chassis, the Da ...

—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

Driver changes

* Nissan Super GT driver

Katsumasa Chiyo is a Japanese factory racing driver, currently competing in the Autobacs Super GT Series as a factory driver for Nissan. He is a graduate of the Nissan Driver Development Program (NDDP), and a past champion of the Bathurst 12 Hour race, and t ...

replaced

Takashi Kogure is a Japanese racing driver. He currently competes in Super GT driving the No. 88 Lamborghini Huracán GT3 Evo for JLOC in the GT300 class. Career Formula Three Kogure made his single-seater début in 2001, driving a Dallara F300 in the ...

in the

B-MAX Racing B-Max Racing Co., Ltd also known as B-Max Racing Team and B-Max Engineering is a race car builder and racing team headquartered in Ayase, Kanagawa. History Byobugaura Kogyo Co., Ltd. established the race division "B-Max Engineering" in 2009, and ...

Team. * 2017 World Series Formula V8 3.5 champion

Pietro Fittipaldi Pietro Fittipaldi da Cruz (born 25 June 1996) is a Brazilian-American racing driver, the grandson of two-time Formula One world champion Emerson Fittipaldi and brother of racing driver Enzo Fittipaldi. Fittipaldi is racing in European Le Mans S ...

replaced

Felix Rosenqvist Felix Rosenqvist (born 7 November 1991) is a Swedish professional racing driver who currently drives the No. 6 Chevrolet for Arrow McLaren SP in the NTT IndyCar Series. He was named Rookie of the Year for the IndyCar Series in 2019. Racing car ...

in the

Team LeMans Le Mans Ltd., headquartered in Shibuya, Tokyo is an automobile parts manufacturer founded in 1967. The original company name was Le Mans Chamber of Commerce. The company is mainly engaged in the development and sales of motorsport parts and the ...

Tom Dillmann Tom Dillmann (born 6 April 1989 in Mulhouse) is a French racing driver, formerly competing for Nio Formula E Team, in Formula E. He is probably best known for winning the German Formula Three Championship in the 2010 season and the Formula V8 3 ...

is scheduled to substitute Fittipaldi at the Autopolis and Sugo rounds, who will be busy due to his

2018 IndyCar Series The 2018 Verizon IndyCar Series was the 23rd season of the Verizon IndyCar Series and the 107th official championship season of American Championship car racing, American open wheel racing. The premier event was the 2018 Indianapolis 500, 102nd ...

commitments. After Fittipaldi was injured at the

6 Hours of Spa-Francorchamps The 6 Hours of Spa-Francorchamps (formerly the 1000 Kilometres of Spa-Francorchamps) is an endurance race for sports cars held at Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps in Belgium. History The Spa 24 Hours had been introduced in 1924, and other races fo ...

, Dillman replaced Fittipaldi for more rounds. *

Pierre Gasly Pierre Gasly (; born 7 February 1996) is a French racing driver, currently competing in Formula One under the French flag, racing for Scuderia AlphaTauri. He is the 2016 GP2 Series champion, and the runner-up in the 2014 Formula Renault 3.5 ...

left the series to compete in

Formula One Formula One (also known as Formula 1 or F1) is the highest class of international racing for open-wheel single-seater formula racing cars sanctioned by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA). The World Drivers' Championship, ...

with

Scuderia Toro Rosso Scuderia Toro Rosso (; literal translation of "Red Bull Racing Team"), commonly known as Toro Rosso or by its abbreviation STR, was an Italian Formula One racing team. It was one of two Formula One teams owned by Austrian beverage company Re ...

. His place at Team Mugen was taken by

Nirei Fukuzumi is a Japanese racing driver currently competing in Super Formula for Dandelion Racing. Career Karting In 2010, Fukuzumi began karting, starting his racing career. He remained in karting until 2013, with his best achievement being second plac ...

, who finished third in the 2017 GP3 Series. Fukuzumi will also compete in the

FIA Formula 2 Championship The FIA Formula 2 Championship is a second-tier single-seater championship organised by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA). Held on racing circuits, the championship was introduced in 2017, following the rebranding of the l ...

, and is set to prioritise F2 rounds over Super Formula where any dates clash. * André Lotterer left the

TOM'S is a factory supported racing team and tuner of Toyota and Lexus vehicles. The name stands for Tachi Oiwa Motor Sport. Their head office is located in Tokyo, Japan. They are currently heavily involved with Super GT, Super Formula and Super Form ...

team and the championship after fifteen consecutive seasons since 2003. His seat was taken by

James Rossiter James Rossiter (born 25 August 1983) is a former professional racing driver, British motorsport executive and Team Principal of Maserati MSG Racing in Formula E. He was a Test Driver for BAR, Honda, Super Aguri and Force India in Formula One an ...

, formerly of Kondo Racing who returns after a season out. * Nobuharu Matsushita returned to Japan after two seasons in the

GP2 Series The GP2 Series was a form of open wheel motor racing introduced in 2005 following the discontinuation of the long-term Formula One feeder series, Formula 3000. The GP2 format was conceived by Bernie Ecclestone and Flavio Briatore, while Eccles ...

and one season in the

, joining Docomo Team Dandelion Racing. He takes the seat of

Takuya Izawa is a Japanese racing driver. Racing record Complete Super GT results ‡ Half points awarded as less than 75% of race distance was completed. Complete Formula Nippon/Super Formula results ( key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Rac ...

, who moved to

Nakajima Racing Nakajima Planning Co.,Ltd, racing as Nakajima Racing, is a Super Formula and Super GT team organized and founded by Satoru Nakajima in 1983. The team has fielded four championship winners in the Formula Nippon racing series: Tom Coronel, Toranos ...

. * Ryo Hirakawa returned to Super Formula for the first time since 2015 with

Team Impul Hoshino Impul Co., Ltd., (known as Impul) is a Japanese automotive aftermarket company based in Setagaya-ku, Tokyo. Founded by Nissan's factory driver, Kazuyoshi Hoshino, the company exclusively produces aftermarket parts for Nissans, such as bod ...

, replacing

Jann Mardenborough Jann Mardenborough (born 9 September 1991) is a British professional racing driver competing in the Japanese Super GT series. In 2011 he became the third (and youngest) winner of the GT Academy competition, beating 90,000 entrants. He was rewar ...

Race calendar and results

Due to scheduling restrictions imposed by the concurrent Japan WTCR round, the final round of the calendar at

Suzuka Circuit The , more famously known as the , is a long motorsport race track located in Ino, Suzuka City, Mie Prefecture, Japan and operated by Honda Mobilityland, a subsidiary of Honda Motor Co, Ltd. It has a capacity of 155,000. Introduction Soic ...

will now feature a single race instead of the originally planned double-header.

Championship standings

Drivers' Championship

;Scoring system: ;Driver standings:

Teams' Championship

Notes

References

External links

Japanese Championship Super Formula official website
{{Japanese Formula 3000/Formula Nippon years

2018 File:2018 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2018 Winter Olympics opening ceremony in PyeongChang, South Korea; Protests erupt following the Assassination of Jamal Khashoggi; March for Our Lives protests take place across the Unit ...

Super Formula Super Formula