The 2010 Formula Nippon Championship was the thirty-eighth season of the premier Japanese open-wheel

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 two ...

series. The series for

Formula Nippon The Japanese Super Formula Championship is a formula racing series. It is considered as being the top level of single-seater racing in Japan and regional motorsports in Asia. The series is sanctioned by the Japan Automobile Federation (JAF) and ...

racing cars was contested over eight races at seven rounds, beginning on 18 April at Suzuka and ending at the same venue on 7 November. A non-championship meeting at

Fuji Speedway is a motorsport race track standing in the foothills of Mount Fuji, in Oyama, Suntō District, Shizuoka Prefecture, Japan. It was built in the early 1960s. In the 1980s, Fuji Speedway was used for the FIA World Sportscar Championship and nati ...

completed the season's racing a week later. Having missed the 2009 season to focus on his

Super GT Super GT (stylized as SUPER GT) is a grand touring car racing series that began in 1993. Launched as the , generally referred to as either the JGTC or the All Japan Grand Touring Car Championship, the series was renamed to Super GT in 2005. It is ...

commitments,

João Paulo de Oliveira João Paulo Lima de Oliveira (born 13 July 1981) is a Brazilian professional racing driver currently competing in the Japanese Super GT series. He won the Super GT GT300 class championship in both 2020 and 2022 and the Formula Nippon championship ...

returned to the series and claimed his first championship title since winning the 2005

All-Japan Formula Three Championship was a national motor racing championship that takes place in Japan. It is a junior-level feeder formula that uses small single seater Formula Three chassis. As a result of Formula 3 naming regulations by the FIA, on 13 August 2019, series pro ...

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's de Oliveira had held the championship lead by a point over

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 Formu ...

driver

André Lotterer André Lotterer (born 19 November 1981) is a German professional racing driver currently racing for Avalanche Andretti Formula E in the FIA Formula E Championship. He is best known for his success in endurance racing with the works Audi team, ...

before the final double-header round at Suzuka, but de Oliveira's victory – his second victory after a win at

Twin Ring Motegi Mobility Resort Motegi (モビリティリゾートもてぎ) is a motorsport race track located at Motegi, Tochigi Prefecture, Japan. Originally named Twin Ring Motegi (ツインリンクもてぎ), the circuit's name came from the facility hav ...

– and fourth against Lotterer's second and a third, de Oliveira won the championship by 4.5 points. As well as his win at

Autopolis is a international racing circuit located near Kamitsue village in Ōita Prefecture, Japan on the Northeast of Kumamoto. Nippon Autopolis">F1 News - Grandprix.com > GP Encyclopedia > Circuits > Nippon Autopolis/ref> Tsurumaki ordered 30 Buic ...

, Lotterer won both non-championship races at Fuji. Third place was disputed by reigning champion

Loïc Duval Loïc Duval (; born 12 June 1982) is a French professional racing driver racing for Audi Sport as a factory driver in DTM and driving for Dragon Racing in Formula E. He won the 2013 24 Hours of Le Mans with Allan McNish and Tom Kristensen dri ...

, who had moved from

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 ...

to Docomo Team Dandelion Racing over the off-season, and his former Nakajima team-mate

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 ...

, which was resolved in favour of Duval by 1.5 points; both drivers' championship chances had been stunted by no points at Autopolis, as Duval failed to start and Kogure retired from the race. Duval did tie with de Oliveira for most victories during the season with two – Motegi and Suzuka – while Kogure won the season-opening race at Suzuka. De Oliveira's team-mate

Kohei Hirate is a Japanese race car driver. Hirate has won the Super GT series twice. Career Hirate began Kart racing, karting in 1999 when he was 13. After winning the All Japan Junior Kart Championship, coming third and fifth in the All Japan Kart Champio ...

finished the season fifth with a victory at Fuji, ahead of the season's other race-winner

Kazuya Oshima is a Japanese racing driver, currently racing in the Super GT Series and the Super Formula Championship for Toyota Gazoo Racing and ROOKIE Racing. Oshima is one of only two drivers that have won championships in both classes of Super GT: He wo ...

of the TOM's team.

Teams and drivers

* Drivers who participated in the non-championship round at Fuji Speedway.

Race calendar and results

* All races were held in Japan. A non-championship round, entitled Super GT and Formula Nippon Sprint Cup 2010, was held at the conclusion of the season.

Championship standings

Drivers' Championship

;Scoring system: † Round with two races and points scoring system for each race.
‡ Non-championship round, with no points awarded.

Teams' Championship

;Scoring system:

References

External links

2010 Japanese Championship Formula Nippon
{{Japanese Formula 3000/Formula Nippon years

Super Formula

Nippon Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...