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2024 Formula Regional Japanese Championship

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The 2024 Formula Regional Japanese Championship was a multi-event, Formula Regional open-wheel single seater motor racing championship held in Japan. The drivers competed in Formula Regional cars that conform to the FIA Formula Regional regulations for the championship. This was the fifth season of the series, promoted by K2 Planet, and the 46th overall season of an FIA ladder series (dating to the 1979 Japanese Formula 3 Championship).[1]

The season started on 9 March at Suzuka International Racing Course and ran over six weekends, until 13 October.[2] All three titles were wrapped up at the penultimate round of the season, with Michael Sauter becoming the first foreign driver to win the Drivers' Championship, while his team Birth Racing Project【BRP】took the Teams' Championship and N-SPEED driver "Yugo" topped the Masters' class.

Teams and drivers

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All teams and drivers competed using the Dome F111/3 Regional F3 car, powered by an Alfa Romeo engine and with Dunlop tires.[1]

Team No. Driver Status Rounds
DELiGHTWORKS Racing 2 Japan Yugo Iwasawa[3] 6
Sutekina Racing Team 3 Japan Jiei Okuzumi[4] 1
Japan Fuma Horio[5] 2–4
Birth Racing Project【BRP】 5 Switzerland Michael Sauter[6] All
55 New Zealand Sebastian Manson[6] All
Rn-sports 11 Japan "Motoki"[4] M 1
Japan Masayuki Ueda[7] M 5–6
78 Japan Yuta Fujiwara[3] 6
Abbey Racing 16 Japan "Akita"[4] M 1, 5
NILZZ Racing 18 Japan "Yuki"[8] M 4–6
N-SPEED 23 Japan "Yugo”[4] M All
TOM'S Formula 28 Japan Yoshiaki Nakamura[9] All
Eagle Sports 29 Philippines Juancho Brobio[4] 1
Japan Tadakazu Kojima[7] M 5
Sky Motorsports 36 China Wang Zhongwei[4] 1, 6
TGR-DC Racing School[10] 37 Japan Yuki Sano[10] 5–6
38 Japan Kazuhisa Urabe[10] 5–6
PONOS Racing 45 Japan Yorikatsu Tsujiko[4] M 1, 3, 5–6
Bionic Jack Racing 51 Japan Kizuku Hirota[4] 1
United Kingdom Alfie Briggs[11] 2
53 Australia Jesse Lacey[6] All
HELM Motorsports 62 Japan Anna Inotsume[12] All
Icon Legend
M Masters' Class

Race calendar

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The 2024 calendar was revealed in late September 2023 and comprised 14 races over six rounds.[2] The championship supported Super Formula for the first time in its history.

Round Circuit Date Support Bill Map of circuit locations
1 R1 Suzuka International Racing Course, Suzuka 9 March Super Formula Championship
All Japan Road Race Championship
R2
R3 10 March
2 R4 Sportsland Sugo, Murata 11 May Sugo Champion Cup
TCR Japan Touring Car Series
R5 12 May
3 R6 Okayama International Circuit, Mimasaka 29 June Porsche Carrera Cup Japan
Okayama Challenge Cup
Mini Challenge Japan
BMW M2 CS Racing Series
R7 30 June
R8
4 R9 Mobility Resort Motegi, Motegi 24 August Super Formula Championship
All Japan Road Race Championship
R10 25 August
5 R11 Fuji Speedway, Oyama 14 September FIA World Endurance Championship (6 Hours of Fuji)
R12
6 R13 12 October Super Formula Championship
R14 13 October

Race results

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Round Circuit Pole position Fastest lap Winning driver Winning team Masters' class winner
1 R1 Suzuka International Racing Course Japan Kizuku Hirota Japan Jiei Okuzumi Japan Jiei Okuzumi Sutekina Racing Team Japan "Motoki"
R2 Switzerland Michael Sauter Switzerland Michael Sauter Switzerland Michael Sauter Birth Racing Project【BRP】 Japan "Akita"
R3 Japan Jiei Okuzumi Switzerland Michael Sauter Switzerland Michael Sauter Birth Racing Project【BRP】 Japan "Motoki"
2 R4 Sportsland Sugo Japan Fuma Horio Switzerland Michael Sauter Japan Fuma Horio Sutekina Racing Team Japan "Yugo"
R5 New Zealand Sebastian Manson Switzerland Michael Sauter Japan Fuma Horio Sutekina Racing Team Japan "Yugo"
3 R6 Okayama International Circuit Switzerland Michael Sauter Switzerland Michael Sauter Switzerland Michael Sauter Birth Racing Project【BRP】 Japan "Yugo"
R7 Switzerland Michael Sauter Switzerland Michael Sauter Australia Jesse Lacey Bionic Jack Racing Japan Yorikatsu Tsujiko
R8 Switzerland Michael Sauter Switzerland Michael Sauter Switzerland Michael Sauter Birth Racing Project【BRP】 Japan Yorikatsu Tsujiko
4 R9 Mobility Resort Motegi New Zealand Sebastian Manson New Zealand Sebastian Manson Switzerland Michael Sauter Birth Racing Project【BRP】 Japan "Yuki"
R10 Switzerland Michael Sauter Switzerland Michael Sauter Switzerland Michael Sauter Birth Racing Project【BRP】 Japan "Yuki"
5 R11 Fuji Speedway Japan Yuki Sano Japan Yuki Sano Japan Yuki Sano TGR-DC Racing School Japan "Akita"
R12 Japan Yuki Sano Japan Yoshiaki Nakamura Japan Yuki Sano TGR-DC Racing School Japan "Akita"
6 R13 Japan Kazuhisa Urabe Japan Yuki Sano Japan Yuki Sano TGR-DC Racing School Japan Masayuki Ueda
R14 Japan Yuki Sano Japan Yuki Sano Japan Yuki Sano TGR-DC Racing School Japan Yorikatsu Tsujiko

Season report

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First half

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The 2024 season began at Suzuka with 13 cars, the highest number in three years, and Bionic Jack’s Kizuku Hirota, BRP’s Michael Sauter and Sutekina’s Jiei Okuzumi shared pole positions. The first race saw multiple drivers get caught out by slippery track conditions, with poleman Hirota among them as he spun and rejoined in seventh. This saw Okuzumi inherit the lead and he held on through multiple safety car interruptions to win ahead of TOM'S’s Yoshiaki Nakamura and Bionic Jack’s Jesse Lacey. Conditions were better in race two, and Sauter converted his pole position into a win by eleven seconds over Okuzumi and Hirota. The final race began with the BRP teammates Sauter and Sebastian Manson fighting over second, with the latter initially taking the place before Sauter took it back. A safety car restart with three laps to go then allowed Sauter to close up to leader Okuzumi to overtake him and win the race. Still, with Sauter not finishing the first race, Okuzumi led the championship by eleven points after the first triple-header.[13]

Eight cars turned up at Sugo, where Sutekina’s debutant Fuma Horio and Manson took the pole positions. Horio had a bad start to the first race, but managed to keep ahead of Sauter and soon started building a gap. This gap grew to twelve seconds across the uninterrupted race, with Lacey coming home third, a further five seconds back. Race two saw Horio continue his strong pace. He took the lead from Manson right at the start, but this time was unable to build a similar gap. Manson kept close to him, but was unable to muster an attack on the lead. Sauter had a quiet race to take another podium in third. With championship leader Okuzumi not entering the round, Sauter took the championship lead by 22 points, while Horio’s double win saw him end his debut weekend fourth in the standings.[14]

Round three at Okayama saw Sauter dominate qualifying to take all three pole positions. He initially lost out to Lacey at the start of race one, before the Australian spun on a safety car restart. Nakamura took over first place, but Sauter kept close to him and made a move on him on lap eleven, taking the lead and winning the race. Horio took third, before clutch issues forced him to miss the second race. That encounter was held in wet conditions, with Sauter able to build a gap and finish first as Lacey and Nakamura fought behind him. A jump-start penalty for Sauter then saw him demoted to second. Manson made a late move on Nakamura, forcing the Japanese into retirement. He was handed a 30-second penalty, but still came third as every other driver was a lap down. Race three saw Sauter again lose the lead to Lacey at the start, but he fought back to reclaim it. Lacey was then also handed a jump-start penalty, which saw him drop to fourth behind Manson and PONOS’s Yorikatsu Tsujiko. Sauter now had a 53-point lead over Manson.[15]

Second half

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The second half of the season began at Motegi with Manson taking pole position for the first race. He held his lead all race, while Sauter behind him first dropped behind Horio before taking second place back on the penultimate lap. Manson then ran off track in the final corner, handing Sauter the lead and the win, before rejoining unsafely, leading to Horio heavily crashing into him after the finish line. Manson was handed a penalty that dropped him to sixth, elevating Lacey onto the podium. Race two was a smoother affair, with Sauter taking pole position by over half a second before leading every lap and winning by 14 seconds. Manson in second was kept in check by Horio and others, but no one managed to pass him. His double win saw Sauter leave Motegi with a 77-point cushion to his nearest rival.[16]

The championship culminated in two rounds at Fuji Speedway, where the TGR-DC Racing School entered two Toyota juniors in Yuki Sano and Kazuhisa Urabe. They were immediately on pace, with Sano taking both pole positions. He dropped to third at the start of race one, behind Urabe and Sauter, before that pair then collided and Urabe retired. Sano, back in the lead, then went on to win ahead of HELM’s Anna Inotsume and Manson. Sauter was penalised and dropped to sixth, unable to clinch his championship. Race two saw Urabe again get by Sano, but it took only three corners before he was back in front. Nakamura then also got by Urabe to take second. Sauter had to retire with a clutch problem, but with Manson stuck in the midfield, the Swiss was crowned champion in the pits.[17]

Urabe and Sano were fastest again in qualifying for the final two races and took a pole position each. The former was immediately jumped by the latter at the start of the first race, and Sano controlled the race from that point on to win by five seconds. Urabe came second in a largely uneventful race, with DELiGHTWORKS Racing’s Yugo Iwasawa completing the podium on his return to the series. With Sano starting the second race from pole position, he did not have to overtake anyone and ended his four-race season with a fourth win that saw him take fifth place in the standings. Urabe took second again, unchallenged as Sauter in third had to fend off Iwasawa all race long. Manson finished his season with two eighth places, thereby claiming the runner-up spot in the championship.[18]

Sauter won six races and took four further podiums on his way to becoming FRJ’s first foreign champion. While he was dominant over some weekends, part-time drivers often came in and stole the show, like Horio at Sugo or Sano at the final four races, so the championship might have looked very different had these drivers done a full campaign. Away from the championship fight, FRJ supported Super Formula for the first time in its history, and was rewarded with its highest entry numbers in years at the start and the end of the season. Still entry numbers dropped to only eight drivers mid-season, with FRJ and Super Formula Lights continuing to fight for supremacy in Japan’s second tier of formula racing.

Championship standings

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Scoring system

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Points were awarded to the top ten drivers.

Position  1st   2nd   3rd   4th   5th   6th   7th   8th   9th   10th 
Points 25 18 15 12 10 8 6 4 2 1

Drivers' championship

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Pos Driver SUZ SUG OKA MOT FUJ1 FUJ2 Pts
R1 R2 R3 R1 R2 R1 R2 R3 R1 R2 R1 R2 R1 R2
1 Switzerland Michael Sauter Ret 1 1 2 3 1 2 1 1 1 6 Ret 4 3 236
2 New Zealand Sebastian Manson Ret 5 3 5 2 4 3 2 6 2 3 6 8 8 155
3 Japan Yoshiaki Nakamura 2 6 8 8† 5 2 4 DNS 4 4 4 2 5 6 146
4 Australia Jesse Lacey 3 7 Ret 3 6 6 1 4 3 6 8 4 7 7 140
5 Japan Yuki Sano 1 1 1 1 100
6 Japan Fuma Horio 1 1 3 DNS Ret 2 3 98
7 Japan Anna Inotsume 6 Ret 6 6 7 5 6 5 Ret 5 2 5 10 10 98
8 Japan Jiei Okuzumi 1 2 2 61
9 Japan Kazuhisa Urabe Ret 3 2 2 51
10 Japan "Yugo” 10 11 9 7 8 7 7 6 7 8 11 11 14 14 43
11 Japan Yorikatsu Tsujiko 7 9 7 Ret 5 3 Ret DNS 12 11 39
12 Japan "Akita" 8 4 11 5 7 32
13 Japan Yugo Iwasawa 3 4 27
14 Japan "Motoki" 4 8 5 26
15 Japan Kizuku Hirota 5 3 12 25
16 United Kingdom Alfie Briggs 4 4 24
17 Japan "Yuki" 5 7 9 10 13 13 19
18 China Wang Zhongwei 9 12 4 9 9 18
19 Japan Yuta Fujiwara 6 5 18
20 Japan Masayuki Ueda 7 9 11 12 8
21 Japan Tadakazu Kojima 10 8 5
22 Philippines Juancho Brobio Ret 10 10 2
Pos Driver R1 R2 R3 R1 R2 R1 R2 R3 R1 R2 R1 R2 R1 R2 Pts
SUZ SUG OKA MOT FUJ1 FUJ2

Masters' class standings

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Pos Driver SUZ SUG OKA MOT FUJ1 FUJ2 Pts
R1 R2 R3 R1 R2 R1 R2 R3 R1 R2 R1 R2 R1 R2
1 Japan "Yugo” 4 4 3 1 1 1 2 2 2 2 5 5 4 4 230
2 Japan Yorikatsu Tsujiko 2 3 2 Ret 1 1 Ret DNS 2 1 144
3 Japan "Yuki" 1 1 3 4 3 3 107
4 Japan "Akita" 3 1 4 1 1 102
5 Japan Masayuki Ueda 2 3 1 2 76
6 Japan "Motoki" 1 2 1 68
7 Japan Tadakazu Kojima 4 2 30
Pos Driver R1 R2 R3 R1 R2 R1 R2 R3 R1 R2 R1 R2 R1 R2 Pts
SUZ SUG OKA MOT FUJ1 FUJ2
Colour Result
Gold Winner
Silver Second place
Bronze Third place
Green Points finish
Blue Non-points finish
Non-classified finish (NC)
Purple Retired (Ret)
Red Did not qualify (DNQ)
Did not pre-qualify (DNPQ)
Black Disqualified (DSQ)
White Did not start (DNS)
Withdrew (WD)
Race cancelled (C)
Blank Did not practice (DNP)
Did not arrive (DNA)
Excluded (EX)

Bold – Pole

Italics – Fastest Lap

Teams' championship

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Only the best finishing driver of each team was eligible for teams' championship points.

Pos Driver SUZ SUG OKA MOT FUJ1 FUJ2 Pts
R1 R2 R3 R1 R2 R1 R2 R3 R1 R2 R1 R2 R1 R2
1 Birth Racing Project【BRP】 Ret 1 1 2 2 1 2 1 1 1 3 6 4 3 254
2 Sutekina Racing Team 1 2 2 1 1 3 DNS Ret 2 3 159
3 Bionic Jack Racing 3 3 12 3 4 6 1 4 3 6 8 4 7 7 153
4 TOM'S Formula 2 6 8 8† 5 2 4 DNS 4 4 4 2 4 6 146
5 TGR-DC Racing School 1 1 1 1 100
6 HELM Motorsports 6 Ret 6 6 7 5 6 5 Ret 5 2 5 10 10 98
7 Rn-sports 4 8 5 7 9 6 5 52
8 N-SPEED 10 11 9 7 8 7 7 6 7 8 11 11 14 14 43
9 PONOS Racing 7 9 7 Ret 5 3 Ret DNS 12 11 39
10 Abbey Racing 8 4 11 5 7 32
11 DELiGHTWORKS Racing 3 4 27
12 NILZZ Racing 5 7 9 10 13 13 19
13 Sky Motorsports 9 12 4 9 9 18
14 Eagle Sports Ret 10 10 10 8 7
Pos Driver R1 R2 R3 R1 R2 R1 R2 R3 R1 R2 R1 R2 R1 R2 Pts
SUZ SUG OKA MOT FUJ1 FUJ2

References

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  1. ^ a b Wood, Ida (2019-09-11). "Japanese Regional F3 series and car revealed". Formula Scout. Retrieved 2020-02-18.
  2. ^ a b "Formula Regional Japanese Championship". frj.jp. Retrieved 2023-09-29.
  3. ^ a b "2024 Formula Regional Japanese Championship Round 6 Entry List". frj.jp. 27 September 2024. Retrieved 27 September 2024.
  4. ^ a b c d e f g h "Formula Regional Japanese Championship". frj.jp. Retrieved 2024-03-04.
  5. ^ "2024 SUGOチャンピオンカップレースシリーズ Rd.2 №1 暫定エントリーリスト" (PDF).
  6. ^ a b c "G FORCE DRIVER DEVELOPMENT PROGRAM 始動". frj.jp. Retrieved 2024-02-14.
  7. ^ a b "2024 Formula Regional Japanese Championship ラウンド 5 エントリーリスト". frj.jp. Retrieved 2024-08-27.
  8. ^ "Formula Regional Japanese Championship". frj.jp. Retrieved 2024-08-17.
  9. ^ "今シーズンはTOM'S FORMULAよりFormula Regional Japanese Championshipに参戦させて頂きます". instagram. Retrieved 2024-02-29.
  10. ^ a b c Hirano, Ryuji (2024-07-30). "フォーミュラ・リージョナルの終盤2大会にTGR-DC RSが参戦。佐野雄城と卜部和久がドライブへ" [The TGR-DC RS will compete in the final two Formula Regional events. Yuki Sano and Kazuhisa Urabe will be driving]. Auto Sport Web. Retrieved 2024-07-30.
  11. ^ "Alfie Briggs on Instagram: "Alfie Briggs is going international! I have received an amazing opportunity to race in Sugo at Round 2 of the Japanese Formula Regional Championship."". Instagram. 2 May 2024. Retrieved 2 May 2024.
  12. ^ "ユピテルが「2024 フォーミュラ・リージョナル・ジャパニーズ・チャンピオンシップ」に参戦！". yupiteru.co.jp. Retrieved 2023-02-15.
  13. ^ Wood, Ida (2024-03-10). "Jiei Okuzumi starts FRegional Japan season at Suzuka with victory". Formula Scout. Retrieved 2024-10-21.
  14. ^ Wood, Ida (2024-05-12). "Fuma Horio wins twice on debut FRegional Japan weekend at Sugo". Formula Scout. Retrieved 2024-10-22.
  15. ^ Wood, Ida (2024-06-30). "Sauter takes two more wins at Okayama to grow FRegional Japan lead". Formula Scout. Retrieved 2024-10-28.
  16. ^ Wood, Ida (2024-08-25). "Sauter's dominant double at Motegi moves him closer to FRJC title". Formula Scout. Retrieved 2024-10-28.
  17. ^ Wood, Ida (2024-09-14). "Toyota junior Sano wins on debut, Sauter clinches FRJC title at Fuji". Formula Scout. Retrieved 2024-10-29.
  18. ^ Wood, Ida (2024-10-13). "Toyota junior Yuki Sano ends FRJC season with two more Fuji wins". Formula Scout. Retrieved 2024-11-04.
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