The 2024 Japanese Super Formula Championship will be the fifty-second season of premier Japanese open-wheel motor racing, and the twelfth under the moniker of Super Formula. It will start on 8–10 March at Suzuka Circuit and is due to be contested over seven race weekends.[1]
Reigning drivers' champion Ritomo Miyata will 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 enters 2024 as the defending teams' champion.
Teams and drivers
All teams will use identical Dallara-built SF23 chassis with either Honda or Toyota engines. Every Honda-powered car will use a Honda HR-414E engine and every Toyota-powered car will use a Toyota RI4A engine.
| Entrant | Engine | No. | Driver name | Rounds |
|---|---|---|---|---|
 Kondo Racing[3] |
Toyota | 3 | Kenta Yamashita[3] |
TBC |
| 4 | Kazuto Kotaka[3] |
TBC | ||
| Docomo Team Dandelion Racing[4] |
Honda | 5 | Tadasuke Makino[4] |
TBC |
| 6 | Kakunoshin Ohta[4] |
TBC | ||
 Kids com Team KCMG[3] |
Toyota | 7 | Kamui Kobayashi[3] |
TBC |
| 8 | Nirei Fukuzumi[3] |
TBC | ||
| ThreeBond Racing[4] |
Honda | 12 |  TBA |
TBC |
| docomo business ROOKIE[3] |
Toyota | 14 | Kazuya Oshima[3] |
TBC |
| Team Mugen[5] |
Honda | 15 | Ayumu Iwasa[5] |
TBC |
| 16 | Tomoki Nojiri[5] |
TBC | ||
| Itochu Enex Team Impul[3] |
Toyota | 19 |  Théo Pourchaire[3] |
TBC |
| 20 | Yuji Kunimoto[3] |
TBC | ||
| Vantelin Team TOM’S[3] |
Toyota | 36 | Sho Tsuboi[3] |
TBC |
| 37 | Ukyo Sasahara[3] |
TBC | ||
| Vertex Partners Cerumo・INGING[3] |
Toyota | 38 | Sena Sakaguchi[3] |
TBC |
| 39 | Toshiki Oyu[3] |
TBC | ||
| B-Max Racing Team[4] |
Honda | 50 | Iori Kimura[4] |
TBC |
| TGM Grand Prix[4] |
Honda | 53 | "Juju"[6][7] |
TBC |
| 55 | TBA |
TBC | ||
| PONOS Nakajima Racing[4] |
Honda | 64 | Naoki Yamamoto[4] |
TBC |
| 65 | Ren Sato[4] |
TBC |
Team changes
- Cerumo INGING acquired a new title sponsor in finance advisory firm Vertex Partners, with the team now named 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]
Driver changes
- Reigning champion Ritomo Miyata left the series to move 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 will be 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.[3]
- Championship runner-up Liam Lawson left the series to focus on his reserve driver role at Red Bull Racing in Formula One. He will be replaced at Team Mugen by fellow Red Bull Junior Team member Ayumu Iwasa, who will return to Japan to make his series debut.[5]
- Itochu Enex Team Impul recruited an all-new lineup of 2023 FIA Formula 2 Champion Théo Pourchaire, who will make his series debut, 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 Racing in Formula One and Yuhi Sekiguchi leaving Impul after eight seasons together.[8][3]
- Nirei Fukuzumi left Honda after being contracted by the manufacturer since his junior years, to join Toyota and drive for KCMG alongside Kamui Kobayashi.[3]
- Toshiki Oyu also left Honda after losing his ride with TGM Grand Prix before the end of the 2023 season. He joined Toyota and will drive for INGING, replacing Sho Tsuboi.[3]
- B-Max Racing Team is currently scheduled to downsize from running two cars in 2023 to a single-car entry in 2024, to be piloted by reigning Super Formula Lights champion Iori Kimura.[4]
- TGM Grand Prix signed Juju Noda to pilot the No. 53 car driven previously by Toshiki Oyu, driving under her pseudonym "Juju".[6][7] Noda will become 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.[9]
Race calendar
The provisional calendar was announced on 3 August 2023.[1] The final two rounds were later made to be double-headers.[10] 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 will now host 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.[11]
| Round | Circuit | Location | Date | Support bill | Map of circuit locations |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Suzuka International Racing Course | Suzuka, Mie | 8–10 March | Formula Regional Japanese Championship All Japan Road Race Championship |
|
| 2 | Autopolis | Hita, Oita | 17–19 May | Super Formula Lights | |
| 3 | Sportsland SUGO | Shibata, Miyagi | 21–23 June | Super Formula Lights | |
| 4 | Fuji Speedway | Oyama, Shizuoka | 19–21 July | Super Formula Lights | |
| 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 |
Notes
References
- 1 2 "Provisional Super Formula calendar hints at F1 support race". motorsport.com. Retrieved 2023-08-03.
- 1 2 "Toyota star Miyata gets dual F2, ELMS programme in 2024". www.motorsport.com. 2023-11-20. Retrieved 2023-11-20.
- 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 "TOYOTA GAZOO Racing Presents its 2024 motorsport team setups in Japan". Toyota Gazoo Racing. 12 December 2023. Retrieved 12 December 2023.
- 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 O’Connell, RJ (12 December 2023). "Honda Announces 2024 GT500 Drivers". dailysportscar.com. Dailysportscar. Retrieved 12 December 2023.
- 1 2 3 4 "Red Bull junior Iwasa gets 2024 Mugen Super Formula seat". motorsport.com. Retrieved 23 November 2023.
- 1 2 "Noda secures Super Formula drive with Honda squad TGM". motorsport.com. 9 January 2024. Retrieved 9 January 2024.
- 1 2 "2023 SUPER FORMULA Pre-season & Rookie Test in SUZUKA Circuit Entry List".
- ↑ "Hirakawa joins Miyata, Lawson in Super Formula exodus". motorsport.com. 2023-11-22. Retrieved 2023-11-22.
- ↑ "Juju Noda becomes first Japanese woman to contest Super Formula". Motorsport Week. 2024-01-09. Retrieved 2024-01-10.
- ↑ "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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