2003 Formula Nippon Championship

Formula Nippon Championship 2003 Related series:2003 International Formula 3000 Championship2003 Euro Formula 3000 Series The 2003 Formula Nippon Championship was the thirty-first season of premier Japanese single-seater racing, and the eighth under the Formula Nippon moniker. The series was contested over 10 races at five venues, including the final races at Fuji Speedway before a comprehensive renovation of the circuit began later that year. 10 different teams and 21 different drivers competed in the series. For the first time, the series adopted a spec chassis supplied by Lola, who replaced Reynard as the series' chassis supplier. Satoshi Motoyama of Team Impul won his third series championship, becoming only the third driver after Kazuyoshi Hoshino and Satoru Nakajima to win three or more championships in Japanese top formula racing. Motoyama also became the second driver to win both the Formula Nippon and All-Japan Grand Touring Car GT500 Championships in the same year. Teams and drivers All teams used tyres supplied by Bridgestone, Lola B03/51 chassis, and Mugen MF308 engines. Team # Driver RoundsPIAA Nakajima Racing1JPN Takashi KogureAll2DEU André LottererAllOlympic Kondo Racing Team3JPN Yuji TachikawaAll4DEU Dominik SchwagerAllTeam 5ZIGEN5JPN Ryō MichigamiAll6JPN Ryo Fukuda1–5AUS James Courtney7–10Forum Engineering ARTA Team LeMans7JPN Toshihiro KaneishiAll8JPN Takeshi TsuchiyaAllPlanex EBBRO NovaKacchao TCPRO NovaTeam NovaOizumi Team Nova9JPN Haruki KurosawaAll10JPN Tetsuya Fujisawa1–4JPN Yudai Igarashi5–7JPN Hiroki Katoh8–10Cosmo Oil Racing Team Cerumo11JPN Tsugio MatsudaAll12JPN Yuji IdeAllTeam Impul19JPN Satoshi MotoyamaAll20FRA Benoît TréluyerAllTeam 2222JPN Juichi WakisakaAllCarrozzeria Team MOHN28JPN Hideki NodaAllDoCoMo Team Dandelion Racing40GBR Richard LyonsAll41JPN Naoki HattoriAll Race calendar and results All races were held in Japan. Race Track Date Pole position Fastest race lap Winning driver Winning team 1 Suzuka Circuit 23 March JPN Ryō Michigami GBR Richard Lyons JPN Satoshi Motoyama Team Impul 2 Fuji Speedway 6 April JPN Satoshi Motoyama JPN Takeshi Tsuchiya JPN Satoshi Motoyama Team Impul 3 Mine Circuit 27 April JPN Satoshi Motoyama JPN Yuji Tachikawa JPN Satoshi Motoyama Team Impul 4 Twin Ring Motegi 8 June JPN Juichi Wakisaka JPN Satoshi Motoyama JPN Juichi Wakisaka Team 22 5 Suzuka Circuit 6 July GBR Richard Lyons JPN Satoshi Motoyama GBR Richard Lyons DoCoMo Team Dandelion Racing 6 Sportsland SUGO 27 July GER André Lotterer JPN Satoshi Motoyama JPN Satoshi Motoyama Team Impul 7 Fuji Speedway 31 August JPN Satoshi Motoyama JPN Satoshi Motoyama FRA Benoît Tréluyer Team Impul 8 Mine Circuit 21 September JPN Satoshi Motoyama JPN Satoshi Motoyama FRA Benoît Tréluyer Team Impul 9 Twin Ring Motegi 19 October JPN Toshihiro Kaneishi JPN Takeshi Tsuchiya JPN Toshihiro Kaneishi Forum Engineering ARTA Team LeMans 10 Suzuka Circuit 2 November JPN Satoshi Motoyama GBR Richard Lyons JPN Juichi Wakisaka Team 22 For Round 5, an 18-lap (104.526 km) sprint race set the grid for the main race. The sprint race winner Richard Lyons started from pole in the main race. Takeshi Tsuchiya set pole position for the sprint race. Championship standings Drivers' Championship Scoring system Position 1st 2nd 3rd 4th 5th 6th Points 10 6 4 3 2 1 Rank Name SUZ FUJ MIN MOT SUZ SGO FUJ MIN MOT SUZ Points 1 JPN Satoshi Motoyama 1 1 1 9 14 1 2 13 2 3 56 2 FRA Benoît Tréluyer Ret 2 Ret NC 2 4 1 1 9 Ret 35 3 JPN Juichi Wakisaka Ret 5 Ret 1 3 3 Ret 6 Ret 1 31 4 JPN Toshihiro Kaneishi 3 8 5 7 Ret 8 Ret 2 1 Ret 22 5 DEU André Lotterer 2 4 7 6 Ret 2 3 9 5 Ret 22 6 GBR Richard Lyons 9 Ret Ret 3 1 5 Ret Ret 3 9 20 7 JPN Yuji Ide 4 7 3 2 7 10 Ret 3 12 5 19 8 JPN Takeshi Tsuchiya Ret NC 2 4 5 7 6 12 6 4 16 9 JPN Ryō Michigami Ret 3 4 5 4 NC Ret NC 13 6 13 10 JPN Takashi Kogure 12 6 Ret DNS 6 Ret Ret 14 4 2 11 11 JPN Tsugio Matsuda 5 9 Ret Ret 15 6 5 5 14 Ret 7 12 AUS James Courtney 4 7 Ret Ret 3 13 JPN Naoki Hattori 8 Ret Ret 11 8 9 9 4 7 11 3 14 JPN Hideki Noda 6 10 8 DNS 12 Ret Ret 10 Ret 10 1 15 JPN Ryo Fukuda 7 Ret 6 Ret 13 1 16 DEU Dominik Schwager Ret Ret Ret 8 9 11 7 8 10 8 0 17 JPN Hiroki Katoh Ret 11 7 0 18 JPN Yuji Tachikawa 10 12 10 Ret Ret NC Ret Ret 8 Ret 0 19 JPN Haruki Kurosawa Ret Ret 9 10 11 Ret Ret 11 Ret Ret 0 20 JPN Yudai Igarashi 10 12 Ret 0 21 JPN Tetsuya Fujisawa 11 11 Ret 12 0 Teams' Championship Rank Team Car SUZ FUJ MIN MOT SUZ SGO FUJ MIN MOT SUZ Points1 Impul 19 1 1 1 9 14 1 2 13 2 3 91 20 Ret 2 Ret NC 2 4 1 1 9 Ret2 Team LeMans 7 3 8 5 7 Ret 8 Ret 2 1 Ret 38 8 Ret NC 2 4 5 7 6 12 6 43 PIAA Nakajima 1 12 6 Ret DNS 6 Ret Ret 14 4 2 33 2 2 4 7 6 Ret 2 3 9 5 Ret 4 Team 22 22 Ret 5 Ret 1 3 3 Ret 6 Ret 1 315 Cosmo Oil Cerumo 11 5 9 Ret Ret 15 6 5 5 14 Ret 23 12 4 7 3 2 7 10 Ret 3 12 56 DoCoMo Dandelion 40 9 Ret Ret 3 1 5 Ret Ret 3 9 23 41 8 Ret Ret 11 8 9 9 4 7 117 5ZIGEN 5 Ret 3 4 5 4 NC Ret NC 13 6 17 6 7 Ret 6 Ret 13 4 7 Ret Ret 8 Team MOHN 28 6 10 8 DNS 12 Ret Ret 10 Ret 10 19 Team Nova 9 Ret Ret 9 10 11 Ret Ret 11 Ret Ret 0 10 11 11 Ret 12 10 12 Ret Ret 11 710 Kondo Racing Team 3 10 12 10 Ret Ret NC Ret Ret 8 Ret 0 4 Ret Ret Ret 8 9 11 7 8 10 8 External links 2003 Japanese Championship Formula Nippon Formula Nippon Category:Super Formula Nippon