The 2009 Formula Challenge Japan was a multi-event motor racing championship for open-wheel formula racing cars, and the fourth season of the Formula Challenge Japan racing series, a young driver development series jointly supported by Honda, Toyota, and Nissan. The championship featured a mix of manufacturer-affiliated drivers and independent entries, and commenced on 4 April and ended on 27 September.[1][2] All championship rounds were run in support of the Formula Nippon Championship.
Honda Formula Dream Project driver Kazuki Miura won the championship in his second year in the series, taking four consecutive race victories to claim the title over Nissan-supported Daiki Sasaki. All race winners - Miura, Sasaki, third-placed finisher Naoya Gamou, and his Honda stablemates Makoto Kanai and Tsubasa Mekaru - won both races of their winning race weekends, with the first round at Fuji Speedway being the only round to have two different race winners.
Teams and drivers
All drivers competed in identical Tatuus FC106 chassis powered by Nismo-maintained Renault F4R engines. The entry list originally consisted of 27 entries, but would drop to 18 entries, largely due to the repercussions of the 2008 financial crisis in Japan.[3]
| Team
|
|
Driver
|
Rounds
|
FTRS RAJAS FCJ
Takagi Planning FTRS
FTRS Team NATS
FTRS Scholarship
|
1
|
Yūichi Nakayama
|
All
|
| 2
|
Kazuya Ishii
|
All
|
| 3
|
Makoto Kanai
|
All
|
| 5
|
Tsubasa Mekaru
|
1–12
|
| 6
|
Tobio Ohtani
|
All
|
| 16
|
Naoya Gamou
|
All
|
| 18
|
Ryō Ohtani
|
All
|
NDDP Autobacs FCJ
NDDP Provile FCJ
NDDP Azillion FCJ
NDDP FCJ
|
4
|
Daiki Sasaki
|
All
|
| 12
|
Takeshi Matsumoto
|
All
|
| 14
|
Shōgo Suzuki
|
All
|
| 15
|
Tatsuya Hattori
|
All
|
| Avanzza × BOMEX
|
6
|
Igor Sushko
|
All
|
| Nichiryo
|
7
|
Kazusa Ōuchi
|
All
|
HFDP/SRS-F/ARTA
HFDP/SRS-F Scholarship
|
8
|
Tomoki Nojiri
|
All
|
| 11
|
Ryōji Motojima
|
All
|
| 18
|
Kazuki Miura
|
All
|
| Dragon Knight
|
10
|
Zhu Daiwei
|
All
|
| Project KK
|
13
|
Kazuki Kawamura
|
All
|
| Source[2]
|
|
|
Race calendar and results
All races were held in Japan in support of Formula Nippon.
Championship standings
Drivers' Championship
Points were awarded to the top six classified finishers, with one point awarded for pole position and fastest lap respectively.
| 1
|
2
|
3
|
4
|
5
|
6
|
PP
|
FL
|
| 10
|
7
|
5
|
3
|
2
|
1
|
1
|
1
|
|
|
Driver
|
FUJ
|
SUZ
|
MOT
|
FUJ
|
SUZ
|
MOT
|
SUG
|
Points
|
| 1
|
Kazuki Miura
|
9
|
5
|
5
|
9
|
2
|
3
|
1
|
1
|
1
|
1
|
2
|
3
|
6
|
6
|
76
|
| 2
|
Daiki Sasaki
|
1
|
4
|
6
|
4
|
1
|
1
|
2
|
6
|
3
|
4
|
6
|
4
|
5
|
3
|
70
|
| 3
|
Naoya Gamou
|
2
|
1
|
2
|
12
|
3
|
10
|
8
|
4
|
4
|
3
|
5
|
7
|
1
|
1
|
65
|
| 4
|
Yūichi Nakayama
|
3
|
3
|
14
|
Ret
|
6
|
7
|
3
|
2
|
11
|
5
|
18
|
8
|
2
|
2
|
41
|
| 5
|
Tomoki Nojiri
|
12
|
18
|
3
|
3
|
7
|
Ret
|
7
|
11
|
2
|
2
|
4
|
10
|
3
|
4
|
39
|
| 6
|
Makoto Kanai
|
8
|
6
|
1
|
1
|
9
|
2
|
12
|
5
|
5
|
6
|
8
|
5
|
7
|
7
|
35
|
| 7
|
Tsubasa Mekaru
|
Ret
|
17
|
17
|
10
|
5
|
5
|
11
|
15
|
6
|
16
|
1
|
1
|
|
|
29
|
| 8
|
Kazuya Ishii
|
Ret
|
2
|
7
|
Ret
|
11
|
11
|
10
|
13
|
7
|
8
|
3
|
2
|
13
|
Ret
|
21
|
| 9
|
Takeshi Matsumoto
|
6
|
8
|
4
|
2
|
10
|
4
|
4
|
7
|
15
|
17
|
9
|
17
|
4
|
13
|
21
|
| 10
|
Ryō Ohtani
|
5
|
9
|
11
|
5
|
13
|
9
|
5
|
3
|
13
|
9
|
7
|
6
|
8
|
5
|
14
|
| 11
|
Tobio Ohtani
|
13
|
12
|
8
|
7
|
4
|
6
|
6
|
8
|
8
|
7
|
13
|
9
|
11
|
9
|
5
|
| 12
|
Kazuki Kawamura
|
4
|
7
|
18
|
Ret
|
17
|
Ret
|
15
|
16
|
Ret
|
10
|
11
|
14
|
10
|
12
|
3
|
| 13
|
Zhu Daiwei
|
7
|
10
|
15
|
6
|
8
|
8
|
Ret
|
12
|
17
|
11
|
15
|
12
|
12
|
14
|
1
|
| -
|
Shōgo Suzuki
|
16
|
11
|
10
|
8
|
Ret
|
15
|
13
|
14
|
14
|
12
|
10
|
11
|
15
|
8
|
0
|
| -
|
Tatsuya Hattori
|
10
|
16
|
12
|
Ret
|
16
|
16
|
9
|
9
|
10
|
18
|
16
|
13
|
9
|
10
|
0
|
| -
|
Ryōji Motojima
|
11
|
13
|
9
|
13
|
12
|
13
|
Ret
|
10
|
9
|
15
|
12
|
Ret
|
Ret
|
15
|
0
|
| -
|
Kazusa Ōuchi
|
14
|
15
|
16
|
11
|
15
|
14
|
16
|
17
|
16
|
13
|
17
|
16
|
14
|
11
|
0
|
| -
|
Igor Sushko
|
15
|
14
|
13
|
Ret
|
14
|
12
|
14
|
18
|
12
|
14
|
14
|
15
|
Ret
|
16
|
0
|
|
|
Driver
|
FUJ
|
SUZ
|
MOT
|
FUJ
|
SUZ
|
MOT
|
SUG
|
Points
|
|
| Key
|
| Colour |
Result
|
| Gold |
Race winner
|
| Silver |
2nd place
|
| Bronze |
3rd place
|
| Green |
Points finish
|
| Blue
|
Non-points finish
|
| Non-classified finish (NC)
|
| Purple |
Did not finish (Ret)
|
| Black
|
Disqualified (DSQ)
|
| Excluded (EX)
|
| White
|
Did not start (DNS)
|
| Race cancelled (C)
|
| Withdrew (WD)
|
| Blank |
Did not participate
|
Bold – Pole
Italics – Fastest Lap
|
References