2013 Super Formula Championship Explained

The 2013 Japanese Championship Super Formula season was the forty-first season of premier Japanese open-wheel motor racing, and the first under the new name of Super Formula. The series was contested over six rounds and a non-championship final round at Fuji Speedway as part of the JAF Grand Prix. 2013 was also the last season using the original chassis (SF13, known as FN09 in previous seasons) by Swift Engineering as for 2014 Dallara would supply a new chassis, the SF14, to the series.^[1]

Naoki Yamamoto won his first drivers' championship with Team Mugen, while Petronas Team TOM's won the teams' championship. Yamamoto and André Lotterer finished the year with the same number of points. At the time, Super Formula had an unconventional championship tiebreaker method where the driver that scored the most points in the final round of the season would be declared the champion.^[2] Lotterer had more wins, but had to miss the final round due to his commitments in the FIA World Endurance Championship, while Yamamoto finished first and third in the double-header finale at Suzuka to equal Lotterer's point total and win the championship.

In the same season, Loïc Duval won the Sportsland Sugo round, defeating Lotterer by 0.041 seconds.^[3] It was the closest margin of victory in series history.^[4]

Teams and drivers

Team		Driver	Engine	Rounds
Petronas Team TOM'S	1	Kazuki Nakajima	Toyota RV8K	All
	2	James Rossiter		1, 6
	2	André Lotterer		2–5, NC
Kondō Racing	3	Hironobu Yasuda	Toyota RV8K	All
Kygnus Sunoco Team LeMans	7	Ryō Hirakawa	Toyota RV8K	All
	8	Andrea Caldarelli		1, 6
	8	Loïc Duval		2–5, NC
HP Real Racing	10	Koudai Tsukakoshi^[5]	Honda HR12E	All
HP Real Racing	11	Yuhki Nakayama	Honda HR12E	All
Team Mugen	15	Takuma Sato	Honda HR12E	1, 5–6, NC
	15	Takashi Kobayashi		2–4
	16	Naoki Yamamoto		All
KCMG	18	Richard Bradley^[6]	Toyota RV8K	All
Lenovo Team Impul	19	João Paulo de Oliveira	Toyota RV8K	All
Lenovo Team Impul	20	Tsugio Matsuda	Toyota RV8K	All
Nakajima Racing	31	Daisuke Nakajima	Honda HR12E	All
Nakajima Racing	32	Takashi Kogure	Honda HR12E	All
P.mu/cerumo・INGING	38	Kohei Hirate	Toyota RV8K	All
P.mu/cerumo・INGING	39	Yuji Kunimoto	Toyota RV8K	All
Docomo Team Dandelion Racing	40	Takuya Izawa	Honda HR12E	All
Docomo Team Dandelion Racing	41	Hideki Mutoh	Honda HR12E	All
Tochigi Le Beausset Motorsports	62	Koki Saga	Toyota RV8K	All

Race calendar and results

A provisional calendar for the 2013 season was released on 10 August 2012.^[7] All races were held in Japan.

Round	Circuit	Date	Pole Position	Fastest Lap	Winning Driver	Winning Team
1	Suzuka Circuit	14 April	Takuya Izawa	Takashi Kogure	Takuya Izawa	Docomo Team Dandelion Racing
2	Autopolis	2 June	André Lotterer	Kazuki Nakajima	André Lotterer	Petronas Team TOM'S
3	Fuji Speedway	14 July	Loïc Duval	André Lotterer	André Lotterer	Petronas Team TOM'S
4	Twin Ring Motegi	4 August	Kazuki Nakajima	André Lotterer	Kazuki Nakajima	Petronas Team TOM'S
5	Sportsland SUGO	29 September	Loïc Duval	Takashi Kogure	Loïc Duval	Kygnus Sunoco Team LeMans
6	Suzuka Circuit	10 November	Naoki Yamamoto	Ryō Hirakawa	Naoki Yamamoto	Team Mugen
6	Suzuka Circuit	10 November	Naoki Yamamoto	Ryō Hirakawa	Kazuki Nakajima	Petronas Team TOM'S
NC	Fuji Speedway *Report*	24 November	Yuji Kunimoto	Takuya Izawa	Yuji Kunimoto	P.mu/cerumo・INGING

Calendar changes

On 1 November the first Motegi round, scheduled for 12 May, was taken off the calendar for 2013.^[8]
The race at Inje Speedium, scheduled for 25 August, was cancelled during the 2013 season.^[9]
The non-championship JAF Grand Prix was originally scheduled for 17 November but was rescheduled to 24 November.^[10]

Championship standings

Drivers' Championship

Scoring system:

Round	1st	2nd	3rd	4th	5th	6th	7th	8th	Pole
1–5	10	8	6	5	4	3	2	1	1
6	8	4	3	2.5	2	1.5	1	0.5	1

Pos	Driver	SUZ	AUT	FUJ	MOT	SUG	SUZ		FUJ	Points
1	Naoki Yamamoto	4	3	3	8	3	1	3	5	37
2	André Lotterer		1	1	2	2			7	37
3	Loïc Duval		2	4	3	1			2	31
4	Kazuki Nakajima	5	12	8	1	Ret	Ret	1	4	24
5	João Paulo de Oliveira	6	4	6	4	Ret	3	17	6	19
6	Tsugio Matsuda	2	5	16	13	5	4	16	3	18.5
7	Takuya Izawa	1	Ret	5	Ret	Ret	10	9	15	15
8	Takashi Kogure	3	Ret	14	5	8	15	2	18	15
9	Kohei Hirate	12	Ret	2	15	Ret	5	7	9	11
10	Yuji Kunimoto	10	10	7	6	4	Ret	15	1	10
11	Ryō Hirakawa	8	7	11	7	Ret	6	4	8	9
12	Daisuke Nakajima	16	Ret	11	10	7	2	11	Ret	6
13	Andrea Caldarelli	7					Ret	5		4
14	Hironobu Yasuda	14	9	12	Ret	6	8	13	11	3.5
15	Koudai Tsukakoshi	9	6	9	9	Ret	Ret	Ret	10	3
16	James Rossiter	11					7	6		2.5
17	Yuhki Nakayama	18	8	Ret	11	Ret	11	12	13	1
18	Takuma Sato	15				11	9	8	14	0.5
19	Koki Saga	17	11	Ret	16	9	14	14	16	0
20	Hideki Mutoh	13	Ret	13	12	10	12	10	12	0
21	Richard Bradley	19	Ret	Ret	14	Ret	13	18	17	0
22	Takashi Kobayashi		Ret	15	17					0
Pos	Driver	SUZ	AUT	FUJ	MOT	SUG	SUZ		FUJ	Points

Bold – Pole
Italics – Fastest Lap

Teams' Championship

Pos	Team	No.	SUZ	AUT	FUJ	MOT	SUG	SUZ		FUJ	Points
1	Petronas Team TOM'S	1	5	12	8	1	2	Ret	1	4	58.5
1	2	11	1	1	2	Ret	7	6	7		58.5
2	Kygnus Sunoco Team LeMans	7	8	7	11	7	Ret	6	4	8	42
2	8	7	2	4	3	1	Ret	5	2		42
3	Team Impul	19	6	4	6	4	Ret	3	17	6	37.5
3	20	2	5	16	13	5	4	16	3		37.5
4	Team Mugen	15	15	Ret	15	17	11	9	8	14	32.5
4	16	4	3	3	8	3	1	3	5		32.5
5	P.mu/cerumo・INGING	38	12	Ret	2	15	Ret	5	7	9	21
5	39	10	10	7	6	4	Ret	15	1		21
6	Nakajima Racing	31	16	Ret	11	10	7	2	11	Ret	21
6	32	3	Ret	14	5	8	Ret	2	18		21
7	Docomo Team Dandelion Racing	40	1	Ret	6	Ret	Ret	10	9	15	13
7	41	13	Ret	13	12	10	12	10	12		13
8	HP Real Racing	10	9	6	9	9	Ret	Ret	Ret	10	4
8	11	18	8	Ret	11	Ret	11	12	13		4
9	Kondō Racing	3	14	9	12	Ret	6	8	13	11	3.5
	Tochigi Le Beausset Motorsports	62	17	11	Ret	16	9	14	14	16	0
	KCMG	18	19	Ret	Ret	14	Ret	13	18	17	0
Pos	Team	No.	SUZ	AUT	FUJ	MOT	SUG	SUZ		FUJ	Points

Bold – Pole
Italics – Fastest Lap

External links

Japanese Championship Super Formula official website

Notes and References

Web site: New Chassis for 2014 Japanese Championship Super Formula. Formula Nippon. 22 September 2012. 2012-12-09. https://web.archive.org/web/20121109014949/http://f-nippon.co.jp/fn/media/12release/120922_fn_news.pdf. 2012-11-09. dead.
Web site: 2020-05-31 . Super Formula: The rules that cost Andre Lotterer two titles . 2023-10-29 . us.motorsport.com . en.
Web site: Race › 2013 Round6 . 2023-10-29 . SUPER FORMULA Official Website . en.
Web site: "Top five close finishes." . 2023-10-29 . X (formerly Twitter) . en.
Web site: Honda 2013 Motorsports Overview. 8 February 2013. 8 February 2013. https://web.archive.org/web/20160304085734/http://world.honda.com/news/2013/c130208Motorsports-Overview/index.html. 2016-03-04. dead.
News: KCMG unveils Richard Bradley as Super Formula driver for 2013. 25 February 2013. KCMG. 26 February 2013.
Web site: 2013年シーズンの暫定カレンダーが発表. Formula Nippon. 10 August 2012. 2012-12-09. https://archive.today/20130219020438/http://www.f-nippon.co.jp/fn/fnap/app/NList02.dll/?No=NS016743. 2013-02-19. dead.
Web site: JAFモータースポーツニュースNo.238. Japan Automobile Federation. 1 November 2012.
Web site: Announcing the Cancellation of Round 5 In Inje International Circuit (South Korea). Super Formula. 26 July 2013.
Web site: A change in schedule announced for the Fuji Sprint Cup with a delay for one week, the event will be held during November 22nd – 24th . Super GT. 22 April 2013. 24 April 2013.