2014 Japanese Formula 3 Championship Explained

The 2014 Japanese Formula 3 Championship was the 36th edition of the Japanese Formula 3 Championship. It was held over 7 rounds and a total of 15 races, commencing on 12 April at Suzuka and culminating on 12 October at Fuji Speedway.

The overall championship title was won by HFDP Racing driver Nobuharu Matsushita, clinching the title with a fifth-place finish during the first race of the final meeting at Fuji. Matsushita claimed 6 wins during the season, including a hat-trick at the first Motegi meeting, and ultimately won the championship by 12 points, ahead of Kenta Yamashita, who was driving for Petronas Team TOM'S. Yamashita finished each of the first five races on the podium, and ultimately finished all bar three races on the podium during 2014; however, he was only able to win two races, winning the season opener at Suzuka as well as a race at Okayama. Third place in the championship went to Mitsunori Takaboshi, who won three races for the B-MAX Racing Team with NDDP. The remaining race victories were taken by Yamashita's team-mate Takamoto Katsuta and Daiki Sasaki (B-MAX Racing Team with NDDP), with each driver taking two wins. Petronas Team TOM'S did, however, take the teams' championship by 12 points ahead of the B-MAX Racing Team with NDDP. TOM'S also comfortable won the engine tuners' championship, 39 points clear of M-TEC.

The National class title was taken by Hanashima Racing and their driver Hiroshi Koizumi, after eight victories during the season; he also recorded the best finish for any of the drivers in the class, recording a seventh-place finish at the first Fuji meeting. Koizumi finished 27 points clear of Tochigi Le Beausset Motorsports' Rintaro Kubo, who won 5 races. Tairoku Yamaguchi finished a further 28 points in arrears, and was the only other race winner in the class, taking his sole triumph at Sugo.

Teams and drivers

All teams were Japanese-registered.

Team		Driver	Chassis	Engine	Rounds
Championship Class
Petronas Team TOM'S	1	Takamoto Katsuta^[1]	Dallara F312	Toyota TOM'S TAZ31	All
Petronas Team TOM'S	36	Kenta Yamashita	Dallara F314	Toyota TOM'S TAZ31	All
Toda Racing^[2]	2	Shota Kiyohara^[3]	Dallara F312	Toda TR-F301	All
	21	Sam MacLeod^[4]	Dallara F314	Toda TR-F301	5
	21	Dan Wells	Dallara F314	Toda TR-F301	7
Racing	7	Nobuharu Matsushita	Dallara F312	Mugen-Honda MF204D	All
Racing	8	Tsubasa Takahashi	Dallara F312	Mugen-Honda MF204D	All
B-MAX Racing Team	13	Motoyoshi Yoshida	Dallara F312	Toyota TOM'S TAZ31	All
B-MAX Racing Team with	22	Mitsunori Takaboshi^[5]	Dallara F312	Toyota TOM'S TAZ31	All
B-MAX Racing Team with	23	Daiki Sasaki	Dallara F312	Toyota TOM'S TAZ31	All
Cerumo INGING Jr^[6]	38	Nanin Indra-Payoong	Dallara F312	Toyota TOM'S TAZ31	All
National Class
Exedy Racing Team	3	Ai Miura	Dallara F307	Toyota TOM'S 3S-GE	All
Hanashima Racing	6	Hiroshi Koizumi	Dallara F306	Toyota TOM'S 3S-GE	All
B-MAX Racing Team	30	"Dragon"	Dallara F306	Toyota TOM'S 3S-GE	All
KCMG	19	Shohei Yuzawa	Dallara F308	Toyota TOM'S 3S-GE	All
Tairoku Exceed	28	Tairoku Yamaguchi	Dallara F306	Toyota TOM'S 3S-GE	All
Tochigi Le Beausset Motorsports	62	Rintaro Kubo	Dallara F308	Toyota TOM'S 3S-GE	All
CMS	77	Masaru Miura	Dallara F306	Toyota TOM'S 3S-GE	5, 7

Race calendar and results

A provisional calendar for the 2014 season was released on 8 November 2013.^[7] On 10 June 2014 it was announced that the series would add two races in support of the FIA World Endurance Championship round at Fuji.^[8] All races were held in Japan.

Round		Circuit	Date	Pole Position	Fastest Lap	Winning driver	Winning team
1	1	Suzuka Circuit	12 April	Mitsunori Takaboshi	Mitsunori Takaboshi	Kenta Yamashita	Petronas Team TOM'S	Rintaro Kubo
1	R2	Suzuka Circuit	13 April	Kenta Yamashita	Takamoto Katsuta	Mitsunori Takaboshi	B-MAX Racing Team with NDDP	Ai Miura
2	R1	Twin Ring Motegi	10 May	nowrap	Nobuharu Matsushita	nowrap	Mitsunori Takaboshi	nowrap	Nobuharu Matsushita	HFDP Racing	Rintaro Kubo
	R2		11 May	Nobuharu Matsushita	Kenta Yamashita	Nobuharu Matsushita	HFDP Racing	Hiroshi Koizumi
	R3		11 May		nowrap	Nobuharu Matsushita	nowrap	Nobuharu Matsushita	HFDP Racing	Rintaro Kubo
3	R1	Okayama International Circuit	14 June	Nobuharu Matsushita	Daiki Sasaki	Daiki Sasaki	nowrap	B-MAX Racing Team with NDDP	Hiroshi Koizumi
3	R2	15 June	Takamoto Katsuta	Nobuharu Matsushita	Kenta Yamashita	Petronas Team TOM'S	Hiroshi Koizumi
4	R1	Fuji Speedway	12 July	Mitsunori Takaboshi	Mitsunori Takaboshi	Mitsunori Takaboshi	B-MAX Racing Team with NDDP	Rintaro Kubo
4	R2	Fuji Speedway	13 July	Nobuharu Matsushita	Nobuharu Matsushita	Nobuharu Matsushita	HFDP Racing	nowrap	Hiroshi Koizumi
5	R1	Twin Ring Motegi	23 August	Shota Kiyohara	Takamoto Katsuta	Takamoto Katsuta	Petronas Team TOM'S	Hiroshi Koizumi
5	R2	Twin Ring Motegi	24 August	Mitsunori Takaboshi	Daiki Sasaki	Mitsunori Takaboshi	B-MAX Racing Team with NDDP	Hiroshi Koizumi
6	R1	Sportsland SUGO	27 September	Nobuharu Matsushita	Nobuharu Matsushita	Nobuharu Matsushita	HFDP Racing	nowrap	Tairoku Yamaguchi
6	R2	Sportsland SUGO	nowrap	28 September	nowrap	Mitsunori Takaboshi	nowrap	Mitsunori Takaboshi	nowrap	Nobuharu Matsushita	HFDP Racing	Rintaro Kubo
7	R1	Fuji Speedway	11 October	Daiki Sasaki	Daiki Sasaki	Takamoto Katsuta	Petronas Team TOM'S	Hiroshi Koizumi
7	R2	Fuji Speedway	12 October	Daiki Sasaki	Takamoto Katsuta	Daiki Sasaki	B-MAX Racing Team with NDDP	Hiroshi Koizumi

Championship standings

Drivers' Championships

Points were awarded as follows:

Overall

Pos	Driver	SUZ		MOT1			OKA		FUJ1		MOT2		SUG		FUJ2		Points
1	Nobuharu Matsushita	4	4	1	1	1	2	14	4	1	4	2	1	1	5	3	102
2	Kenta Yamashita	1	3	2	2	2	5	1	2	2	3	6	6	2	3	2	90
3	Mitsunori Takaboshi	2	1	3	4	4	3	4	1	4	2	1	4	*Ret*	4	5	82
4	Takamoto Katsuta	3	2	4	3	3	4	3	6	5	1	3	2	3	1	4	80
5	Daiki Sasaki	7	6	6	5	5	1	2	3	3	6	4	5	5	2	1	63
6	Shota Kiyohara	5	8	5	6	7	6	6	5	6	Ret	5	3	4	6	6	23
7	Tsubasa Takahashi	6	5	8	7	Ret	8	7	7	Ret	5	8	8	7	7	8	5
8	Nanin Indra-Payoong	8	7	7	8	6	7	5	Ret	Ret	7	9	7	6	8	7	4
	Hiroshi Koizumi	10	11	10	9	11	9	8	10	7	8	10	NC	11	9	10	0
	Rintaro Kubo	9	10	9	12	8	10	13	8	Ret	10	11	Ret	8	12	Ret	0
	Ai Miura	11	9	11	Ret	10	14	11	11	8	9	14	Ret	12	Ret	12	0
	Tairoku Yamaguchi	12	12	12	10	9	12	10	9	11	11	12	9	Ret	13	11	0
	Shohei Yuzawa	15	14	14	11	12	11	9	12	9	Ret	13	10	9	11	Ret	0
	Dan Wells														10	9	0
	"Dragon"	13	13	13	13	14	13	12	13	10	13	16	11	10	15	14	0
	Motoyoshi Yoshida	14	14	15	Ret	13	15	15	14	12	14	15	12	13	14	13	0
	Masaru Miura										12	17			16	15	0
Guest drivers ineligible for points
	Sam MacLeod										Ret	7
Pos	Driver	SUZ		MOT1			OKA		FUJ1		MOT2		SUG		FUJ2		Points

Bold – Pole
Italics – Fastest Lap

National Class

Pos	Driver	SUZ		MOT1			OKA		FUJ1		MOT2		SUG		FUJ2		Points
1	Hiroshi Koizumi	10	11	10	9	11	9	8	10	7	8	10	NC	11	9	10	124
2	Rintaro Kubo	9	10	9	12	8	10	13	8	Ret	10	11	Ret	8	12	Ret	97
3	Tairoku Yamaguchi	12	12	12	10	9	12	10	9	11	11	12	9	Ret	13	11	69
4	Ai Miura	11	9	11	Ret	10	14	11	11	8	9	14	Ret	12	Ret	12	55
5	Shohei Yuzawa	15	14	14	11	12	11	9	12	9	Ret	13	10	9	11	Ret	55
6	"Dragon"	13	13	13	13	14	13	12	13	10	13	16	11	10	15	14	33
7	Masaru Miura										12	17			16	15	4
Pos	Driver	SUZ		MOT1			OKA		FUJ1		MOT2		SUG		FUJ2		Points

Teams' Championship

Points were awarded as follows:

Pos	Team	SUZ		MOT1			OKA		FUJ1		MOT2		SUG		FUJ2		Points
1	Petronas Team TOM'S	1	2	2	2	2	4	1	2	2	1	3	2	2	1	2	111
2	B-MAX Racing Team with NDDP	2	1	3	4	4	1	2	1	3	2	1	4	5	2	1	99
3	HFDP Racing	4	4	1	1	1	2	7	4	1	4	2	1	1	5	3	93
4	Toda Racing	5	8	5	6	7	6	6	5	6	Ret	5	3	4	6	6	22
5	Cerumo INGING Jr	8	7	7	8	6	7	5	Ret	Ret	7	9	7	6	8	7	4
	Hanashima Racing	10	11	10	9	11	9	8	10	7	8	10	Ret	11	9	10	0
	Tochigi Le Beausset Motorsports	9	10	9	12	8	10	13	8	Ret	10	11	Ret	8	12	Ret	0
	Exedy Racing Team	11	9	11	Ret	10	14	11	11	8	9	14	Ret	12	Ret	12	0
	Tairoku Exceed	12	12	12	10	9	12	10	9	11	11	12	9	Ret	13	11	0
	KCMG	15	14	14	11	12	11	9	12	9	Ret	13	10	9	11	Ret	0
	B-MAX Racing Team	13	13	13	13	13	13	12	13	10	13	15	11	10	14	13	0
	CMS										12	17			16	15	0
Pos	Team	SUZ		MOT1			OKA		FUJ1		MOT2		SUG		FUJ2		Points

Engine Tuners' Championship

Pos	Tuner	SUZ		MOT1			OKA		FUJ1		MOT2		SUG		FUJ2		Points
1	TOM'S	1	1	2	2	2	1	1	1	2	1	1	2	2	1	1	132
2	M-TEC	4	4	1	1	1	2	7	4	1	4	2	1	1	5	3	93
3	Toda Racing	5	8	5	6	7	6	6	5	6	Ret	5	3	4	6	6	22
Pos	Tuner	SUZ		MOT1			OKA		FUJ1		MOT2		SUG		FUJ2		Points

Notes and References

Web site: Toyota Outlines Its Motorsports Activities for 2014. 30 January 2014. 3 February 2014. Toyota Motor Corporation. Toyota Motor Corporation. 3 March 2014. https://web.archive.org/web/20140303193655/http://www2.toyota.co.jp/en/news/14/01/0130.html. dead.
Web site: 2014全日本F3選手権シーズンプレビュー「再び、激戦の予感......」. 1 March 2014. 11 March 2013. Japanese Formula 3 Championship. Japanese Formula 3 Association. 11 March 2014. https://web.archive.org/web/20140311110300/http://www.j-formula3.com/news/2014/140301.html. dead.
Web site: 2014 Honda Global Motor Sports Activities Automobile[PDF]]. 7 February 2014. 7 February 2014. Honda Motor Co., Ltd. Honda Motor Co., Ltd.
Web site: Japan Formula Three Motegi Entry list. 9 August 2014. 9 August 2014. Japanese Formula 3 Championship. Japanese Formula 3 Association.
Web site: 2014年モータースポーツ活動計画を発表. 14 February 2014. 14 February 2014. Nissan Motorsports. https://web.archive.org/web/20140222220603/http://www.nissan-motorsports.com/JPN/PRESS/2014/14009.html. 22 February 2014. dead.
Web site: 2014全日本F3選手権、開幕前合同テストいよいよスタート！. 11 March 2014. 11 March 2013. Japanese Formula 3 Championship. Japanese Formula 3 Association. 11 March 2014. https://web.archive.org/web/20140311110024/http://www.j-formula3.com/news/2014/140311.html. dead.
Web site: 2014年日本選手権カレンダーについて. Japan Automobile Federation. 8 November 2013. 3 February 2014. 13 December 2013. https://web.archive.org/web/20131213223003/http://www.jaf.or.jp/msports/msinfo/image/ms_news249.pdf. dead.
Web site: ■ 2014全日本F3選手権シリーズ第14戦・第15戦の WEC第5戦「富士6時間耐久レース」への編入開催決定について. Japan Automobile Federation. 10 June 2014. 11 June 2014. 14 July 2014. https://web.archive.org/web/20140714223848/http://www.j-formula3.com/news/2014/140610.html. dead.