2015 Super Formula Championship Explained

The 2015 Japanese Championship Super Formula season was the forty-third season of premier Japanese open-wheel motor racing and the third under the name of Super Formula. The season began on 19 April and will end on 8 November after seven rounds.

The 2015 season was also the last season that Bridgestone, who had been the series' only tyre supplier since 1997, supplied tyres to all teams, as Yokohama took over the tyre contract for 2016.

Teams and drivers

Team		Driver	Engine	Rounds
Petronas Team TOM'S^[1]	1	Kazuki Nakajima	Toyota RI4A	1, 3–7
		Kazuya Oshima		2
	2	André Lotterer		All
Kondō Racing	3	James Rossiter	Toyota RI4A	All
	4	William Buller^[2]		All
Kygnus Sunoco Team LeMans	7	Ryō Hirakawa	Toyota RI4A	All
	8	Kamui Kobayashi		All
Real Racing^[3]	10	Koudai Tsukakoshi	Honda HR-414E	All
	11	Takuya Izawa		All
Team Mugen	16	Naoki Yamamoto	Honda HR-414E	All
KCMG	18	Yuichi Nakayama	Toyota RI4A	All
Lenovo Team Impul	19	João Paulo de Oliveira	Toyota RI4A	All
	20	Andrea Caldarelli		All
Drago Corse	34	Takashi Kogure	Honda HR-414E	All
P.mu/cerumo・INGING	38	Hiroaki Ishiura	Toyota RI4A	All
	39	Yuji Kunimoto		All
Docomo Team Dandelion Racing	40	Tomoki Nojiri	Honda HR-414E	All
	41	Narain Karthikeyan		All
Nakajima Racing	64	Daisuke Nakajima	Honda HR-414E	All
	65	Bertrand Baguette		All

Race calendar and results

A provisional calendar for the 2015 season was released on 8 August 2014.^[4] All races are scheduled to be held in Japan. To avoid a clash with the 2015 FIA World Endurance Championship season, the date for the first round in Suzuka was rescheduled for 19 April, and to avoid a clash with the 2015 Formula One season, the SUGO race was also rescheduled to 18 October.^[5]

Round		Circuit	Date	Pole Position	Fastest Lap	Winning Driver	Winning Team
1		Suzuka Circuit	19 April	Naoki Yamamoto	Tomoki Nojiri	André Lotterer	Petronas Team TOM'S
2		Okayama International Circuit	24 May	Hiroaki Ishiura	Hiroaki Ishiura	Hiroaki Ishiura	P.mu/cerumo・INGING
3		Fuji Speedway	19 July	Andrea Caldarelli	João Paulo de Oliveira	João Paulo de Oliveira	Lenovo Team Impul
4		Twin Ring Motegi	23 August	Hiroaki Ishiura	Kazuki Nakajima	Hiroaki Ishiura	P.mu/cerumo・INGING
5		Autopolis	13 September	Hiroaki Ishiura	João Paulo de Oliveira	Kazuki Nakajima	Petronas Team TOM'S
6		Sportsland SUGO	18 October	André Lotterer	Tomoki Nojiri	André Lotterer	Petronas Team TOM'S
7	R1	Suzuka Circuit	8 November	André Lotterer	André Lotterer	André Lotterer	Petronas Team TOM'S
	R2			Naoki Yamamoto	Narain Karthikeyan	Naoki Yamamoto	Team Mugen

Championship standings

Drivers' Championship

Scoring system:

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

Pos Driver SUZ OKA FUJ MOT AUT SUG SUZ Points 1 Hiroaki Ishiura 5 1 3 1 2 5 2 4 51.5 2 Kazuki Nakajima 2 2 2 1 4 4 2 45.5 3 André Lotterer 1 8 5 4 11 1 1 Ret 40 4 João Paulo de Oliveira 4 5 1 3 5 7 Ret 3 34 5 Naoki Yamamoto 15 4 12 8 7 2 14 1 26 6 Kamui Kobayashi 9 2 10 17 3 6 3 9 20 7 Tomoki Nojiri 8 3 8 6 10 3 5 Ret 19 8 Ryō Hirakawa 12 9 6 7 4 8 10 5 13 9 Yuji Kunimoto 17 Ret 4 18 8 17 7 8 7.5 10 Daisuke Nakajima 6 12 Ret 5 9 12 Ret 10 7 11 Narain Karthikeyan 3 10 Ret 9 14 13 12 14 6 12 James Rossiter 16 Ret 7 12 6 14 Ret Ret 5 13 Takuya Izawa 7 7 11 10 12 Ret 8 15 4.5 14 Andrea Caldarelli 11 6 9 11 15 16 Ret 12 4 15 Takashi Kogure Ret Ret 16 14 13 11 6 7 2.5 16 Yuichi Nakayama 13 Ret 15 16 19 10 Ret 6 1.5 17 Koudai Tsukakoshi DNS 14 13 Ret 17 9 9 11 0 18 Bertrand Baguette 10 11 Ret 15 16 18 11 Ret 0 19 William Buller 14 13 14 13 18 15 13 13 0 20 Kazuya Oshima 15 0 Pos Driver SUZ OKA FUJ MOT AUT SUG SUZ Points

Bold – Pole Italics – Fastest Lap

Teams' Championship

Pos Team No. SUZ OKA FUJ MOT AUT SUG SUZ Points 1 Petronas Team TOM'S 1 2 15 2 2 1 4 4 2 80.5 2 1 8 5 4 11 1 1 Ret 2 P.mu/cerumo・INGING 38 5 1 3 1 2 5 2 4 56 39 17 Ret 4 18 8 17 7 8 3 Lenovo Team Impul 19 4 5 1 3 5 7 Ret 3 37 20 11 6 9 11 15 16 Ret 12 4 Kygnus Sunoco Team LeMans 7 12 9 6 7 4 8 10 5 33 8 9 2 10 17 3 6 3 9 5 Docomo Team Dandelion Racing 40 8 3 8 6 10 3 5 Ret 25 41 3 10 Ret 9 14 13 12 14 6 Team Mugen 16 15 4 12 8 7 2 14 1 21 7 Nakajima Racing 64 6 12 Ret 5 9 12 Ret 10 7 65 10 11 Ret 15 16 18 11 Ret 8 Kondō Racing 3 16 Ret 7 12 6 14 Ret Ret 5 4 14 13 14 13 18 15 13 13 9 HP Real Racing 10 DNS 14 13 Ret 17 9 9 11 4.5 11 7 7 11 10 12 Ret 8 15 10 Drago Corse 34 Ret Ret 16 14 13 11 6 7 2.5 11 KCMG 18 13 Ret 15 16 19 10 Ret 6 1.5 Pos Team No. SUZ OKA FUJ MOT AUT SUG SUZ Points

Bold – Pole Italics – Fastest Lap

External links

• Japanese Championship Super Formula official website

Notes and References

1. Web site: Toyota Outlines 2015 Motorsports Activities, Announces Return to World Rally Championship. Toyota Global Newsroom. Toyota. 30 January 2015. 31 January 2015.
2. News: KONDO RACING 2015年スーパーフォーミュラ参戦体制発表のお知らせ. 5 March 2015. 5 March 2015. Japanese. Announcement: KONDO RACING 2015 - Super Formula racing team announced. Kondō Racing. Masahiko Kondō. https://web.archive.org/web/20150308053824/http://www.matchy.co.jp/topics/201503050930.html. 2015-03-08. dead.
3. Web site: Honda 2015 Motorsports Program Overview. Honda. 13 February 2015. 13 February 2015.
4. Web site: スーパーフォーミュラ、15年予定発表。岡山復活. as-web.jp. 8 August 2014. 12 November 2014. Super Formula, '15 schedule announcement. Okayama revived.
5. Web site: SF、2015年日程を変更。他とのバッティングを解消. as-web.jp. 19 December 2014. 19 December 2014. SF: change to the 2015 schedule, to eliminate other clashes.