Langbahn Team – Weltmeisterschaft

2023 F4 Japanese Championship

The 2023 F4 Japanese Championship season was the ninth season of the F4 Japanese Championship. It was competed with 14 races over seven double-header rounds.[1]

Teams and drivers

All teams & drivers were Japanese-registered.

Team No. Driver Class Rounds
Akiland Racing 2 Keiji Nakao I All
10 Masayuki Ueda I All
12 Ryota Horachi All
18 Kazuya Oshima 1
Norio Tsukamoto I 2–5
Aoto Nagahara 6
22 Yuta Fujiwara All
71 Masayoshi Oyama I All
96 Makio Saito I All
DayDream Racing 4 Yuichi Sasaki I 5–7
Honda Formula Dream Project 5 Yusuke Mitsui All
6 Yuto Nomura All
7 Tosei Moriyama All
Team GMB 8 Masamune Handa 1–5
Spread 6–7
Rn-sports 11 Isao Nakashima I All
99 Yoshitsugu Kondo I 1, 5
Kazuaki Yasui I 3
B-Max Racing Team 13 Makoto Fujiwara I All
27 "Syuji" I 6
30 "Dragon" I All
44 Nobuhiro Imada I 1–6
"Syuji" I 7
Zap Speed 14 Souryuu Tagami 1–4, 7
86 Hachiro Osaka I 1–4
87 Rio Shimono 1–4
88 Rin Arakawa 1–4
Media Do Kageyama Racing 15 Tomohito Watabe 1–5
16 Kazuma Nishimura 1–5, 7
26 Reijiro Yamazaki I All
Eagle Sports 21 Tadakazu Kojima I 1–6
49 Bunsei Okawa I 1–2
Akito Itsuki 3
Daitetsu Ueno 4
Shoichiro Akamatsu I 5–6
NSPEED 23 "Yugo" I All
Tsuyoshi Usui 24 Tsuyoshi Usui I 2, 6
TOM'S Youth 28 Yoshiaki Nakamura All
Buzz Racing 31 Ryoma Henzan All
32 Taiga Imoto 2
41 3–4
Masahiro Aoai I 1–2
Drago Corse 34 Hironobu Shimizu All
TGR-DC Racing School 35 Jin Nakamura All
36 Rikuto Kobayashi All
37 Yuki Sano All
38 Shunji Okumoto All
PONOS Racing 45 Kento Omiya All
Fujita Pharmacy Racing 46 Kohei Tokumasu 1–5, 7
48 Fuma Horio 1–5
Field Motorsports 55 "Kentaro" I All
HELM Motorsports 61 Jiei Okuzumi 3
62 Itsuki Sato All
63 Yutaka Toriba I 1–3, 5–7
Skill Speed 77 Hibiki Komatsu All
78 Yohei Ono All
OTG Motor Sports 80 Yuto Nozawa All
Bionic Jack Racing 81 Kazuhisa Urabe All
97 Shion Tsujimoto 1–2
Hiroyuki Saka I 3–4
Jiei Okuzumi 5–7
98 Yuki Mishima All
Dr.Dry 86 Hachiro Osaka I 5–7
87 Rio Shimono 5–7
88 Rin Arakawa 5–7
Sources: [2][3]
Icon Class
I Independent Cup

Race calendar and results

All rounds were held in Japan and supported the Super GT events.[1]

Round Circuit Date Pole position Fastest lap Winning driver Winning team Independent Cup winner
1 R1 Fuji Speedway, Oyama 3 May Rikuto Kobayashi Rin Arakawa Rikuto Kobayashi TGR-DC Racing School Yutaka Toriba
R2 4 May Rikuto Kobayashi Yusuke Mitsui Jin Nakamura[a] TGR-DC Racing School Makoto Fujiwara
2 R3 Suzuka Circuit, Suzuka 3 June Yusuke Mitsui Rikuto Kobayashi Yusuke Mitsui Honda Formula Dream Project Masayuki Ueda
R4 4 June Yusuke Mitsui Yusuke Mitsui Yusuke Mitsui Honda Formula Dream Project Masayuki Ueda
3 R5 Fuji Speedway, Oyama 5 August Yuto Nomura Ryota Horachi Rikuto Kobayashi TGR-DC Racing School Nobuhiro Imada
R6 6 August Yuto Nomura Rikuto Kobayashi Rikuto Kobayashi TGR-DC Racing School Yutaka Toriba
4 R7 Suzuka Circuit, Suzuka 26 August Yusuke Mitsui Yuto Nomura Yusuke Mitsui Honda Formula Dream Project Makio Saito
R8 27 August Yusuke Mitsui Yuto Nomura Yusuke Mitsui Honda Formula Dream Project Nobuhiro Imada
5 R9 Sportsland Sugo, Murata 16 September Yuto Nomura Jin Nakamura Yuto Nomura Honda Formula Dream Project Makoto Fujiwara
R10 17 September Kazuhisa Urabe Yuto Nomura Kazuhisa Urabe Bionic Jack Racing Makoto Fujiwara
6 R11 Autopolis, Hita 14 October Rikuto Kobayashi Yusuke Mitsui Rikuto Kobayashi TGR-DC Racing School Yutaka Toriba
R12 15 October Jin Nakamura Jin Nakamura Jin Nakamura TGR-DC Racing School Yutaka Toriba
7 R13 Mobility Resort Motegi, Motegi 4 November Rikuto Kobayashi Rikuto Kobayashi Jin Nakamura TGR-DC Racing School Yutaka Toriba
R14 5 November Rikuto Kobayashi Rin Arakawa Rikuto Kobayashi TGR-DC Racing School Keiji Nakao

Championship standings

Points were awarded as follows:

Position  1st   2nd   3rd   4th   5th   6th   7th   8th   9th   10th 
Points 25 18 15 12 10 8 6 4 2 1

Drivers' standings

Pos Driver FUJ1 SUZ1 FUJ2 SUZ2 SUG AUT MOT Pts
R1 R2 R1 R2 R1 R2 R1 R2 R1 R2 R1 R2 R1 R2
1 Rikuto Kobayashi 1 3 2 4 1 1 33 5 6 22 1 3 2 1 221
2 Jin Nakamura Ret 1 Ret 6 3 2 2 3 4 4 2 1 1 2 209
3 Yusuke Mitsui Ret 28 1 1 4 4 1 1 2 2 3 10 10 8 181
4 Yuto Nomura Ret 2 3 3 2 3 3 2 1 24 6 5 Ret 5 167
5 Tosei Moriyama 9 5 4 2 5 6 Ret 9 5 3 7 6 11 Ret 101
6 Rin Arakawa 34 4 5 5 7 8 8 20 8 7 11 8 3 12 75
7 Yuki Sano 3 9 8 11 Ret 5 6 Ret 3 5 5 40 Ret 37 74
8 Kazuhisa Urabe 20 8 43† 10 10 12 9 6 7 1 10 7 5 6 72
9 Shunji Okumoto 2 7 10 7 11 10 15 10 12 11 4 2 12 20 63
10 Ryota Horachi 6 13 9 8 15 37 4 4 11 10 8 4 Ret 10 56
11 Kento Omiya 15 Ret 7 9 8 11 5 8 19 9 9 Ret 6 3 53
12 Ryoma Henzan Ret Ret 11 15 Ret 7 7 7 Ret 8 14 9 4 4 48
13 Itsuki Sato 28 6 6 13 9 9 10 11 9 12 12 11 9 9 27
14 Jiei Okuzumi 6 39 10 13 13 15 8 7 19
15 Kazuma Nishimura 4 12 14 19 18 Ret DNS 16 18 23 16 19 12
16 Yuki Mishima 5 10 17 18 Ret 31 18 15 17 19 20 18 20 17 11
17 Yuta Fujiwara 10 14 13 12 12 14 12 12 Ret 6 15 13 34 13 9
18 Souryuu Tagami 12 15 18 17 20 Ret 14 24 7 11 6
19 Rio Shimono 7 18 19 20 19 24 19 19 16 17 17 16 17 15 6
20 Hibiki Komatsu 8 19 15 16 13 13 Ret 13 21 20 18 12 Ret Ret 4
21 Hironobu Shimizu Ret 11 12 14 22 18 13 18 14 16 22 28 15 21 0
22 Kohei Tokumasu Ret 17 16 23 21 15 11 14 13 14 18 18 0
23 Tomohito Watabe 11 37 21 24 14 17 16 17 WD WD 0
24 Yuto Nozawa 19 20 23 25 16 16 22 21 15 15 16 17 13 14 0
25 Kazuya Oshima 13 16 0
26 Yoshiaki Nakamura 14 DNS 24 26 24 21 23 23 Ret 18 19 14 14 16 0
27 Yutaka Toriba 16 Ret 36 34 Ret 19 33 29 23 20 19 28 0
28 Keiji Nakao 17 23 30 31 26 27 26 28 29 28 40† 26 32 23 0
29 Akito Itsuki 17 23 0
30 Daitetsu Ueno 17 38 0
31 Fuma Horio 18 Ret 25 28 Ret 25 21 29 20 20 0
32 Yohei Ono 27 26 28 29 32 38 25 31 Ret Ret 24 19 26 29 0
33 Taiga Imoto 22 21 23 20 20 22 0
34 Shion Tsujimoto Ret Ret 20 22 0
35 Masamune Handa 33 27 Ret Ret 34 26 27 26 25 30 21 21 21 22 0
36 Makoto Fujiwara 22 21 31 41 28 28 Ret 32 22 25 25 22 24 26 0
37 Nobuhiro Imada 21 38 37 Ret 25 DNS Ret 25 23 Ret 27 24 0
38 Masayuki Ueda 38 22 26 27 29 29 32 Ret 31 27 Ret 33 22 27 0
39 Makio Saito 26 33 27 30 27 22 24 39 27 40 26 41 23 24 0
40 "Dragon" 23 24 29 Ret DNQ DNQ 29 27 26 26 Ret 25 25 25 0
41 Aoto Nagahara 38 23 0
42 Reijiro Yamazaki 24 25 DNQ DNQ 39† 35 Ret 30 Ret Ret 28 29 27 30 0
43 "Kentaro" 31 30 33 42† 30 Ret Ret 40† 24 34 31 36 Ret 34 0
44 Yoshitsugu Kondo 25 29 28 31 0
45 Tadakazu Kojima 30 36 42 38 33 Ret 28 Ret 32 38 29 27 0
46 Yuichi Sasaki 36 33 34 34 28 Ret 0
47 Masayoshi Oyama 32 32 35 33 36 33 Ret 34 30 32 30 32 29 31 0
48 Hachiro Osaka 29 Ret 41 40 40† Ret Ret 36 37 37 35 35 30 32 0
49 Isao Nakashima 35 31 34 32 38 34 Ret DNS 35 35 32 30 31 33 0
50 Hiroyuki Saka 31 30 Ret 33 0
51 Norio Tsukamoto 38 36 35 32 30 35 38 36 0
52 "Yugo" DNQ DNQ 40 39 37 36 31 37 39 Ret 39 39 33 36 0
53 Shoichiro Akamatsu 34 39 37 31 0
54 Bunsei Okawa 36 35 32 35 0
55 Tsuyoshi Usui DNS DNS 33 38 0
56 Masahiro Aoai 37 34 39 37 0
57 "Syuji" 36 37 Ret 35 0
Kazuaki Yasui DNQ DNQ
Pos Driver R1 R2 R1 R2 R1 R2 R1 R2 R1 R2 R1 R2 R1 R2 Pts
FUJ1 SUZ1 FUJ2 SUZ2 SUG AUT MOT
Colour Result
Gold Winner
Silver Second place
Bronze Third place
Green Points finish
Blue Non-points finish
Non-classified finish (NC)
Purple Retired (Ret)
Red Did not qualify (DNQ)
Did not pre-qualify (DNPQ)
Black Disqualified (DSQ)
White Did not start (DNS)
Withdrew (WD)
Race cancelled (C)
Blank Did not practice (DNP)
Did not arrive (DNA)
Excluded (EX)

Bold – Pole
Italics – Fastest Lap
† — Did not finish but classified

Independent Cup

Pos Driver FUJ1 SUZ1 FUJ2 SUZ2 SUG AUT MOT Pts
R1 R2 R1 R2 R1 R2 R1 R2 R1 R2 R1 R2 R1 R2
1 Makoto Fujiwara 4 1 5 13 4 4 Ret 5 1 1 2 2 4 4 191
2 Keiji Nakao 2 3 4 3 2 3 2 3 7 4 16† 5 11 1 179
3 Makio Saito 8 10 2 2 3 2 1 11 5 15 3 18 3 2 157
4 Yutaka Toriba 1 Ret 10 6 Ret 1 11 5 1 1 1 6 152
5 Masayuki Ueda 16 2 1 1 5 5 7 Ret 9 3 Ret 11 2 5 139
6 "Dragon" 5 4 3 Ret DNQ DNQ 4 2 4 2 Ret 4 5 3 134
7 Nobuhiro Imada 3 14 11 Ret 1 DNS Ret 1 2 Ret 4 3 110
8 Reijiro Yamazaki 6 5 DNQ DNQ 13† 10 Ret 4 Ret Ret 5 7 6 7 61
9 Masayoshi Oyama 12 9 9 5 10 8 Ret 7 8 7 7 10 8 8 50
10 "Kentaro" 11 7 7 14† 6 Ret Ret 12 3 9 8 14 Ret 11 41
11 Tadakazu Kojima 10 13 16 10 8 Ret 3 Ret 10 13 6 6 38
12 Isao Nakashima 13 8 8 4 12 9 Ret DNS 13 10 9 8 10 10 31
13 Yoshitsugu Kondo 7 6 6 6 30
14 Norio Tsukamoto 12 8 9 7 5 8 16 11 26
15 Hiroyuki Saka 7 6 Ret 6 22
16 Bunsei Okawa 14 12 6 7 14
17 Yuichi Sasaki 14 8 11 12 7 Ret 10
18 "Yugo" DNQ DNQ 14 11 11 11 6 10 17 Ret 15 17 12 13 9
19 Hachiro Osaka 9 Ret 15 12 14† Ret Ret 9 15 12 12 13 9 9 8
20 Masahiro Aoai 15 11 13 9 2
21 Shoichiro Akamatsu 12 14 14 9 2
22 Tsuyoshi Usui DNS DNS 10 16 1
23 "Syuji" 13 15 Ret 12 0
Kazuaki Yasui DNQ DNQ
Pos Driver R1 R2 R1 R2 R1 R2 R1 R2 R1 R2 R1 R2 R1 R2 Pts
FUJ1 SUZ1 FUJ2 SUZ2 SUG AUT MOT

Teams' standings

Only the best finisher scored points for their team.

Pos Team Points
1 TGR-DC Racing School 290
2 Honda Formula Dream Project 232
3 Bionic Jack Racing 82
4 Akiland Racing 63
5 Zap Speed 58
6 PONOS Racing 53
7 Buzz Racing 48
8 HELM Motorsports 33
9 Dr.Dry 29
10 Media Do Kageyama Racing 12
11 Skill Speed 4

Notes

  1. ^ Yusuke Mitsui finished as the first but received a drive through penalty converted into 40 seconds for an illegal start on a safety car restart. Nakamura inherited the win.

References