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2020 Super Formula Championship

The 2020 Japanese Super Formula Championship was the forty-eighth season of premier Japanese open-wheel motor racing, and the eighth under the moniker of Super Formula.

Teams and drivers

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Every Honda-powered car used a Honda HR-414E engine and every Toyota-powered car used a Toyota RI4A engine.

Team Engine No. Driver Rounds
  Vantelin Team TOM’S[1] Toyota 1   Nick Cassidy[2] All
36   Kazuki Nakajima[1] 1, 3, 5–7
  Ritomo Miyata[3] 2, 4
  Kondo Racing[4] Toyota 3   Kenta Yamashita[1] 1, 3–7
  Sena Sakaguchi[3] 2
4   Sacha Fenestraz[1] All
  Docomo Team Dandelion Racing Honda 5   Naoki Yamamoto[5] All
6   Nirei Fukuzumi[5] All
  carrozzeria Team KCMG[4] Toyota 7   Kamui Kobayashi[1] 1, 3, 5–7
  Yuichi Nakayama[6] 2, 4
18   Yuji Kunimoto[1] All
  Drago Corse with ThreeBond[7] Honda 12   Tatiana Calderón[5][8] 1, 4–7
  Koudai Tsukakoshi[9] 2–3
  ROOKIE Racing[10][N 1]
  JMS P.mu/Cerumo・INGING[1][4][11][N 1] 		Toyota 14   Kazuya Oshima[10] All
38   Hiroaki Ishiura[1] All
39   Sho Tsuboi[1] All
  Team Mugen Honda 15   Ukyo Sasahara[12][13][14] All
16   Tomoki Nojiri[5] All
  Itochu Enex Team Impul[1] Toyota 19   Yuhi Sekiguchi[1] All
20   Ryō Hirakawa[1] All
  Buzz Racing with B-MAX Honda 50   Teppei Natori[15] 1
  Mitsunori Takaboshi[16][13] 2
  Sérgio Sette Câmara[17] 3
  Nobuharu Matsushita[18] 4–7
51   Charles Milesi[5] 4–7
  TCS Nakajima Racing Honda 64   Tadasuke Makino[5] 1–6
  Hiroki Otsu[19] 7
65   Toshiki Oyu[5] All

Team changes

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  • Ryo Michigami's Drago Corse returns to the championship in partnership with ThreeBond. This marks the team's first appearance in the championship since 2016.
  • Team LeMans left the championship at the end of 2019. This means that 2020 was the first season since 1988 where Team LeMans was not represented. Their place was filled by KCMG and Cerumo Motorsport which both added one car each. Cerumo's third car was entered as ROOKIE Racing.
  • Real Racing announced it has withdrawn from the 2020 season.[20]

Driver changes

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  • Tatiana Calderón moves to the revived Drago Corse team from the FIA Formula 2 Championship, becoming the first female driver in the current Super Formula era and the first in top level Japanese open-wheel racing since Ireland's Sarah Kavanagh entered two races in the 1997 Formula Nippon Championship.
  • Jüri Vips was scheduled to contest the full season with Team Mugen, having joined the team at the final round of the 2019 Championship as a replacement for Patricio O'Ward. Vips missed the opening rounds at Motegi and Okayama due to his participation in the FIA Formula 2 Championship, and was replaced by Ukyo Sasahara on both occasions. Pandemic-related travel issues further prevented Vips from arriving in Japan, so Sasahara again filled in at Sportsland Sugo. Ahead of the fourth round at Autopolis, it was announced that Sasahara would keep the seat for the remainder of the season.
  • Pietro Fittipaldi was initially confirmed in the #50 B-MAX entry.[21] Fittipaldi had previously competed in the first round of the 2018 Championship before an injury prevented his return. However, on the eve of a pre-season test at Fuji Speedway, it was announced that Sérgio Sette Câmara would instead occupy the seat, in what was described as a "late reshuffle of race seats due to conflicting sponsors' interests".[17] Sette Câmara will be joined by Charles Milesi, who moves up from the Japanese Formula 3 Championship. B-Max's 2019 drivers Lucas Auer and Harrison Newey left the series, both moving to the DTM with BMW and Audi respectively.[22][23] Neither driver raced at Motegi with Teppei Natori driving the sole B-Max Dallara.
  • Alex Palou left Nakajima Racing to move to IndyCar with Dale Coyne Racing. He was replaced by Japanese F3 and Euroformula Open race winner Toshiki Oyu.
  • 2019 Japanese Formula 3 Champion Sacha Fenestraz replaces Yuji Kunimoto at Kondo Racing. Kunimoto will drive the newly acquired second car at Team KCMG.
  • Following the departure of Team LeMans, Kazuya Oshima moved to Cerumo Motorsport and will drive the #14 ROOKIE Racing entry.

Mid-season changes

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  • Sette Câmara, and Milesi unable to travel to Japan for the season opener due to Japan's COVID-19 travel restrictions. B-Max have to run one car for the opening season with Teppei Natori as the driver choice for the number 50 car, and recruited Mitsunori Takaboshi for the second round.
  • Tatiana Calderón, Kamui Kobayashi, Kazuki Nakajima, Kenta Yamashita, unable to compete for the second round of the season due to quarantine time after they participated in the 24 Heures du Mans. Koudai Tsukakoshi, Yuichi Nakayama, Ritomo Miyata, Sena Sakaguchi covers for them respectively.
  • Miyata, and Nakayama returns to compete in the fourth round as Kobayashi, and Nakajima unavailable due to FIA World Endurance Championship commitment.
  • Milesi able to compete in the series from the fourth round onwards, and Nobuharu Matsushita takes over Sette Câmara's seat for the remainder of the season.
  • Tadasuke Makino have to miss the last round of the season after suffered meningitis. Hiroki Otsu replaces Makino.

Race calendar

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The provisional calendar with seven rounds was announced in July 2019.[24] However, in September 2019 the calendar was updated to have the Suzuka Circuit as the first round rather than the Fuji Speedway.[25] The final round at Suzuka Circuit was pushed back 2 weeks to avoid a schedule conflict with the FIA World Endurance Championship, which competes at Fuji Speedway on 1 November.[26] After multiple postponements due to the COVID-19 pandemic, a revised calendar was announced on 9 June 2020 that now sees the season starting in August and running until December.[27]

Round Circuit Date
1 Twin Ring Motegi 30 August
2 Okayama International Circuit 27 September
3 Sportsland SUGO 18 October
4 Autopolis 15 November
5 Suzuka Circuit 5 December
6 6 December
7 Fuji Speedway 20 December
  • On 2 March 2020, the season opener at Suzuka Circuit was postponed due to the coronavirus pandemic.[28] On 7 April 2020, it was announced that the season finale would become a double-header, effectively reestablishing the second round at Suzuka.[29]
  • The rounds at Fuji Speedway and Autopolis were postponed on 18 March 2020 and 31 March 2020 respectively, both also because of the virus.[30][31]
  • On 24 April 2020, the former fourth round at Sportsland SUGO was also postponed to a so far unannounced date because of the ongoing pandemic.[32]

Results

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Season summary

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Round Circuit Pole position Fastest lap Winning driver Winning team
1 Twin Ring Motegi   Ryō Hirakawa   Kamui Kobayashi   Ryō Hirakawa Itochu Enex Team Impul
2 Okayama International Circuit   Ryō Hirakawa   Nick Cassidy   Sho Tsuboi JMS P.mu/Cerumo・INGING
3 Sportsland SUGO   Sérgio Sette Câmara   Nick Cassidy   Nick Cassidy Vantelin Team TOM’S
4 Autopolis   Tomoki Nojiri   Naoki Yamamoto   Tomoki Nojiri Team Mugen
5 Suzuka Circuit I   Naoki Yamamoto   Naoki Yamamoto   Naoki Yamamoto Docomo Team Dandelion Racing
6 Suzuka Circuit II   Nick Cassidy   Nirei Fukuzumi   Toshiki Oyu TCS Nakajima Racing
7 Fuji Speedway   Tomoki Nojiri   Nirei Fukuzumi   Sho Tsuboi JMS P.mu/Cerumo・INGING

Championship standings

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Scoring system

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For the 2020 season, the points system has been overhauled to be more in-line with Super GT. The final points standings only include the five best results. Additionally, bonus points are no longer available for the final race of the season. Points are also given to the top three drivers of qualifying as opposed to just points for pole position. Note that these qualifying points do not count towards the teams' championship.[33]

Race points
Position  1st   2nd   3rd   4th   5th   6th   7th   8th   9th   10th 
Points 20 15 11 8 6 5 4 3 2 1
Qualifying points
Position  1st   2nd   3rd 
Points 3 2 1

Drivers' Championship

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Pos. Driver MOT OKA SUG AUT SUZ1 SUZ2 FUJ Points
1   Naoki Yamamoto 13 6 3 23 11 Ret 53 62
2   Ryō Hirakawa 11 41 22 12 Ret 7 6 60
3   Sho Tsuboi Ret 1 13 Ret Ret 4 12 50
4   Nick Cassidy 6 3 1 7 5 Ret1 4 50
5   Tomoki Nojiri 7 10 4 11 72 5 Ret1 47
6   Toshiki Oyu 15 15 12 10 8 12 2 41
7   Kenta Yamashita 23 6 5 9 6 10 34
8   Nirei Fukuzumi 5 8 10 92 Ret3 2 16 29
9   Yuji Kunimoto Ret 7 5 4 3 Ret 15 29
10   Hiroaki Ishiura 8 2 8 13 6 10 12 27
11   Kazuki Nakajima 4 15 2 16 9 25
12   Tadasuke Makino 9 Ret 7 3 Ret 8 20
13   Sacha Fenestraz 32 Ret3 Ret3 Ret 10 Ret 8 19
14   Yuhi Sekiguchi Ret 5 11 11 DNS 3 DNS 17
15   Nobuharu Matsushita 6 Ret 14 3 16
16   Kamui Kobayashi 14 14 4 15 11 8
17   Ritomo Miyata 92 8 7
18   Ukyo Sasahara 11 13 Ret 14 Ret 113 7 5
19   Kazuya Oshima 10 16 9 17 12 9 14 5
20   Sérgio Sette Câmara Ret1 3
21   Charles Milesi 15 11 13 DNS 0
22   Yuichi Nakayama 11 18 0
23   Tatiana Calderón 12 16 13 12 17 0
24   Koudai Tsukakoshi 12 NC 0
25   Hiroki Otsu 13 0
26   Mitsunori Takaboshi 14 0
—   Teppei Natori DNS 0
—   Sena Sakaguchi DNS 0
Pos. Driver MOT OKA SUG AUT SUZ1 SUZ2 FUJ Points
Edit the results
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
1 – 3 Points for Pole
2 – 2 Points for P2
3 – 1 Points for P3

Teams' Championship

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Pos. Team No. MOT OKA SUG AUT SUZ1 SUZ2 FUJ Points
1 Vantelin Team TOM’S 1 6 3 1 7 5 Ret1 4 77
36 4 92 15 8 2 16 9
2 JMS P.mu/Cerumo・INGING 38 8 2 8 13 6 10 12 72
39 Ret 1 13 Ret Ret 4 12
3 Docomo Team Dandelion Racing 5 13 6 3 23 11 Ret 53 72
6 5 8 10 92 Ret3 2 16
4 Itochu Enex Team Impul 19 Ret 5 11 11 DNS 3 DNS 69
20 11 41 22 12 Ret 7 6
5 TCS Nakajima Racing 64 9 Ret 7 3 Ret 8 13 57
65 15 15 12 10 8 12 2
6 Kondo Racing 3 23 DNS 6 5 9 6 10 46
4 32 Ret3 Ret3 Ret 10 Ret 8
7 Team Mugen 15 11 13 Ret 14 Ret 113 7 42
16 7 10 4 11 72 5 Ret1
8 carrozzeria Team KCMG 7 14 11 14 18 4 15 11 37
18 Ret 7 5 4 3 Ret 15
9 Buzz Racing with B-MAX 50 DNS 14 Ret1 6 Ret 14 3 16
51 15 11 13 DNS
10 ROOKIE Racing 14 10 16 9 17 12 9 14 5
11 Drago Corse with ThreeBond 12 12 12 NC 16 13 12 17 0
Pos. Team No. MOT OKA SUG AUT SUZ1 SUZ2 FUJ Points

Notes

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  1. ^ a b Car No. 14 entered as ROOKIE Racing, and car No. 38 & 39 entered as JMS P.mu/Cerumo・INGING

References

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  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l "Cassidy absent from Toyota's Super Formula line-up". www.motorsport.com. 7 February 2020. Retrieved 2020-02-07.
  2. ^ "Cassidy agrees fresh TOM'S Super Formula deal". Motorsport Network. 27 February 2020. Retrieved 28 February 2020.
  3. ^ a b "2020 Rd.1 Entry List | Rd.2 Okayama | Race Calendar 2020 | SUPER FORMULA Official Website". superformula.net. Retrieved 2020-09-25.
  4. ^ a b c Klein, Jamie (November 21, 2019). "Fenestraz set to replace Nakajima at TOM'S". Motorsport.com. Motorsport Network. Retrieved November 21, 2019.
  5. ^ a b c d e f g "Calderon becomes first female Super Formula driver". 10 January 2020. Retrieved 10 January 2020.
  6. ^ Wood, Elliot (2020-09-23). "Yuichi Nakayama replaces quarantined Kobayashi in Super Formula". Formula Scout. Retrieved 2020-09-23.
  7. ^ "Michigami's Drago Corse squad returns to Super Formula grid". motorsport.com. 30 October 2019. Retrieved 30 October 2019.
  8. ^ "Calderon to race at Motegi; Vips, Sette Camara still in doubt". motorsport.com. 18 August 2020. Retrieved 18 August 2020.
  9. ^ "Tatiana Calderon forced to miss Okayama Super Formula round". www.motorsport.com. 21 September 2020. Retrieved 2020-09-22.
  10. ^ a b "Toyota SF Driver Announced". Super Formula Twitter Account. 6 February 2020. Retrieved 8 February 2020.
  11. ^ Klein, Jamie (December 18, 2019). "Cerumo/Inging adds cars in Super GT, Super Formula". Motorsport.com. Motorsport Network. Retrieved December 19, 2019.
  12. ^ Wood, Elliot (2020-08-19). "Ukyo Sasahara replaces Vips for Super Formula season opener". Formula Scout. Retrieved 2020-08-19.
  13. ^ a b Wood, Elliot (2020-09-16). "Mugen keeps Sasahara, Mitsunori Takaboshi at B-MAX in Super Formula". Formula Scout. Retrieved 2020-09-24.
  14. ^ Wood, Elliot (2020-11-10). "Mugen retains Vips stand-in Sasahara for rest of Super Formula season". Formula Scout. Retrieved 2020-11-10.
  15. ^ "Super Formula news: B-Max Racing down to one car for Motegi". www.motorsport.com. 27 August 2020. Retrieved 2020-08-27.
  16. ^ "Takaboshi to Race for Buzz Racing with B-Max in Rd. 2 | SUPER FORMULA Official Website". superformula.net. Retrieved 2020-09-22.
  17. ^ a b "Sette Camara makes surprise Super Formula switch". www.motorsport.co. 23 March 2020.
  18. ^ Wood, Elliot (2020-11-11). "Matsushita replaces Sette Camara in Super Formula for Autopolis". Formula Scout. Retrieved 2020-11-11.
  19. ^ "Makino withdraws from Fuji Super Formula finale". Motorsport Network. 14 December 2020.
  20. ^ "Real Racing withdraws from 2020 Super Formula season". Motorsport Network. 27 February 2020.
  21. ^ "Fittipaldi back to Super Formula with BMAX/Motopark". Motorsport Network. 12 December 2019.
  22. ^ "Auer secures 2020 BMW drive for DTM return". Motorsport Network. 18 December 2019.
  23. ^ "Newey secures WRT Audi DTM drive as Jones drops out". www.motorsport.com. 15 July 2020. Retrieved 2020-07-16.
  24. ^ "Super Formula unveils provisional 2020 calendar". motorsport.com. 13 July 2019. Retrieved 13 July 2019.
  25. ^ "Suzuka reinstated as Super Formula season opener". motorsport.com. 27 September 2019. Retrieved 27 September 2019.
  26. ^ "Super Formula changes date to avoid WEC clash". motorsport.com. 23 December 2019. Retrieved 23 December 2019.
  27. ^ Wood, Elliot (2020-06-09). "New Super Formula calendar reveals December end date". Formula Scout. Retrieved 2020-06-09.
  28. ^ "Coronavirus forces Super Formula to postpone opener". www.motorsport.com. 2 March 2020. Retrieved 2020-03-02.
  29. ^ Wood, Elliot (2020-04-07). "Super Formula's Suzuka season finale becomes double header". Formula Scout. Retrieved 2020-04-07.
  30. ^ "Super Formula also postpones Fuji race over coronavirus". www.motorsport.com. 18 March 2020. Retrieved 2020-03-18.
  31. ^ Wood, Elliot (2020-03-31). "Super Formula season delayed further as Autopolis postponed". Formula Scout. Retrieved 2020-03-31.
  32. ^ Wood, Elliot (2020-04-24). "Super Formula postpones Sportsland SUGO race". Formula Scout. Retrieved 2020-04-24.
  33. ^ Thukral, Rachit (2019-12-26). "Super Formula overhauls points system for 2020". www.motorsport.com. Retrieved 2020-08-29.
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