Super FJ
| Category | Formula racing |
|---|---|
| Country | Japan |
| Inaugural season | 2007 |
| Engine suppliers | Honda |
| Tyre suppliers | Dunlop |
| Official website | Official website |
Super FJ, commonly abbreviated as S-FJ, is a single-seater motor racing category based in Japan. Utilized by several regional championships throughout Japan since its introduction in 2007 by the Japan Automobile Federation, the category is overseen by the Japan Scholarship System and supported by the FJ Association, and is commonly referred to as the entry point on the Japanese formula racing ladder.[1]
Numerous graduates of Super FJ have gone on to achieve high-level success in motorsport, including Formula One driver Yūki Tsunoda, FIA World Endurance Championship champion Ryō Hirakawa, Super GT champions Tadasuke Makino and Kenta Yamashita, and Super Formula driver Ayumu Iwasa.[2]
Origins and history
Since its inception in 1980, the Formula Ford-adjacent FJ1600 series had served as Japan's entry-level formula racing category; however, the Subaru-manufactured EA71 engine, originally introduced in 1976 for use in the Subaru Leone and long utilised as the regulation engines for FJ1600, had become increasingly difficult to source since the engine was discontinued in 1994. In response to calls for a more accessible regulation set, Super FJ was announced by the Japan Automobile Federation in November 2006 as Japan's new entry-level formula racing category.[3]
In the inaugural 2007 season, Super FJ featured JAF-sanctioned regional championships at four major circuits throughout Japan. The Suzuka Series featured grids of solely Super FJ cars, while the championships at Motegi, Okayama, and Tsukuba were run alongside the existing FJ1600 entries. In the subsequent years, new regional championships were introduced for Fuji Speedway, Autopolis, and the northern Tōhoku region (where the championship was held between Sportsland SUGO and Sendai Hi-Land Raceway until the latter's closure in 2014.)
Since 2007, champions and other top competitors in each regional series have competed in the season-ending final race (Japanese: 日本一決定戦; lit. "Japan's No. 1 Deciding Race"; variously referred to as the All-Japan "Masters Race," "National Championship," and "Final") at Suzuka International Racing Course in December.[4] Through the Japan Scholarship System, top drivers in the final race are awarded scholarships to compete in higher-level formula (typically the F4 Japanese Championship) for the following season.
Car specifications
A number of chassis manufacturers compete in Super FJ, with all cars adhering to the same series regulations. All cars feature a Honda L15A engine (originally manufacturered for the Honda Fit) mated to a five-speed manual racing transmission, powering a steel space-frame chassis designed as an evolution of the FJ1600/Formula Ford design. Unlike the FJ1600 cars, Super FJ cars feature front and rear wings.[1][5]
| Chassis | Jidousya Koubou MYST KK-S WEST RACING CARS 11J Tokyo R&D, Co. RD10V |
|---|---|
| Engine | Honda Motor Co. L15A SOHC 1,500cc inline-4 |
| Gearbox | TODA RACING S-FJ specification 5-speed dogleg manual transmission |
| Minimum weight | 420 kg (495 kg with driver) |
| Power output | ~118 bhp |
| Fuel capacity | 20 litres |
| Fuel delivery | Direct fuel injection |
| Aspiration | Naturally aspirated |
| Brakes | 4-piston aluminum caliper disc brakes |
| Length | 3,700 mm |
| Width | 1,700 mm (including tyres) |
| Wheelbase | 2,200 mm |
| Minimum ground clearance | 50 mm |
| Steering | Rack and pinion |
| Tyres | 13-inch Dunlop slick tyres (Yokohama supplied tyres between 2010 and 2021) |
Champions
| Season | All-Japan Masters Race | Suzuka Series | Okayama Series | Motegi Series | Tōhoku/SUGO Series | Tsukuba Series | Fuji Series | Autopolis Series |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2007 | Takeshi Matsumoto | Mitsuhiko Tsukada | Takeshi Matsumoto | Takahiro Ikawa | Not held | Cancelled | Not held | Not held |
| 2008 | Keishi Niki | Mitsuhiko Tsukada | Masanori Yonekura | Yōsuke Morishita | Daisuke Nakabayashi | |||
| 2009 | Naoki Nishimoto | Naoki Nishimoto | Katsumasa Katayose | Daisuke Nakabayashi | Yūichi Nakayama | Naoki Nishimoto | ||
| 2010 | Ryō Hirakawa | Takayoshi Nakano | Ryō Hirakawa | Takuya Tanaka | Takanori Yamabe | Takamitsu Matsui | Nobuhiro Yoshida | |
| 2011 | Satoshi Katō | Satoshi Katō | Katsuhisa Kitaguchi | Ryōsuke Takehira | Yōsuke Yamazaki | "OSAMU" | Tomio Masuda | |
| 2012 | Yūya Motojima | Keishi Ishikawa | Keishi Ishikawa | Kenta Yamashita | Shōhei Yuzawa | Takumi Kuroiwa | "OSAMU" | Yūya Motojima |
| 2013 | Shinnosuke Yamada | Mizuki Ishizaka | Shinnosuke Yamada | Rintarō Kubo | Tomoki Obara | Yūki Nemoto | Tatsuya Ōta | Nobuhiro Yoshida |
| 2014 | Tadasuke Makino | Shunsuke Kohno | Tadasuke Makino | Takuro Shinohara | Takuro Shinohara | Kyōta Takahashi | Ryūta Imai | Takahide Tasaki |
| 2015 | Sena Sakaguchi | Reiji Hiraki | Toshiki Ōyu | Kohta Kawaai | Taiga Katō | Masato Yamaura | Takumi Fukamura | Kinya Kawachi |
| 2016 | Yūki Tsunoda | Yūki Urata | Hirokuni Kojima | Takashi Itō | "KAMIKAZE" | Toshiki Komura | Masafumi Uemura | Ryō Yoshimoto |
| 2017 | Teppei Natori | View Yamauchi | Daichi Okamoto | Shōta Ogura | Riki Ōkusa | Masamitsu Ōtake | Riki Ōkusa | Isao Nakajima |
| 2018 | Atsushi Miyake | Atsushi Miyake | Kazuya Ōshima | Seiya Jin | Rin Arakawa | Masamitsu Ōtake | Ryūichirō Ishizaki | Rin Arakawa |
| 2019 | Ayumu Iwasa | Ryūnosuke Sawa | Tsubasa Iriyama | Yūgo Iwasawa | Hajime Yamakage | "KAMIKAZE" | Aito Kinoshita | Tomio Masuda |
| 2020 | Seiya Motojima | Daichi Okamoto | Ryōhei Shikatani | Ryōsuke Niikura | Shūya Sugō | Takashi Itō | Kazuma Nishimura | |
| 2021 | Daitetsu Ueno | Daichi Okamoto | Daichi Okamoto | Itsuki Satō | Haruki Nojima | Yūki Irie | ||
| 2022 | Hironobu Shimizu | Tōsei Moriyama | Not held | Sōryū Tagami | Sōryū Tagami | Hironobu Shimizu | ||
| 2023 | Yū Oda | Ryō Shirasaki | Suzukaze Uchida | Toshiki Komura | Nozomu Udaka | |||
| 2024 | Daichi Okamoto | Ryūma Sako | Yū Oda | Shun Itō | Ryō Yoshimoto | |||
References
- ^ a b "About S-FJ". Super FJ (in Japanese). Retrieved 20 December 2024.
- ^ "Super FJ". jss-org.com (in Japanese). Retrieved 20 December 2024.
- ^ "スーパーＦＪ プレスリリース" [Super FJ Press Release] (PDF). zap-speed.com (in Japanese). FJ Association. 23 November 2006. Retrieved 20 December 2024.
- ^ Kawafuku, Kenta; Ooyane, Tsubasa (16 May 2024). "登竜門のジュニアフォーミュラSuper FJ｜走らせ方と魅力まで解説！" [Junior formula Super FJ, a gateway to success | Explaining how to race and its appeal!]. &Race. Retrieved 20 December 2024.
- ^ "第１編 レース車両規定" [Part 1: Race Vehicle Regulations] (PDF). Japan Automobile Federation (in Japanese). 28 July 2024. pp. 52–61. Retrieved 20 December 2024.
External links
- Official website (in Japanese)
- FJ Association (in Japanese)