2017 Super Formula Championship

The 2017 Japanese Super Formula Championship was the forty-fifth season of premier Japanese open-wheel motor racing, and the fifth under the moniker of Super Formula. Yuji Kunimoto was the defending series champion.^[1]

Hiroaki Ishiura won his second Driver's Championship in three years, finishing only half a point ahead of Pierre Gasly after the final round was cancelled due to Typhoon Lan. The Cerumo INGING team won their second successive Team Championship.

Teams and drivers

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

Manufacturer	Engine	No.	Driver	Rounds
P.mu/cerumo・INGING[2]	Toyota	1	Yuji Kunimoto[2]	All
		2	Hiroaki Ishiura[2]	All
Kondō Racing[2]	Toyota	3	Nick Cassidy[2]	All
		4	Kenta Yamashita[2]	All
SUNOCO Team LeMans[2]	Toyota	7	Felix Rosenqvist[3]	All
		8	Kazuya Oshima[2]	All
Real Racing[4]	Honda	10	Koudai Tsukakoshi[4]	All
Team Mugen[4]	Honda	15	Pierre Gasly[5]	All
		16	Naoki Yamamoto[4]	All
KCMG[2]	Toyota	18	Kamui Kobayashi[2]	All
Itochu Enex Team Impul[2]	Toyota	19	Yuhi Sekiguchi[2]	All
		20	Jann Mardenborough[6]	All
Vantelin Team Tom's[7]	Toyota	36	André Lotterer[2]	All
		37	Kazuki Nakajima[2]	All
Docomo Team Dandelion Racing[4]	Honda	40	Tomoki Nojiri[4]	All
		41	Takuya Izawa[4]	All
B-MAX Racing Team[8]	Honda	50	Takashi Kogure[4]	All
TCS Nakajima Racing[9]	Honda	64	Daisuke Nakajima[4]	All
		65	Narain Karthikeyan[4]	All

Driver changes

Leaving Super Formula

• Stoffel Vandoorne will leave the series to compete in Formula One with McLaren.^[10]
• Bertrand Baguette will leave the series to compete in Super GT Series.
• Yuichi Nakayama is replaced at the single car KCMG team by Kamui Kobayashi.
• Joao Paulo de Oliveira, 2010 Formula Nippon champion, leaves after seven seasons with Team Impul and ten in the series.

Entering Super Formula

• 2016 GP2 Series champion, Red Bull Racing and Scuderia Toro Rosso reserve driver Pierre Gasly moved to Super Formula with Team Mugen. He replaced Daniil Kvyat at Scuderia Toro Rosso from the 2017 Malaysian Grand Prix, but skipped the 2017 United States Grand Prix to finish the Super Formula season.
• Nick Cassidy and Kenta Yamashita, the 2015 and 2016 Japanese Formula 3 champions, join the series with Kondo Racing, replacing James Rossiter and William Buller.
• GT Academy winner Jann Mardenborough makes his series debut with Team Impul.
• 2015 European F3 champion Felix Rosenqvist joins the series. He is joined at Team LeMans by Kazuya Oshima, making his full-time return to Super Formula for the first time since 2012.

Race calendar

Round		Circuit	Date	Pole Position	Fastest Lap	Winning Driver	Winning Team
1		Suzuka Circuit	23 April	Kazuki Nakajima	Koudai Tsukakoshi	Kazuki Nakajima	Vantelin Team Tom's
2	R1	Okayama International Circuit	27 May	Yuhi Sekiguchi	Felix Rosenqvist	André Lotterer	Vantelin Team Tom's
	R2		28 May	Hiroaki Ishiura	Kamui Kobayashi	Yuhi Sekiguchi	Itochu Enex Team Impul
3		Fuji Speedway	9 July	Yuji Kunimoto	Felix Rosenqvist	Hiroaki Ishiura	P.mu/cerumo・INGING
4		Twin Ring Motegi	20 August	Kenta Yamashita	Koudai Tsukakoshi	Pierre Gasly	Team Mugen
5		Autopolis	10 September	Tomoki Nojiri	Jann Mardenborough	Pierre Gasly	Team Mugen
6		Sportsland SUGO	24 September	Nick Cassidy	Hiroaki Ishiura	Yuhi Sekiguchi	Itochu Enex Team Impul
7	R1	Suzuka Circuit	22 October	André Lotterer	Races cancelled due to Typhoon Lan[11]
	R2			Jann Mardenborough
Source:[12]

Championship standings

Drivers' Championship

Scoring system

	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	Pole
Rounds 1, 3-6	10	8	6	5	4	3	2	1	1
Round 2	5	4	3	2.5	2	1.5	1	0.5	1
Round 7	8	4	3	2.5	2	1.5	1	0.5	1

Driver standings

Pos Driver SUZ OKA FUJ MOT AUT SUG SUZ Points 1 Hiroaki Ishiura 4 8 2 1 4 4 6 C C 33.5 2 Pierre Gasly 10 19 7 5 1 1 2 C C 33 3 Felix Rosenqvist 11 12 4 2 3 2 5 C C 28.5 4 Yuhi Sekiguchi 12 2 1 4 16 10 1 C C 25 5 Kazuki Nakajima 1 9 18 7 11 6 3 C C 22 6 André Lotterer 5 1 3 3 7 Ret 10 C C 21 7 Kamui Kobayashi 9 4 5 15 2 7 7 C C 16.5 8 Yuji Kunimoto 3 10 9 Ret 15 5 4 C C 16 9 Naoki Yamamoto 2 5 8 Ret 13 16 18 C C 10.5 10 Nick Cassidy 17 3 11 Ret 5 Ret 19 C C 8 11 Kenta Yamashita 14 7 6 Ret 6 13 11 C C 6.5 12 Kazuya Oshima Ret 15 12 12 10 3 15 C C 6 13 Takuya Izawa 8 14 Ret 6 Ret 15 8 C C 5 14 Jann Mardenborough 18 6 17 8 14 8 9 C C 4.5 15 Koudai Tsukakoshi 6 11 16 9 9 9 16 C C 3 16 Daisuke Nakajima 7 16 14 11 12 11 17 C C 2 17 Tomoki Nojiri 16 13 10 10 8 14 12 C C 2 18 Takashi Kogure 15 18 15 13 17 12 14 C C 0 19 Narain Karthikeyan 13 17 13 14 Ret Ret 13 C C 0 Pos Driver SUZ OKA FUJ MOT AUT SUG SUZ Points

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

Teams' Championship

Pos	Team	No.	SUZ	OKA		FUJ	MOT	AUT	SUG	SUZ		Points
1	P.mu/cerumo・INGING	1	3	10	9	Ret	15	5	4	C	C	47.5
		2	4	8	2	1	4	4	6	C	C
2	Team Mugen	15	10	19	7	5	1	1	2	C	C	43.5
		16	2	5	8	Ret	13	Ret	18	C	C
3	Vantelin Team TOM's	36	5	1	3	3	7	Ret	10	C	C	41
		37	1	9	18	7	11	6	3	C	C
4	SUNOCO Team LeMans	7	11	12	4	2	3	2	5	C	C	34.5
		8	Ret	15	12	12	10	3	15	C	C
5	ITOCHU ENEX Team Impul	19	12	2	1	4	16	10	1	C	C	27.5
		20	18	6	17	8	14	8	17	C	C
6	KCMG	18	9	4	5	15	2	7	7	C	C	16.5
7	Kondo Racing	3	17	3	11	Ret	5	Ret	19	C	C	12.5
		4	14	7	6	Ret	6	13	11	C	C
8	DOCOMO Team Dandelion Racing	40	16	13	10	10	8	14	12	C	C	6
		41	8	14	Ret	6	Ret	15	8	C	C
9	Real Racing	10	6	11	16	9	9	9	16	C	C	3
10	TCS Nakajima Racing	64	7	16	14	11	12	11	17	C	C	2
		65	13	17	13	14	Ret	Ret	13	C	C
11	B-MAX Racing Team	50	15	18	15	13	17	12	14	C	C	0
Pos	Team	No.	SUZ	OKA		FUJ	MOT	AUT	SUG	SUZ		Points

References

1. "Suzuka Super Formula: Kunimoto takes title, Vandoorne wins final race". October 30, 2016. Retrieved October 30, 2016.
2. "Toyota GAZOO Racing Outlines 2017 Motorsports Activities". Toyota Motor Corporation. 2 February 2017. Retrieved 2 February 2017.
3. van Leeuwen, Andrew (1 March 2017). "Rosenqvist scores LeMans Super Formula seat". Motorsport.com. Retrieved 1 March 2017.
4. "Honda 2017 Motorsports Program Overview". Honda Motor Co., Ltd. Honda Motor Co., Ltd. 13 February 2017. Retrieved 13 February 2017.
5. Chokhani, Darshan (13 February 2017). "Gasly confirmed at Mugen for 2017 Super Formula season". motorsport.com. Archived from the original on 22 August 2017. Retrieved 13 February 2017.
6. "Itochu Enex Team Impul Line-up". Impul. Itochu Enex Team Impul. 8 March 2016. Retrieved 11 March 2016.
7. "Red Bull closing on Super Formula deal for Gasly". 6 December 2016. Retrieved 3 December 2016. While the TOM'S line-up of Kazuki Nakajima and Andre Lotterer is set to remain unchanged
8. "B-MAX RACING TEAM、2017年からスーパーフォーミュラに参戦！ ドライバーは協議中 (B-MAX RACING TEAM, fought from 2017 to super formula! The driver is under discussion)". 27 October 2016. Retrieved 30 October 2016.
9. "Red Bull in talks to place Gasly in Super Formula". 4 November 2016. Retrieved 4 November 2016. One of the teams Red Bull has held discussions with about running Gasly is understood to be Nakajima Racing, which ran Daisuke Nakajima and Bertrand Baguette in this year's championship.
10. "Vandoorne to partner Alonso at McLaren in 2017 as Button steps back". 3 September 2016. Retrieved 30 October 2016.
11. Thukrai, Rachit (21 October 2017). "Gasly denied Super Formula title shot as finale cancelled". Motorsport.com. Archived from the original on 21 October 2017. Retrieved 21 October 2017.
12. "SUPER FORMULA Official Website".

External links

• Japanese Championship Super Formula official website (in English)