The 2013 Formula Challenge Japan was a multi-event motor racing championship for open-wheel formula racing cars, and the eighth and final season of the Formula Challenge Japan racing series, a young driver development series jointly supported by Honda, Toyota, and Nissan. The championship featured a mix of manufacturer-affiliated drivers and independent entries, and commenced on 30 March and ended on 10 November.^[1][2]

The championship was won by Toyota-backed rookie Kenta Yamashita after a season-long battle where the championship lead changed hands numerous times. Yamashita claimed the title after a hat-trick of wins at the final round in Fuji, more than doubling his points tally to emerge victorious in front of Honda-supported Tsubasa Takahashi and fellow Toyota junior Keishi Ishikawa. Hiroki Shinotani, who had lead the championship going into the final round, slipped to fourth in the standings. The season saw five winners, with Yamashita claiming four, Takahashi winning thrice, Shinotani and Shō Tsuboi claiming two each, and Shōta Kiyohara dominating a single round.

This was the final season of Formula Challenge Japan before it was replaced by Japan Formula 4 in 2014, and by the FIA F4 Japanese Championship in 2015.

Teams and drivers

Team No. Driver Rounds FTRS FCJ Tokyo Toyopet FTRS FTRS Scholarship FCJ Ishiyaki Ramen Volcano FTRS FCJ FTRS PTT FTRS Scholarship SMR FTRS TMC FCJ Binchou & Dohtonbori FTRS Autobacs FTRS FCJ 1 Kenta Yamashita All 2 Yūki Nemoto All 3 Hiroki Shinotani All 6 Yuichi Mikasa All 7 Nanin Indra-Payoong 1–9 9 Shinya Sean Michimi All 11 Shō Tsuboi All 12 Takuma Imai All 13 Shūhei Hayashi All 15 Ren Nagabuchi 8–9 HFDP Scholarship/SRS-F/Kotira R HFDP ARTA 4 Tsubasa Takahashi All 5 Keishi Ishikawa All 8 Shōta Kiyohara 1–9 Exedy Racing Team 10 Ai Miura All NDDP FCJ 14 Kiyoto Fujinami All Honda Cars Mie Team SBT 16 Ryūnosuke Shibata 10–12 Le Beausset Racing Academy 17 Rintarō Kubo 10–12 B-MAX 18 Yūki Asahara 10–12 Source[2]

Race calendar and results

Round	Circuit	Date	Pole position	Fastest lap	Winning driver
1	Fuji Speedway, Oyama	30 March	Kiyoto Fujinami	Keishi Ishikawa	Shō Tsuboi
2		31 March	Kiyoto Fujinami	Shō Tsuboi	Tsubasa Takahashi
3	Twin Ring Motegi, Motegi	11 May	Nanin Indra-Payoong	Kenta Yamashita	Kenta Yamashita
4		12 May	Shinya Sean Michimi	Hiroki Shinotani	Tsubasa Takahashi
5	Fuji Speedway, Oyama	22 June	Kiyoto Fujinami	Hiroki Shinotani	Hiroki Shinotani
6				Kiyoto Fujinami	Hiroki Shinotani
7		23 June		Hiroki Shinotani	Tsubasa Takahashi
8	Fuji Speedway, Oyama	24 August	Shōta Kiyohara	Shōta Kiyohara	Shōta Kiyohara
9		25 August	Shinya Sean Michimi	Keishi Ishikawa	Shō Tsuboi
10	Suzuka Circuit, Suzuka	9 November	Kenta Yamashita	Kenta Yamashita	Kenta Yamashita
11			Kenta Yamashita	Kenta Yamashita	Kenta Yamashita
12		10 November		Tsubasa Takahashi	Kenta Yamashita

Championship standings

Drivers' Championship

Points were awarded to the top six classified finishers, with one point awarded for pole position and fastest lap respectively.

1	2	3	4	5	6	PP	FL
10	7	5	3	2	1	1	1

Pos. Driver FUJ MOT FUJ FUJ SUZ Points 1 Kenta Yamashita 5 3 1 6 10 3 7 7 2 1 1 1 65 2 Tsubasa Takahashi 12 1 8 1 4 6 1 10 9 2 2 3 54 3 Keishi Ishikawa 2 2 3 8 5 2 13 8 6 3 3 2 48 4 Hiroki Shinotani 6 6 9 4 1 1 2 5 3 6 4 8 46 5 Shō Tsuboi 1 7 6 7 6 7 5 3 1 4 6 5 36 6 Kiyoto Fujinami 4 Ret 5 3 2 4 3 15† 14 10 8 7 29 7 Shinya Sean Michimi 9 5 4 2 3 13 11 2 13 9 7 12 26 8 Shōta Kiyohara 3 11 WD WD 8 8 8 1 5 19 9 Yuichi Mikasa 7 4 Ret 9 7 5 4 4 12 5 5 6 16 10 Nanin Indra-Payoong Ret 8 2 5 13 12 12 14 7 10 11 Yūki Nemoto 10 12 7 10 12 11 10 6 4 12 15 4 7 12 Shūhei Hayashi 8 10 10 11 DSQ 9 6 13 8 8 10 Ret 1 - Takuma Imai 11 13 11 13 11 14 Ret 11 11 7 11 13 0 - Ai Miura 13 9 Ret 12 9 10 9 9 15 13 12 11 0 - Ryūnosuke Shibata 11 9 9 0 - Ren Nagabuchi 12 10 0 - Rintarō Kubo Ret 13 10 0 - Yūki Asahara 14 14 14 0 Pos. Driver FUJ MOT FUJ FUJ SUZ Points

Key Colour Result Gold Race winner Silver 2nd place Bronze 3rd place Green Points finish Blue Non-points finish Non-classified finish (NC) Purple Did not finish (Ret) Black Disqualified (DSQ) Excluded (EX) White Did not start (DNS) Race cancelled (C) Withdrew (WD) Blank Did not participate Bold – Pole Italics – Fastest Lap

References