The 2012 Formula Challenge Japan was a multi-event motor racing championship for open-wheel formula racing cars, and the seventh running of the Formula Challenge Japan 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 7 April and ended on 4 November.^[1][2]

The championship featured a close battle between Honda-backed Nobuharu Matsushita and Toyota-supported Ryō Hirakawa; both drivers scored five wins over the course of the 12-race season, with Nissan-supported Mitsunori Takaboshi taking the remaining two victories. Matsushita would ultimately claim the championship title by countback over Hirakawa, with Takaboshi finishing third in the points standings.

Teams and drivers

Team No. Driver Rounds FTRS Scholarship FTRS FTRS Clarion Hiroshima Toyopet FTRS PTT FTRS TMC FTRS Ishiyaki Ramen Volcano 1 Shintarō Kawabata All 3 Hiroki Shinotani All 4 Ryō Hirakawa All 6 Nanin Indra-Payoong All 9 Shinya Michimi All 11 Shō Tsuboi All 14 Yuichi Mikasa All HFDP Scholarship/SRS-F/Kotira HFDP ARTA 2 Shun Kurosaki All 8 Shōta Kiyohara All 10 Nobuharu Matsushita All 15 Tsubasa Takahashi 8–9 20 Keishi Ishikawa 5–7, 10–12 Team SPV 5 Kōhei Sutō All Houka Racing with Dunlop 7 Ryō Ogawa All NDDP Daishin NDDP 12 Mitsunori Takaboshi All 13 Kiyoto Fujinami All Exedy Racing Team 16 Ai Miura All Tokyo Motor Sports College 17 Yūdai Jinkawa All Honda Cars Mie-kita SBT 18 Ryūnosuke Shibata 1–2, 8–12 Kim's Racing 19 Im Che-won 8–12 GRID 21 Takahiro Matsuda 10–12 Source[2]

Race calendar and results

Round	Circuit	Date	Pole position	Fastest lap	Winning driver
1	Fuji Speedway, Oyama	7 April	Ryō Hirakawa	Ryō Hirakawa	Ryō Hirakawa
2		8 April	Ryō Hirakawa	Ryō Hirakawa	Ryō Hirakawa
3	Twin Ring Motegi, Motegi	12 May	Mitsunori Takaboshi	Mitsunori Takaboshi	Ryō Hirakawa
4		13 May	Mitsunori Takaboshi	Mitsunori Takaboshi	Mitsunori Takaboshi
5	Fuji Speedway, Oyama	1 September	Nobuharu Matsushita	Nobuharu Matsushita	Nobuharu Matsushita
6				Nobuharu Matsushita	Nobuharu Matsushita
7		2 September		Nobuharu Matsushita	Nobuharu Matsushita
8	Suzuka Circuit, Suzuka	6 October	Ryō Hirakawa	Nobuharu Matsushita	Nobuharu Matsushita
9		7 October		Nobuharu Matsushita	Ryō Hirakawa
10	Suzuka Circuit, Suzuka	3 November	Ryō Hirakawa	Ryō Hirakawa	Ryō Hirakawa
11				Mitsunori Takaboshi	Nobuharu Matsushita
12		4 November		Ryō Hirakawa	Mitsunori Takaboshi

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 SUZ SUZ Points 1 Nobuharu Matsushita 2 2 3 5 1 1 1 1 15 2 1 2 91 2 Ryō Hirakawa 1 1 1 3 2 2 3 2 1 1 Ret 5 91 3 Mitsunori Takaboshi 4 15 2 1 5 3 4 4 2 4 2 1 65 4 Shōta Kiyohara 3 3 4 4 4 4 2 3 14 6 7 6 36 5 Hiroki Shinotani 5 14 5 2 3 12 5 12 3 3 18 8 28 6 Shintarō Kawabata Ret 6 Ret 6 7 17 6 5 16 7 3 3 15 7 Shō Tsuboi 11 7 12 12 13 5 10 13 Ret 5 4 18 7 8 Ryō Ogawa 6 4 6 7 12 11 14 10 6 12 6 7 7 9 Keishi Ishikawa 15 8 Ret 11 5 4 5 10 Shinya Michimi 12 9 10 Ret 9 9 11 8 4 9 8 9 3 11 Ryūnosuke Shibata 10 8 9 5 15 12 12 2 12 Yuichi Mikasa 16 5 11 10 14 10 15 18 10 10 10 Ret 2 13 Kiyoto Fujinami 9 10 9 11 8 6 7 6 9 8 17 Ret 2 14 Kōhei Sutō 8 12 7 8 6 16 8 7 7 Ret 11 11 1 - Shun Kurosaki 7 Ret 8 14 10 7 9 19 Ret 14 16 15 0 - Tsubasa Takahashi 16 8 0 - Nanin Indra-Payoong 14 13 13 DSQ 11 14 13 14 12 13 9 10 0 - Yūdai Jinkawa 15 Ret 14 9 16 13 16 17 Ret 17 14 13 0 - Im Che-won 11 11 18 Ret 14 0 - Ai Miura 13 11 15 13 DSQ 15 12 15 13 19 15 16 0 - Takahiro Matsuda 16 13 17 0 Pos. Driver FUJ MOT FUJ SUZ 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