2003 Formula Nippon Championship
In-game article clicks load inline without leaving the challenge.
The 2003 Formula Nippon Championship was the thirty-first season of premier Japanese single-seater racing, and the eighth under the Formula Nippon moniker. The series was contested over 10 races at five venues, including the final races at Fuji Speedway before a comprehensive renovation of the circuit began later that year.
10 different teams and 21 different drivers competed in the series. For the first time, the series adopted a spec chassis supplied by Lola, who replaced Reynard as the series' chassis supplier.
Satoshi Motoyama of Team Impul won his third series championship, becoming only the third driver after Kazuyoshi Hoshino and Satoru Nakajima to win three or more championships in Japanese top formula racing. Motoyama also became the second driver to win both the Formula Nippon and All-Japan Grand Touring Car GT500 Championships in the same year.
Teams and drivers
All teams used tyres supplied by Bridgestone, Lola B03/51 chassis, and Mugen MF308 engines.
| Team | # | Driver | Rounds |
|---|---|---|---|
| PIAA Nakajima Racing | 1 | Japan Takashi Kogure | All |
| 2 | Germany André Lotterer | All | |
| Olympic Kondo Racing Team | 3 | Japan Yuji Tachikawa | All |
| 4 | Germany Dominik Schwager | All | |
| Team 5ZIGEN | 5 | Japan Ryō Michigami | All |
| 6 | Japan Ryo Fukuda | 1–5 | |
| Australia James Courtney | 7–10 | ||
| Forum Engineering ARTA Team LeMans | 7 | Japan Toshihiro Kaneishi | All |
| 8 | Japan Takeshi Tsuchiya | All | |
| Planex EBBRO Nova Kacchao TCPRO Nova Team Nova Oizumi Team Nova | 9 | Japan Haruki Kurosawa | All |
| 10 | Japan Tetsuya Fujisawa | 1–4 | |
| Japan Yudai Igarashi | 5–7 | ||
| Japan Hiroki Katoh | 8–10 | ||
| Cosmo Oil Racing Team Cerumo | 11 | Japan Tsugio Matsuda | All |
| 12 | Japan Yuji Ide | All | |
| Team Impul | 19 | Japan Satoshi Motoyama | All |
| 20 | France Benoît Tréluyer | All | |
| Team 22 | 22 | Japan Juichi Wakisaka | All |
| Carrozzeria Team MOHN | 28 | Japan Hideki Noda | All |
| DoCoMo Team Dandelion Racing | 40 | United Kingdom Richard Lyons | All |
| 41 | Japan Naoki Hattori | All |
Race calendar and results
All races were held in Japan.
- For Round 5, an 18-lap (104.526 km) sprint race set the grid for the main race. The sprint race winner Richard Lyons started from pole in the main race. Takeshi Tsuchiya set pole position for the sprint race.
Championship standings
Drivers' Championship
Scoring system
| Position | 1st | 2nd | 3rd | 4th | 5th | 6th |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Points | 10 | 6 | 4 | 3 | 2 | 1 |
| Rank | Name | SUZ | FUJ | MIN | MOT | SUZ | SGO | FUJ | MIN | MOT | SUZ | Points |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Japan Satoshi Motoyama | 1 | 1 | 1 | 9 | 14 | 1 | 2 | 13 | 2 | 3 | 56 |
| 2 | France Benoît Tréluyer | Ret | 2 | Ret | NC | 2 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 9 | Ret | 35 |
| 3 | Japan Juichi Wakisaka | Ret | 5 | Ret | 1 | 3 | 3 | Ret | 6 | Ret | 1 | 31 |
| 4 | Japan Toshihiro Kaneishi | 3 | 8 | 5 | 7 | Ret | 8 | Ret | 2 | 1 | Ret | 22 |
| 5 | Germany André Lotterer | 2 | 4 | 7 | 6 | Ret | 2 | 3 | 9 | 5 | Ret | 22 |
| 6 | United Kingdom Richard Lyons | 9 | Ret | Ret | 3 | 1 | 5 | Ret | Ret | 3 | 9 | 20 |
| 7 | Japan Yuji Ide | 4 | 7 | 3 | 2 | 7 | 10 | Ret | 3 | 12 | 5 | 19 |
| 8 | Japan Takeshi Tsuchiya | Ret | NC | 2 | 4 | 5 | 7 | 6 | 12 | 6 | 4 | 16 |
| 9 | Japan Ryō Michigami | Ret | 3 | 4 | 5 | 4 | NC | Ret | NC | 13 | 6 | 13 |
| 10 | Japan Takashi Kogure | 12 | 6 | Ret | DNS | 6 | Ret | Ret | 14 | 4 | 2 | 11 |
| 11 | Japan Tsugio Matsuda | 5 | 9 | Ret | Ret | 15 | 6 | 5 | 5 | 14 | Ret | 7 |
| 12 | Australia James Courtney | 4 | 7 | Ret | Ret | 3 | ||||||
| 13 | Japan Naoki Hattori | 8 | Ret | Ret | 11 | 8 | 9 | 9 | 4 | 7 | 11 | 3 |
| 14 | Japan Hideki Noda | 6 | 10 | 8 | DNS | 12 | Ret | Ret | 10 | Ret | 10 | 1 |
| 15 | Japan Ryo Fukuda | 7 | Ret | 6 | Ret | 13 | 1 | |||||
| 16 | Germany Dominik Schwager | Ret | Ret | Ret | 8 | 9 | 11 | 7 | 8 | 10 | 8 | 0 |
| 17 | Japan Hiroki Katoh | Ret | 11 | 7 | 0 | |||||||
| 18 | Japan Yuji Tachikawa | 10 | 12 | 10 | Ret | Ret | NC | Ret | Ret | 8 | Ret | 0 |
| 19 | Japan Haruki Kurosawa | Ret | Ret | 9 | 10 | 11 | Ret | Ret | 11 | Ret | Ret | 0 |
| 20 | Japan Yudai Igarashi | 10 | 12 | Ret | 0 | |||||||
| 21 | Japan Tetsuya Fujisawa | 11 | 11 | Ret | 12 | 0 |
Teams' Championship
| Rank | Team | Car | SUZ | FUJ | MIN | MOT | SUZ | SGO | FUJ | MIN | MOT | SUZ | Points |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Impul | 19 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 9 | 14 | 1 | 2 | 13 | 2 | 3 | 91 |
| 20 | Ret | 2 | Ret | NC | 2 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 9 | Ret | |||
| 2 | Team LeMans | 7 | 3 | 8 | 5 | 7 | Ret | 8 | Ret | 2 | 1 | Ret | 38 |
| 8 | Ret | NC | 2 | 4 | 5 | 7 | 6 | 12 | 6 | 4 | |||
| 3 | PIAA Nakajima | 1 | 12 | 6 | Ret | DNS | 6 | Ret | Ret | 14 | 4 | 2 | 33 |
| 2 | 2 | 4 | 7 | 6 | Ret | 2 | 3 | 9 | 5 | Ret | |||
| 4 | Team 22 | 22 | Ret | 5 | Ret | 1 | 3 | 3 | Ret | 6 | Ret | 1 | 31 |
| 5 | Cosmo Oil Cerumo | 11 | 5 | 9 | Ret | Ret | 15 | 6 | 5 | 5 | 14 | Ret | 23 |
| 12 | 4 | 7 | 3 | 2 | 7 | 10 | Ret | 3 | 12 | 5 | |||
| 6 | DoCoMo Dandelion | 40 | 9 | Ret | Ret | 3 | 1 | 5 | Ret | Ret | 3 | 9 | 23 |
| 41 | 8 | Ret | Ret | 11 | 8 | 9 | 9 | 4 | 7 | 11 | |||
| 7 | 5ZIGEN | 5 | Ret | 3 | 4 | 5 | 4 | NC | Ret | NC | 13 | 6 | 17 |
| 6 | 7 | Ret | 6 | Ret | 13 | 4 | 7 | Ret | Ret | ||||
| 8 | Team MOHN | 28 | 6 | 10 | 8 | DNS | 12 | Ret | Ret | 10 | Ret | 10 | 1 |
| 9 | Team Nova | 9 | Ret | Ret | 9 | 10 | 11 | Ret | Ret | 11 | Ret | Ret | 0 |
| 10 | 11 | 11 | Ret | 12 | 10 | 12 | Ret | Ret | 11 | 7 | |||
| 10 | Kondo Racing Team | 3 | 10 | 12 | 10 | Ret | Ret | NC | Ret | Ret | 8 | Ret | 0 |
| 4 | Ret | Ret | Ret | 8 | 9 | 11 | 7 | 8 | 10 | 8 |