In 2012, Formula Nippon will run its last season with the name that bring to the series so many good times, looking to become more popular around Asia and the World, JRP will change the name of the series for 2013, the name choosing will be made through the mail sending from Japanese people to the JRP, the winner besides the fact of have the name he choosed as the name of the series, will have a pair of season tickets with paddock acess and a brand new car, either Toyota or Honda.
A great surprise let all the japanese fans very happy, during the official Honda announcement for the 2012 season, it was said that Takuma Sato was going to take place in the 2012 Formula Nippon season. As the driver also drives in Indycar we will only see Sato in one or two races of the season. Sato already took part in the off season race at Suzuka, that was held in march, during the celebrations for the 50 years of the most challenging and spetacular japanese circuit.
After a dominating year in 2011, the strong Team Tom's will face a big challenge in 2012, the season will have for the first time in Formula Nippon history, four previous champions in the grid, Tsugio Matsuda in 2007 and 2008, Loic Duval in 2009, JP Oliveira in 2010 and Andre Lotterer in 2011 are all in cars that can give them a chance of victory. Also, the young Kodai Tsukakoshi showed good skills in his first year for Dandelion in 2011, and will now fight with more experience for his first victory. The tests at Suzuka and Fuji showed that we will have a strong season, many drivers can have good results and Honda seems to be much more closer to Toyota than it was in 2011.
So let's take a view over all the teams and drivers for the 2012 Formula Nippon Season
PETRONAS Team Tom's Engine: Toyota
Drivers:
#01 Andre Lotterer
Germany, 30 years old
Races: 79
Points: 329
Wins: 14
Poles: 3
Titles: 1
Debut: Suzuka 2003, for PIAA Nakajima
#02 Kazuki Nakajima
Japan, 27 years old
Races: 7
Points: 42
Wins: 1
Poles: 0
Titles: 0
Debut: Suzuka 2011, for PETRONAS Team Tom's
Kondo RacingEngine: Toyota
Drivers:
#03 Hironobu Yasuda
Japan, 28 years old
Rookie
Team LeMansEngine: Toyota
Drivers:
#07 Kazuya Oshima
Japan, 24 years old
Races: 23
Points: 56
Wins: 1
Poles: 2
Titles: 0
Debut: Fuji 2009, for PETRONAS Team Tom's
Team KYGNUS SUNOCOEngine: Toyota
Drivers:
#08 Loic Duval
France, 29 years old
Races: 45
Points: 219,5
Wins: 10
Poles: 6
Titles: 1
Debut: Fuji 2006, for PIAA Nakajima
HP Real RacingEngine: Honda
Drivers:
#10 Toshihiro Kaneishi
Japan, 33 years old
Races: 58
Points: 56
Wins: 1
Poles: 1
Titles: 0
Debut: Suzuka 2002, for ARTA
Team MugenEngine: Honda
Drivers:
#15 Takuma Sato
Japan, 35 years old
Rookies
#16 Naoki Yamamoto
Japan, 23 years old
Races: 15
Points: 25,5
Wins: 0
Poles: 1
Titles: 0
Debut: Suzuka 2010, for Nakajima Racing
SGC by KCMGEngine: Toyota
Drivers:
#18 Ryo Orime
Japan, 29 years old
Races: 8
Points: 0
Wins: 0
Poles: 0
Titles: 0
Debut: Fuji 2006, for M&O 5Zigen
Team ImpulEngine: Toyota
Drivers:
#19 João Paulo de Oliveira
Brazil, 30 years old
Races: 36
Points: 126,5
Wins: 4
Poles: 5
Titles: 1
Debut: Suzuka 2006, for M&O 5Zigen
#20 Tsugio Matsuda
Japan, 32 years old
Races: 101
Points: 271,5
Wins: 7
Poles: 12
Titles: 2
Debut: Suzuka 1998, for PIAA Nakajima
Nakajima RacingEngine: Honda
Drivers:
#31 Daisuke Nakajima
Japan, 23 years old
Races: 7
Points: 2
Wins: 0
Poles: 0
Titles: 0
Debut: Suzuka 2011, for Nakajima Racing
#32 Takashi Kogure
Japan, 31 years old
Races: 80
Points: 219,5
Wins: 7
Poles: 15
Titles: 0
Debut: Suzuka 2003, for PIAA Nakajima
Project μ/Cerumo-IngingEngine: Toyota
Drivers:
#38 Kohei Hirate
Japan, 26 years old
Races: 31
Points: 114,5
Wins: 2
Poles: 1
Titles: 0
Debut: Fuji 2008, for TP Checker Impul
#39 Yuji Kunimoto
Japan, 21 years old
Races: 7
Points: 6,5
Wins: 0
Poles: 0
Titles: 0
Debut: Suzuka 2011, for Project μ/Cerumo-Inging
DoCoMo DandelionEngine: Honda
Drivers:
#40 Takuya Izawa
Japan, 27 years old
Races: 33
Points: 51
Wins: 0
Poles: 0
Titles: 0
Debut: Fuji 2008, for ARTA
#41 Kodai Tsukakoshi
Japan, 25 years old
Races: 23
Points: 55,5
Wins: 0
Poles: 1
Titles: 0
Debut: Fuji 2009, for HFDP Racing
Tochigi Le BeaussetEngine: Toyota
Drivers:
#62 Koki Saga
Japan, 28 years old
Races: 7
Points: 0
Wins: 0
Poles: 0
Titles: 0
Debut: Suzuka 2011, for Le Beausset
The Formula Nippon calendar has arrived in many different places around the years, since 1996, they run in nine different tracks, eight in Japan and one in Malaysia, they were: Suzuka, Mine, Fuji, Tokachi, Sugo, Motegi, Sepang, Autopolis and Okayama
In 2012, the season will only driving around five of those circuits, which we will get to know right now...
SUZUKA CIRCUITRounds in 2012: Round 1, April 15th and Round 7, November 4th
Official Lap Record: 1:38.917, Takashi Kogure - Nakajima Racing-Honda - 2010
TWIN RING MOTEGIRounds in 2012: Round 2, May 13th and Round 5, August 5th
Official Lap Record: 1:32.989, Andre Lotterer - Petronas Team Tom's-Toyota - 2011
AUTOPOLISRounds in 2012: Round 3, May 27th
Official Lap Record: 1:30.582, Loic Duval - DoCoMo Dandelion-Honda - 2010
FUJI SPEEDWAYRounds in 2012: Round 4, July 15th
Official Lap Record: 1:24.290, Tsugio Matsuda - Lawson Impul-Toyota - 2008
SPORTSLAND SUGORounds in 2012: Round 6, September 23rd
Official Lap Record: 1:05.843, Loic Duval - DoCoMo Dandelion-Honda - 2010
The races in 2012 will have a total of 250Km, only in the last round at Suzuka the distance will be split in two, as the final round will have two races instead of one.
2012 Formula Nippon Official CalendarRound 01: Suzuka Circuit - April 15th
Round 02: Twin Ring Motegi - May 13th
Round 03: Autopolis - May 27th
Round 04: Fuji Speedway - July 15th
Round 05: Twin Ring Motegi - August 5th
Round 06: Sportsland Sugo - September 23rd
Round 07: Suzuka Circuit - November 4th
As happened in the last two years, a special round will take place at Fuji, after both Formula Nippon and SuperGT seasons are over, the 2012 race will be held in November 18th
2012 Formula Nippon Season Points System:The Formula Nippon Points System follow the old Formula 1 points system: 10-8-6-5-4-3-2-1
There is also one point awarded for the driver who scores the pole position for each race
2011 Formula Nippon Season Drivers Championship01 - Andre Lotterer - GER - 56 pts
02 - Kazuki Nakajima - JAP - 42 pts
03 - João Paulo de Oliveira - BRA - 28 pts
04 - Kodai Tsukakoshi - JAP - 26,5 pts
05 - Kazuya Oshima - JAP - 19 pts
06 - Hiroaki Ishiura - JAP - 17 pts
07 - Takashi Kogure - JAP - 16,5 pts
08 - Kohei Hirate - JAP - 15 pts
09 - Takuya Izawa - JAP - 11 pts
10 - Yuji Kunimoto - JAP - 6,5 pts
11 - Naoki Yamamoto - JAP - 5 pts
12 - Alexandre Imperatori - SWI - 2,5 pts
13 - Daisuke Nakajima - JAP - 2 pts
14 - Hideki Mutoh - JAP - 0 pts
15 - Takashi Kobayashi - JAP - 0 pts
16 - Koki Saga - JAP - 0 pts
17 - Andrea Caldarelli - ITA - 0 pts
18 - Takuto Iguchi - JAP - 0 pts
2011 Formula Nippon Season Teams Championship01 - Petronas Team Tom's - 96 pts
02 - Team Impul - 41 pts
03 - DoCoMo Dandelion - 36,5 pts
04 - Team LeMans - 32 pts
05 - Nakajima Racing - 18,5 pts
06 - Project μ/Cerumo-Inging - 6,5 pts
07 - Team Mugen - 4 pts
08 - Team Kygnus Sunoco - 3 pts
09 - SGC by KCMG - 2,5 pts
10 - HP Real Racing - 0 pts
11 - Le Beausset - 0 pts
12 - Kondo Racing - 0 pts
*Team Kygnus Sunoco only counted indivual points in the last round, the two races round at Motegi, before that the team points counted for eam LeMans
**Pole position points does not count for the Teams Championship