2025 Formula Regional Japanese Championship
The 2025 Formula Regional Japanese Championship was a multi-event, Formula Regional open-wheel single seater motor racing championship held in Japan. The drivers competed in Formula Regional cars that conform to the FIA Formula Regional regulations for the championship. This was the sixth season of the series, promoted by New Pacific Sports Marketing Inc., and the 47th overall season of an FIA ladder series in Japan, dating back to the 1979 Japanese Formula 3 Championship.[1]
Kiyoshi Umegaki and his team TOM'S Formula claimed the Drivers' and Teams' Championship, and AiWin driver Yutaka Toriba won the Masters' Class with five races to spare,
Teams and drivers
All teams and drivers competed using the Dome F111/3 Regional F3 car, powered by an Alfa Romeo engine and on Dunlop tires.[1]
|
|
Race calendar
The provisional calendar for the 2025 season was revealed on 20 January 2025.[13] The championship did not race at Mobility Resort Motegi for the first time in its history, while its space in the schedule was replaced by a second round at Suzuka. With three double-header and three triple-header rounds, the race count increased to 15, one more than in 2024.
| Round | Circuit | Date | Support Bill | Map of circuit locations | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | R1 | Okayama International Circuit, Mimasaka | 24 May | Porsche Carrera Cup Japan Okayama Challenge Cup Race VITA Race Okayama SuperKart Okayama International Series |
|
| R2 | 25 May | ||||
| R3 | |||||
| 2 | R4 | Fuji Speedway, Oyama | 29 June | Lamborghini Super Trofeo Asia Fuji Champion Race Series | |
| R5 | |||||
| 3 | R6 | Suzuka International Racing Course, Suzuka | 12 July | Suzuka Champion Cup Race VITA Race Suzuka | |
| R7 | 13 July | ||||
| 4 | R8 | Sportsland Sugo, Murata | 30 August | Super Formula Lights SUGO Champion Cup Race Series | |
| R9 | 31 August | ||||
| R10 | |||||
| 5 | R11 | Fuji Speedway, Oyama | 27 September | FIA World Endurance Championship (6 Hours of Fuji) Porsche Carrera Cup Japan | |
| R12 | |||||
| 6 | R13 | Suzuka International Racing Course, Suzuka | 22 November | Super Formula Championship | |
| R14 | 23 November | ||||
| R15 | |||||
Race results
Season report
First half
The 2025 Formula Regional Japanese Championship began in late May at Okayama with TOM'S driver Tokiya Suzuki claiming pole position for all three races. Rainy conditions impeded all three races of the weekend. The first race, started under safety car conditions, ended after five laps without the green flag shown. Half points were awarded for Suzuki's season-opening win ahead of B-Max Racing's Kazuhisa Urabe and PONOS Racing's Kento Omiya. Race two brought green-flag racing after three formation laps, during which Suzuki and Omiya were handed penalties after starting from the wrong grid spots. That saw the pair fail to retain their top-two finishing spots, with Kiyoshi Umegaki inheriting victory from his teammate and Rn-sports's Yu Oda completing the podium. Race three saw Suzuki win lights-to-flag, leading Omiya and Umegaki through an extensive safety car period and holding them off during the final three green-flag laps. Two wins saw Suzuki end the opening weekend leading Umegaki by 9.5 points in the standings.[14]
A double-header at Fuji Speedway followed, and this time Umegaki swept qualifying to take two pole positions. He had a slow start to the first race, though, dropping down to fourth as Suzuki took the lead. Umegaki fought back, moving into third on the opening lap, before attacking second-placed Urabe. Multiple attacks ended with Umegaki running wide or off the track, before he finally got second place on lap nine. Urabe defended the final podium spot from Omiya. Umegaki converted his second pole position into a lead that would last for three turns, where Suzuki claimed the lead once again. This time, Umegaki was able to keep close to him all throughout the race, and he was able to get a slipstream exiting the final corner of the final lap to claim victory by 0.038s. Omiya took third as Suzuki's points lead over Umegaki remained static.[15]
Two races at Suzuka closed out the first half of the season. Umegaki continued his qualifying streak by taking two more pole positions. Urabe qualified second for the first race, and started it by taking the lead into the opening corner as Umegaki went off and dropped to fourth behind Suzuki and Omiya. He fought back past the latter into third place, before a safety car came out. It was withdrawn with just two laps left, and fights broke out all across the order. A desperate lunge into the final chicane by Umegaki saw him collide with Suzuki, with his car riding over Suzuki's. That dropped both drivers out of contention, allowing Urabe to take the win ahead of Omiya and Oda. Race two was a calmer affair as Umegaki converted pole position into a lights-to-flag victory, leading Suzuki and Urabe to end the weekend leading the standings by 0.5 points over Suzuki.[16]
Championship standings
Scoring system
Points were awarded to the top ten drivers.
| Position | 1st | 2nd | 3rd | 4th | 5th | 6th | 7th | 8th | 9th | 10th |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Points | 25 | 18 | 15 | 12 | 10 | 8 | 6 | 4 | 2 | 1 |
Drivers' championship
|
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Masters' class standings
| Pos | Driver | OKA | FUJ1 | SUZ1 | SUG | FUJ2 | SUZ2 | Pts | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| R1[a] | R2 | R3 | R4 | R5 | R6 | R7 | R8 | R9 | R10 | R11 | R12 | R13 | R14 | R15 | |||
| 1 | Yutaka Toriba | 1 | Ret | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 270.5 | ||
| 2 | "Akita" | 2 | DNS | 2 | 2 | 2 | Ret | 1 | 1 | 4 | 2 | 143 | |||||
| 3 | "Yugo” | 5 | 5 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 3 | DNS | 5 | 2 | 4 | 129 | |||||
| 4 | "Yuki" | 4 | 4 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Ret | 5 | 122 | ||||||
| 5 | Shoichiro Akamatsu | 3 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 3 | 121 | ||||||||
| 6 | Yuki Tanaka | DNS | Ret | 3 | 15 | ||||||||||||
| Pos | Driver | R1 | R2 | R3 | R4 | R5 | R6 | R7 | R8 | R9 | R10 | R11 | R12 | R13 | R14 | R15 | Pts |
| OKA | FUJ1 | SUZ1 | SUG | FUJ2 | SUZ2 | ||||||||||||
Teams' championship
Only the best finishing driver of each team was eligible for teams' championship points.
| Pos | Driver | OKA | FUJ1 | SUZ1 | SUG | FUJ2 | SUZ2 | Pts | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| R1[a] | R2 | R3 | R4 | R5 | R6 | R7 | R8 | R9 | R10 | R11 | R12 | R13 | R14 | R15 | |||
| 1 | TOM'S Formula | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 7 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 326.5 |
| 2 | B-Max Racing Team | 2 | 5 | 4 | 3 | 7 | 1 | 3 | 4 | 4 | 5 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 227 |
| 3 | PONOS Racing | 3 | 4 | 2 | 4 | 3 | 2 | 4 | 2 | 3 | 2 | 4 | Ret | 4 | 3 | Ret | 184.5 |
| 4 | Rn-sports | 10 | 3 | 10 | Ret | Ret | 3 | 6 | Ret | 6 | 4 | 7 | 6 | 5 | 4 | 2 | 113.5 |
| 5 | AiWin | 6 | Ret | 5 | 6 | 5 | 9 | 7 | 7 | 5 | 8 | 5 | 4 | 12 | 8 | 7 | 92 |
| 6 | Hitotsuyama Racing | 5 | 6 | 6 | Ret | 10 | 6 | 10 | 5 | 8 | 7 | 9 | 8 | 7 | 6 | 8 | 75 |
| 7 | Ragno Motor Sport | 5 | 4 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 5 | 15 | Ret | 6 | 70 | ||||||
| 8 | Fujita Pharmacy Racing | 7 | 8 | 8 | 8 | 9 | Ret | 8 | 6 | 7 | 6 | 10 | 10 | 9 | 9 | 11 | 49 |
| 9 | Abbey Racing | 8 | DNS | 7 | 9 | 6 | Ret | 7 | 8 | 12 | 10 | 29 | |||||
| 10 | Eagle Sports | DNS | Ret | 9 | 10 | 8 | 8 | 11 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 12 | |||||
| 11 | Nilzz Racing | 11 | 11 | 5 | 11 | 12 | 12 | 13 | Ret | 13 | 10 | ||||||
| 12 | N-Speed | 12 | 12 | 8 | 9 | 9 | 13 | DNS | 14 | 10 | 14 | 9 | |||||
| — | Sky Motorsports | Ret | Ret | WD | WD | 0 | |||||||||||
| Pos | Driver | R1 | R2 | R3 | R4 | R5 | R6 | R7 | R8 | R9 | R10 | R11 | R12 | R13 | R14 | R15 | Pts |
| OKA | FUJ1 | SUZ1 | SUG | FUJ2 | SUZ2 | ||||||||||||
Notes
References
- ^ a b Wood, Ida (2019-09-11). "Japanese Regional F3 series and car revealed". Formula Scout. Retrieved 2020-02-18.
- ^ "FORMULA REGIONAL JAPANESE CHAMPIONSHIP 2025 Rd.6 鈴鹿エントリー情報" (PDF). Suzuka Circuit (in Japanese). 17 November 2025. Retrieved 17 November 2025.
- ^ "ルーニースポーツのスカラシップが始動 植田正幸代表「レース界への恩返し」 English "Rn-Sports Scholarship Launches - Representative Masayuki Ueda: "Giving back to the racing world""". Motorsports Forum (in Japanese). 6 January 2025. Retrieved 6 January 2025.
- ^ a b c d e "Formula Regional Japanese Championship". frj.jp. Retrieved 19 May 2025.
- ^ "Formula Regional Japanese Championship Round 5 FUJI 大会 RACE 11-12 2025/9/26 - 27". Formula Regional Japanese Championship. Retrieved 22 September 2025.
- ^ a b c d "Formula Regional Japanese Championship". frj.jp. 23 June 2025. Retrieved 23 June 2025.
- ^ "フォーミュラ・リージョナル 2025年度参戦体制". yupiteru.co.jp. 1 April 2025. Retrieved 1 April 2025.
- ^ a b "TOYOTA GAZOO Racing Presents its 2025 motorsport team setups in Japan". Toyota Gazoo Racing. 25 December 2024. Retrieved 25 December 2024.
- ^ "『PONOS RACING』2025年シーズン参戦体制のお知らせ". Ponos. 19 February 2025. Retrieved 19 February 2025.
- ^ Muschlien, Finjo (23 May 2025). "Formula Regional Japan: 2025 season guide". Feeder Series. Retrieved 23 May 2025.
- ^ "2025 FRJ参戦体制". B-Max Racing Team. 20 February 2024. Retrieved 20 February 2025.
- ^ "2025 FRJ参戦体制（ジャ・ジャンビン選手を追加エントリー）". B-Max Racing Team. 18 March 2024. Retrieved 18 March 2025.
- ^ "2025 FORMULA REGIONAL JAPANESE CHAMPIONSHIP SCHEDULE" (PDF). Formula Regional Japanese Championship (in Japanese). 20 January 2025. Retrieved 20 January 2025.
- ^ Wood, Ida (2025-05-25). "Tokiya Suzuki starts FRegional Japan season at Okayama with two wins". Formula Scout. Retrieved 2025-12-20.
- ^ Wood, Ida (2025-06-29). "Umegaki denies Suzuki a FRegional Japan double at Fuji in photo finish". Formula Scout. Retrieved 2025-12-21.
- ^ Wood, Ida (2025-07-13). "Umegaki and Urabe share FRegional Japan wins at Suzuka". Formula Scout. Retrieved 2025-12-22.