# 1998 Formula Nippon Championship

The 1998 Formula Nippon Championship was scheduled over 10 rounds and contested over 9 rounds. 14 different teams, 29 different drivers, 3 different chassis and only 1 engine competed. Each round saw a Special Stage after the original qualifying. The best six qualifiers had to compete in a separate session for the pole.

## Teams and drivers

| Team | # | Driver | Chassis | Engine | Rounds |
| Shionogi Team Nova | 1 | Masami Kageyama | Lola T97/51 | Mugen MF308 | All |
| Shionogi Team Nova | 2 | Ralph Firman | Lola T96/51 | Mugen MF308 | All |
| Asahi Kiko Sports | 3 | Atsushi Kawamoto | Reynard 96D | Mugen MF308 | All |
| Team 5ZIGEN | 5 | Marc Goossens | Reynard 97D | Mugen MF308 | All |
| Team 5ZIGEN | 6 | Shigekazu Wakisaka | Reynard 96D | Mugen MF308 | All |
| LEMONed Racing Team LeMans | 7 | Norberto Fontana | Reynard 97D | Mugen MF308 | All |
| LEMONed Racing Team LeMans | 8 | Satoshi Motoyama | Reynard 97D | Mugen MF308 | All |
| Cosmo Oil Racing Team Cerumo | 11 | Hideki Noda | Lola T98/51 | Mugen MF308 | All |
| Cosmo Oil Racing Team Cerumo | 12 | Akira Iida | Lola T96/52 | Mugen MF308 | 3–10 |
| Jaccs Mooncraft M.S.P | 14 | Ryo Michigami | Reynard 96D | Mugen MF308 | All |
| Team TMS | 17 | Masahiko Kondo | Reynard 97D | Mugen MF308 | All |
| Team TMS | 18 | Tsuyoshi Takahashi | Reynard 97D | Mugen MF308 | 1–2 |
| Team TMS | 18 | Yuji Tachikawa | Reynard 97D | Mugen MF308 | 3–10 |
| Maziora Team Impul | 19 | Takuya Kurosawa | Lola T98/51 | Mugen MF308 | All |
| Maziora Team Impul | 20 | Masahiko Kageyama | Lola T96/52 | Mugen MF308 | All |
| Be Brides Racing | 21 | Tetsuya Tanaka | Lola T95/50 | Mugen MF308 | All |
| Be Brides Racing | 22 | Akira Ishikawa | Lola T96/52 | Mugen MF308 | All |
| Kyoetsu Stellar Stellar International | 35 | Tokiyasu Soda | Reynard 96D | Mugen MF308 | 1 |
| Kyoetsu Stellar Stellar International | 35 | Dilantha Malagamuwa | Reynard 96D | Mugen MF308 | 7–9 |
| Takagi B-1 Racing | 36 | Tetsuji Tamanaka | Lola T96/51 | Mugen MF308 | All |
| Takagi B-1 Racing | 37 | Masao Yamada | Lola T95/50 Lola T94/50 | Mugen MF308 | 2–5 |
| Autobacs Racing Team Aguri | 55 | Katsutomo Kaneishi | Lola T98/51 | Mugen MF308 | All |
| Autobacs Racing Team Aguri | 56 | Juichi Wakisaka | Lola T97/51 | Mugen MF308 | All |
| Team LeyJun | 62 | Shinsuke Shibahara | Reynard 95D Reynard 96D | Mugen MF308 | All |
| Team LeyJun | 63 | "Osamu" | Reynard 95D Reynard 97D | Mugen MF308 | 1, 4–10 |
| Team LeyJun | 63 | Taichiro Oonishi | Reynard 95D Reynard 97D | Mugen MF308 | 2–3 |
| PIAA Nakajima Racing | 64 | Koji Yamanishi | Reynard 97D | Mugen MF308 | 1–4, 6–10 |
| PIAA Nakajima Racing | 64 | Tsugio Matsuda | Reynard 97D | Mugen MF308 | 5 |
| PIAA Nakajima Racing | 65 | Tom Coronel | Reynard 97D | Mugen MF308 | All |
^ Masao Yamada died from a subarachnoid hemorrhage on 12 July 1998.

## Race calendar and results

All races were held in Japan.
| Race | Track | Date | Pole Position | Fastest Race Lap | Winning Driver | Winning Team |
| 1 | Suzuka Circuit | 19 April | Ralph Firman | Tom Coronel | Masahiko Kageyama | Maziora Team Impul |
| 2 | Mine Circuit | 17 May | Juichi Wakisaka | Satoshi Motoyama | Satoshi Motoyama | LEMONed Racing Team LeMans |
| 3 | Fuji Speedway | 31 May | Satoshi Motoyama | Katsutomo Kaneishi | Satoshi Motoyama | LEMONed Racing Team LeMans |
| 4 | Twin Ring Motegi | 14 June | Norberto Fontana | Hideki Noda | Juichi Wakisaka | Autobacs Racing Team Aguri |
| 5 | Suzuka Circuit | 5 July | Masahiko Kageyama | Juichi Wakisaka | Masahiko Kageyama | Maziora Team Impul |
| 6 | Sportsland SUGO | 2 August | Masami Kageyama | Masami Kageyama | Masami Kageyama | Shionogi Team Nova |
| 7 | Fuji Speedway | 30 August | Takuya Kurosawa | Race cancelled | Race cancelled | Race cancelled |
| 8 | Mine Circuit | 20 September | Hideki Noda | Satoshi Motoyama | Satoshi Motoyama | LEMONed Racing Team LeMans |
| 9 | Fuji Speedway | 18 October | Masami Kageyama | Hideki Noda | Norberto Fontana | LEMONed Racing Team LeMans |
| 10 | Suzuka Circuit | 29 November | Satoshi Motoyama | Masami Kageyama | Masami Kageyama | Shionogi Team Nova |
Race 7 was not held due to bad weather conditions

## Championship standings
### Drivers' Championship
#### Scoring system

| Position | 1st | 2nd | 3rd | 4th | 5th | 6th |
| Points | 10 | 6 | 4 | 3 | 2 | 1 |
| Rank | Name | SUZ | MIN | FUJ | MOT | SUZ | SGO | FUJ | MIN | FUJ | SUZ | Points |
| 1 | Satoshi Motoyama | Ret | 1 | 1 | 2 | Ret | 4 | C | 1 | 2 | Ret | 45 |
| 2 | Masami Kageyama | 2 | 10 | Ret | 3 | 3 | 1 | C | 6 | 4 | 1 | 38 |
| 3 | Juichi Wakisaka | Ret | 2 | Ret | 1 | 4 | Ret | C | Ret | Ret | 2 | 25 |
| 4 | Norberto Fontana | 3 | Ret | 6 | Ret | Ret | Ret | C | 2 | 1 | 8 | 21 |
| 5 | Masahiko Kageyama | 1 | Ret | Ret | 8 | 1 | Ret | C | Ret | Ret | 6 | 21 |
| 6 | Marc Goossens | 6 | 4 | Ret | Ret | 2 | Ret | C | 3 | Ret | 4 | 17 |
| 7 | Katsutomo Kaneishi | 4 | 5 | 2 | Ret | Ret | 7 | C | 5 | 10 | Ret | 13 |
| 8 | Ralph Firman | 12 | Ret | Ret | Ret | Ret | 2 | C | 4 | 3 | 7 | 13 |
| 9 | Ryo Michigami | 7 | 3 | 4 | 9 | Ret | Ret | C | Ret | Ret | 3 | 11 |
| 10 | Hideki Noda | 5 | Ret | 5 | 6 | Ret | 3 | C | Ret | 9 | Ret | 9 |
| 11 | Tom Coronel | 8 | 6 | Ret | 4 | 5 | 5 | C | Ret | Ret | 14 | 8 |
| 12 | Takuya Kurosawa | Ret | Ret | 3 | Ret | Ret | Ret | C | Ret | Ret | 5 | 6 |
| 13 | Yuji Tachikawa | | | 9 | 5 | Ret | Ret | C | Ret | Ret | 9 | 2 |
| 14 | Akira Iida | | | 8 | Ret | Ret | 9 | C | Ret | 5 | 12 | 2 |
| 15 | Tsugio Matsuda | | | | | 6 | | | | | | 1 |
| 16 | Koji Yamanishi | Ret | 7 | Ret | Ret | | 6 | C | Ret | Ret | 11 | 1 |
| 17 | Tetsuya Tanaka | Ret | Ret | 7 | Ret | Ret | 11 | C | Ret | 6 | 16 | 1 |
| 18 | Masahiko Kondo | 9 | 8 | 11 | 10 | 7 | 8 | C | 7 | 7 | Ret | 0 |
| 19 | Shigekazu Wakisaka | 10 | Ret | 10 | 7 | Ret | Ret | C | Ret | Ret | 10 | 0 |
| 20 | Akira Ishikawa | Ret | Ret | Ret | 11 | 9 | 10 | C | Ret | 8 | 15 | 0 |
| 21 | Tetsuji Tamanaka | Ret | 11 | 14 | 13 | Ret | Ret | C | 8 | Ret | 17 | 0 |
| 22 | "Osamu" | 13 | | | Ret | Ret | 13 | C | 9 | Ret | 18 | 0 |
| 23 | Atsushi Kawamoto | Ret | 9 | Ret | Ret | Ret | Ret | C | Ret | Ret | 13 | 0 |
| 24 | Shinsuke Shibahara | 11 | Ret | 12 | 12 | Ret | Ret | C | 10 | Ret | Ret | 0 |
| 25 | Dilantha Malagamuwa | | | | | | | C | Ret | 12 | | 0 |
| 26 | Taichiro Oonishi | | Ret | 13 | | | | | | | | 0 |
| 27 | Tsuyoshi Takahashi | 14 | Ret | | | | | | | | | 0 |
| 28 | Masao Yamada | | Ret | 15 | Ret | DNQ | | | | | | 0 |
| 29 | Tokiyasu Soda | Ret | | | | | | | | | | 0 |

### Teams' Championship

| Rank | Name | Car | SUZ | MIN | FUJ | MOT | SUZ | SGO | FUJ | MIN | FUJ | SUZ | Points |
| 1 | LEMONed LeMans | 7 | 3 | Ret | 6 | Ret | Ret | Ret | C | 2 | 1 | 8 | 66 |
| 1 | LEMONed LeMans | 8 | Ret | 1 | 1 | 2 | Ret | 4 | C | 1 | 2 | Ret | 66 |
| 2 | Shionogi Nova | 1 | 2 | 10 | Ret | 3 | 3 | 1 | C | 6 | 4 | 1 | 51 |
| 2 | Shionogi Nova | 2 | 12 | Ret | Ret | Ret | Ret | 2 | C | 4 | 3 | 7 | 51 |
| 3 | ARTA | 55 | 4 | 5 | 2 | Ret | Ret | 7 | C | 5 | 10 | Ret | 38 |
| 3 | ARTA | 56 | Ret | 2 | Ret | 1 | 4 | Ret | C | Ret | Ret | 2 | 38 |
| 4 | Maziora Impul | 19 | Ret | Ret | 3 | Ret | Ret | Ret | C | Ret | Ret | 5 | 27 |
| 4 | Maziora Impul | 20 | 1 | Ret | Ret | 8 | 1 | Ret | C | Ret | Ret | 6 | 27 |
| 5 | 5ZIGEN | 5 | 6 | 4 | Ret | Ret | 2 | Ret | C | 3 | Ret | 4 | 14 |
| 5 | 5ZIGEN | 6 | 10 | Ret | 10 | 7 | Ret | Ret | C | Ret | Ret | 10 | 14 |
| 6 | Jaccs Mooncraft | 14 | 7 | 3 | 4 | 9 | Ret | Ret | C | Ret | Ret | 3 | 14 |
| 7 | Cosmo Oil Cerumo | 11 | 5 | Ret | 5 | 6 | Ret | 3 | C | Ret | 9 | Ret | 11 |
| 7 | Cosmo Oil Cerumo | 12 | | | 8 | Ret | Ret | 9 | C | Ret | 5 | 12 | 11 |
| 8 | PIAA Nakajima | 64 | Ret | 7 | Ret | Ret | 6 | 6 | C | Ret | Ret | 11 | 10 |
| 8 | PIAA Nakajima | 65 | 8 | 6 | Ret | 4 | 5 | 5 | C | Ret | Ret | 14 | 10 |
| 9 | Team TMS | 17 | 9 | 8 | 11 | 10 | 7 | 8 | C | 7 | 7 | Ret | 2 |
| 9 | Team TMS | 18 | 14 | Ret | 9 | 5 | Ret | Ret | C | Ret | Ret | 9 | 2 |
| 10 | Be Brides | 21 | Ret | Ret | 7 | Ret | Ret | 11 | C | Ret | 6 | 16 | 1 |
| 10 | Be Brides | 22 | Ret | Ret | Ret | 11 | 9 | 10 | C | Ret | 8 | 15 | 1 |
| 11 | Asahi Kiko Sports | 3 | Ret | 9 | Ret | Ret | Ret | Ret | C | Ret | Ret | 13 | 0 |
| 12 | Takagi B-1 Racing | 36 | Ret | 11 | 14 | 13 | Ret | Ret | C | 8 | Ret | 17 | 0 |
| 12 | Takagi B-1 Racing | 37 | | Ret | 15 | Ret | DNQ | | | | | | 0 |
| 13 | Team LeyJun | 62 | 11 | Ret | 12 | 12 | Ret | Ret | C | 10 | Ret | Ret | 0 |
| 13 | Team LeyJun | 63 | 13 | Ret | 13 | Ret | Ret | 13 | C | 9 | Ret | 18 | 0 |
| 14 | Kyoetsu Stellar Stellar International | 35 | Ret | | | | | | C | Ret | 12 | | 0 |