# 2002 Japanese Formula 3 Championship

The 2002 Japanese Formula 3 Championship was the 24th edition of the Japanese Formula 3 Championship. It began on 2 March at Tsukuba and ended on 20 October at Motegi. Local driver Takashi Kogure took the championship title, winning 11 from 20 races.

## Teams and drivers

* All teams were Japanese-registered. All cars were powered by Bridgestone tyres.
| Team | No | Driver | Chassis | Engine | Rounds |
| Dome Racing Team | 1 | Takashi Kogure | Dallara F302 | Mugen-Honda MF204B | All |
| Dome Racing Team | 11 | Kazuki Hoshino | Dallara F302 | Mugen-Honda MF204B | All |
| Toda Racing | 2 | Hirokazu Nagaya | Dallara F302 | Toda-Honda MF204B | 1–9 |
| Inging | 3 | Mathieu Zangarelli | Dallara F302 | Torii-Toyota 3S-GE | All |
| Team 5Zigen | 5 | Hideshi Nishimura | Dallara F302 | Torii-Toyota 3S-GE | All |
| TOM'S | 7 | Paolo Montin | Dallara F302 | Toyota-TOM'S 3S-GE | All |
| TOM'S | 8 | Naoki Yokomizo | Dallara F302 | Toyota-TOM'S 3S-GE | All |
| TOM'S | 36 | Tatsuya Kataoka | Dallara F302 | Toyota-TOM'S 3S-GE | All |
| TOM'S | 37 | Katsuyuki Hiranaka | Dallara F302 | Toyota-TOM'S 3S-GE | All |
| ThreeBond Racing | 12 | Masaru Tomizawa | Dallara F302 | Tomei Nissan SR20VE | All |
| ThreeBond Racing | 14 | Hideyuki Ishizaki | Dallara F399 | Tomei Nissan SR20VE | 10 |
| Aim Sports | 18 | Hiroshi Nakamura | Dallara F302 | Torii-Toyota 3S-GE | 1–6 |
| Aim Sports | 18 | Shogo Mitsuyama | Dallara F302 | Torii-Toyota 3S-GE | 7 |
| Aim Sports | 18 | Masato Shimoyama | Dallara F302 | Torii-Toyota 3S-GE | 8 |
| Aim Sports | 18 | Kota Sasaki | Dallara F302 | Torii-Toyota 3S-GE | 9–10 |
| Now Motor Sports | 33 | Hiroki Yoshimoto | Dallara F302 | Toyota-TOM'S 3S-GE | All |
| DTM | 60 | Keita Sawa | Dallara F300 | Toyota-TOM'S 3S-GE | 10 |
| Nakajima Racing | 64 | Shinya Sato | Dallara F302 | Mugen-Honda MF204B | All |

## Race calendar and results

| Round | Round | Circuit | Date | Pole Position | Fastest Lap | Winning driver | Winning team |
| 1 | R1 | Tsukuba Circuit, Shimotsuma | 2 March | Takashi Kogure | Paolo Montin | Paolo Montin | TOM'S |
| 1 | R2 | Tsukuba Circuit, Shimotsuma | 3 March | Takashi Kogure | Paolo Montin | Paolo Montin | TOM'S |
| 2 | R1 | Suzuka Circuit, Suzuka | 23 March | Paolo Montin | Shinya Sato | Takashi Kogure | Dome Racing Team |
| 2 | R2 | Suzuka Circuit, Suzuka | 24 March | Takashi Kogure | Shinya Sato | Takashi Kogure | Dome Racing Team |
| 3 | R1 | Fuji Speedway, Oyama | 2 May | Paolo Montin | Paolo Montin | Paolo Montin | TOM'S |
| 3 | R2 | Fuji Speedway, Oyama | 3 May | Paolo Montin | Katsuyuki Hiranaka | Tatsuya Kataoka | TOM'S |
| 4 | R1 | Mine Circuit, Mine | 18 May | Paolo Montin | Paolo Montin | Paolo Montin | TOM'S |
| 4 | R2 | Mine Circuit, Mine | 19 May | Takashi Kogure | Takashi Kogure | Takashi Kogure | Dome Racing Team |
| 5 | R1 | Twin Ring Motegi, Motegi | 8 June | Takashi Kogure | Takashi Kogure | Takashi Kogure | Dome Racing Team |
| 5 | R2 | Twin Ring Motegi, Motegi | 9 June | Paolo Montin | Takashi Kogure | Takashi Kogure | Dome Racing Team |
| 6 | R1 | Suzuka Circuit, Suzuka | 6 July | Takashi Kogure | Paolo Montin | Takashi Kogure | Dome Racing Team |
| 6 | R2 | Suzuka Circuit, Suzuka | 7 July | Shinya Sato | Paolo Montin | Paolo Montin | TOM'S |
| 7 | R1 | Sportsland SUGO, Murata | 3 August | Takashi Kogure | Takashi Kogure | Takashi Kogure | Dome Racing Team |
| 7 | R2 | Sportsland SUGO, Murata | 4 August | Takashi Kogure | Takashi Kogure | Takashi Kogure | Dome Racing Team |
| 8 | R1 | Sendai Hi-Land Raceway, Aoba-ku | 24 August | Takashi Kogure | Takashi Kogure | Takashi Kogure | Dome Racing Team |
| 8 | R2 | Sendai Hi-Land Raceway, Aoba-ku | 25 August | Takashi Kogure | Takashi Kogure | Takashi Kogure | Dome Racing Team |
| 9 | R1 | Okayama International Circuit | 7 September | Hiroki Yoshimoto | Hiroki Yoshimoto | Hiroki Yoshimoto | Now Motor Sports |
| 9 | R2 | Okayama International Circuit | 8 September | Paolo Montin | Paolo Montin | Paolo Montin | TOM'S |
| 10 | R1 | Twin Ring Motegi, Motegi | 19 October | Paolo Montin | Paolo Montin | Takashi Kogure | Dome Racing Team |
| 10 | R2 | Twin Ring Motegi, Motegi | 20 October | Paolo Montin | Paolo Montin | Paolo Montin | TOM'S |

## Standings

* Points are awarded as follows, with only the best 16 results to count
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 |
| 20 | 15 | 12 | 10 | 8 | 6 | 4 | 3 | 2 | 1 |
| Pos | Driver | TSU | TSU | SUZ | SUZ | FUJ | FUJ | MIN | MIN | MOT | MOT | SUZ | SUZ | SUG | SUG | SEN | SEN | OKA | OKA | MOT | MOT | Pts |
| 1 | Takashi Kogure | 4 | 7 | 1 | 1 | Ret | Ret | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | Ret | 2 | 1 | 2 | 294 |
| 2 | Paolo Montin | 1 | 1 | 4 | 2 | 1 | Ret | 1 | 2 | 3 | 9 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 8 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 269 |
| 3 | Mathieu Zangarelli | 2 | 2 | 12 | 6 | 3 | 2 | 8 | 4 | 2 | 4 | 4 | 11 | 5 | 5 | 7 | 4 | 9 | Ret | 4 | 6 | 157 |
| 4 | Shinya Sato | 3 | Ret | 2 | 9 | 5 | 3 | 3 | 6 | Ret | 11 | 3 | 3 | 4 | 4 | 2 | 10 | 10 | 6 | 5 | 5 | 149 |
| 5 | Katsuyuki Hiranaka | 5 | 5 | 3 | 10 | 2 | Ret | Ret | 5 | 4 | 3 | 9 | 7 | 3 | DNS | Ret | 2 | 4 | 3 | 13 | 3 | 142 |
| 6 | Tatsuya Kataoka | Ret | 3 | 5 | 3 | Ret | 1 | 5 | 3 | 7 | 8 | 7 | 9 | 7 | 10 | 4 | 9 | 7 | 7 | 6 | 4 | 125 |
| 7 | Naoki Yokomizo | 10 | 10 | 6 | 4 | 7 | 4 | 4 | 8 | 9 | 5 | 12 | 10 | 10 | 3 | 6 | 5 | 6 | 4 | 3 | 9 | 110 |
| 8 | Hiroki Yoshimoto | 8 | 6 | 7 | 5 | Ret | 6 | Ret | 7 | 8 | 10 | 8 | 6 | 9 | Ret | 3 | 6 | 1 | Ret | 11 | 11 | 85 |
| 9 | Hirokazu Nagaya | 6 | Ret | 8 | Ret | 6 | 5 | Ret | 10 | 6 | 7 | 5 | 8 | 8 | 6 | 5 | 12 | 5 | 5 | | | 78 |
| 10 | Masaru Tomizawa | 9 | 4 | 10 | Ret | 4 | 9 | Ret | 9 | 5 | 6 | 10 | 4 | 11 | 7 | Ret | 8 | 8 | 11 | 12 | 7 | 69 |
| 11 | Kazuki Hoshino | Ret | 8 | Ret | Ret | Ret | 7 | 9 | Ret | Ret | 2 | 6 | 5 | 12 | 8 | 11 | 7 | 3 | 8 | 7 | Ret | 64 |
| 12 | Hideshi Nishimura | 7 | 9 | 11 | 7 | 8 | 10 | 7 | 11 | 10 | 12 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 9 | 9 | 11 | 12 | 10 | 14 | 13 | 24 |
| 13 | Hiroshi Nakamura | Ret | Ret | 9 | 8 | Ret | 8 | 6 | 12 | 11 | 13 | Ret | 13 | | | | | | | | | 14 |
| 14 | Kota Sasaki | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | 11 | 9 | 8 | 8 | 8 |
| 15 | Shogo Mitsuyama | | | | | | | | | | | | | 6 | 11 | | | | | | | 4 |
| 16 | Masato Shimoyama | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | 10 | 13 | | | | | 1 |
| Guest driver ineligible for points |||||||||||||||||||||||
| | Keita Sawa | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | 9 | 10 | 0 |
| | Hideyuki Ishizaki | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | 10 | 13 | 0 |
| Pos | Driver | TSU | TSU | SUZ | SUZ | FUJ | FUJ | MIN | MIN | MOT | MOT | SUZ | SUZ | SUG | SUG | SEN | SEN | OKA | OKA | MOT | MOT | Pts |
| Colour | Result |
| Gold | Winner |
| Silver | Second place |
| Bronze | Third place |
| Green | Points finish |
| Blue | Non-points finish |
| Blue | Non-classified finish (NC) |
| Purple | Retired (Ret) |
| Red | Did not qualify (DNQ) |
| Red | Did not pre-qualify (DNPQ) |
| Black | Disqualified (DSQ) |
| White | Did not start (DNS) |
| White | Withdrew (WD) |
| White | Race cancelled (C) |
| Blank | Did not practice (DNP) |
| Blank | Did not arrive (DNA) |
| Blank | Excluded (EX) |