# 2001 Japanese Formula 3 Championship

The 2001 Japanese Formula 3 Championship was the 23rd edition of the Japanese Formula 3 Championship. It began on 25 March at Suzuka and ended on 21 October at Motegi. French driver Benoît Tréluyer took the championship title by winning 15 of 19 races.

## Teams and drivers

* All teams were Japanese-registered. All cars were powered by Bridgestone tires.
| Team | No | Driver | Chassis | Engine | Rounds |
| TOM'S | 0 | Paolo Montin | Dallara F301 | Toyota-TOM'S 3S-GE | All |
| TOM'S | 7 | Sakon Yamamoto | Dallara F301 | Toyota-TOM'S 3S-GE | All |
| TOM'S | 8 | Norihiko Tasaki | Dallara F301 | Toyota-TOM'S 3S-GE | All |
| Mugen Dome Project | 1 | Benoît Tréluyer | Dallara F300/301 | Mugen-Honda MF204B | All |
| Mugen Dome Project | 11 | Shinya Hosokawa | Dallara F300 | Mugen-Honda MF204B | 10 |
| Toda Racing | 2 | Masataka Yanagida | Dallara F399/301 | Toda-Honda MF204B | All |
| Inging | 3 | Jeremie Dufour | Dallara F300 | Torii-Toyota 3S-GE | All |
| Inging | 4 | Bruce Jouanny | Dallara F399 | Torii-Toyota 3S-GE | 10 |
| XO Racing | 4 | Keiichi Nisimiya | XOR-99F | Torii-Toyota 3S-GE | 2–3, 5 |
| Team 5Zigen | 5 | Hideshi Nishimura | Dallara F300 | Torii-Toyota 3S-GE | 1–5, 7, 9 |
| Team 5Zigen | 6 | Takahiro Ogawa | Dallara F300 | Torii-Toyota 3S-GE | 1–6, 9–10 |
| Pal Sport | 9 | Akitsugu Matsunaga | Dallara F300 | Torii-Toyota 3S-GE | 1–5 |
| ThreeBond Racing | 12 | Yuji Ide | Dallara F399/301 | Tomei Nissan SR20VE | All |
| Team Daikokuya | 16 | Yousuke Shimojima | Dallara F300 | Toyota-TOM'S 3S-GE | 10 |
| Aim Sports | 16 | Hiroki Yoshimoto | Dallara F300 | Torii-Toyota 3S-GE | 9 |
| Aim Sports | 18 | Shogo Mitsuyama | Dallara F399 | Torii-Toyota 3S-GE | All |
| Lian Racing | 17 | Peter Sundberg | Dallara F399 | Toda-Honda MF204B | All |
| DTM | 19 | Keita Sawa | Dallara F399 | Toyota-TOM'S 3S-GE | 1–3, 7, 9–10 |
| DTM | 20 | Vladimir Tchekanine | Dallara F399 | Toyota-TOM'S 3S-GE | 6 |
| Team Echigoya | 21 | Shigeki Ebihara | Dallara F399 | Toyota-TOM'S 3S-GE | 1–2 |
| Kondō Racing | 24 | Kazuyuki Nishizawa | Dallara F399 | Toyota-TOM'S 3S-GE | 1–2, 4–5, 9 |
| Maejima | 32 | Saturo Gotou | Dallara F399 | Torii-Toyota 3S-GE | 2 |
| Maejima | 32 | Shigeki Ebihara | Dallara F399 | Toyota-TOM'S | 5–10 |
| Now Motor Sports | 33 | Takashi Kogure | Dallara F399 | Toyota-TOM'S 3S-GE | All |
| Nobel France Racing Team | 37 | Motonari Higuchi | Dallara F399 | Torii-Toyota 3S-GE | 1–2, 5 |
| Nakajima Racing | 64 | Shinya Sato | Dallara F399 | Mugen-Honda MF204B | All |
| Skill Speed | 77 | Hiroshi Nakamura | Dallara F399 | Toda-Honda MF204B | 2–10 |

## Race calendar and results

| Round | Round | Circuit | Date | Pole Position | Fastest Lap | Winning driver | Winning team |
| 1 | R1 | Suzuka Circuit, Suzuka | 25 March | Jeremie Dufour | Paolo Montin | Benoît Tréluyer | Mugen Dome Project |
| 1 | R2 | Suzuka Circuit, Suzuka | 25 March | Paolo Montin | Benoît Tréluyer | Paolo Montin | TOM'S |
| 2 | R1 | Tsukuba Circuit, Shimotsuma | 8 April | Benoît Tréluyer | Benoît Tréluyer | Benoît Tréluyer | Mugen Dome Project |
| 2 | R2 | Tsukuba Circuit, Shimotsuma | 8 April | Benoît Tréluyer | Benoît Tréluyer | Benoît Tréluyer | Mugen Dome Project |
| 3 | R1 | Fuji Speedway, Oyama | 4 May | Benoît Tréluyer | Benoît Tréluyer | Jeremie Dufour | TOM'S |
| 3 | R2 | Fuji Speedway, Oyama | 4 May | Jeremie Dufour | Paolo Montin | Paolo Montin | TOM'S |
| 4 | R1 | Mine Circuit, Mine | 20 May | Benoît Tréluyer | Benoît Tréluyer | Benoît Tréluyer | Mugen Dome Project |
| 4 | R2 | Mine Circuit, Mine | 20 May | Benoît Tréluyer | Benoît Tréluyer | Benoît Tréluyer | Mugen Dome Project |
| 5 | R1 | Twin Ring Motegi, Motegi | 10 June | Benoît Tréluyer | Paolo Montin | Benoît Tréluyer | Mugen Dome Project |
| 5 | R2 | Twin Ring Motegi, Motegi | 10 June | Benoît Tréluyer | Paolo Montin | Benoît Tréluyer | Mugen Dome Project |
| 6 | 6 | Suzuka Circuit, Suzuka | 1 July | Paolo Montin | Paolo Montin | Paolo Montin | TOM'S |
| 7 | R1 | Sportsland SUGO, Murata | 29 July | Benoît Tréluyer | Benoît Tréluyer | Benoît Tréluyer | Mugen Dome Project |
| 7 | R2 | Sportsland SUGO, Murata | 29 July | Benoît Tréluyer | Benoît Tréluyer | Benoît Tréluyer | Mugen Dome Project |
| 8 | R1 | Sendai Hi-Land Raceway, Aoba-ku | 26 August | Benoît Tréluyer | Benoît Tréluyer | Benoît Tréluyer | Mugen Dome Project |
| 8 | R2 | Sendai Hi-Land Raceway, Aoba-ku | 26 August | Benoît Tréluyer | Benoît Tréluyer | Benoît Tréluyer | Mugen Dome Project |
| 9 | R1 | Okayama International Circuit | 9 September | Benoît Tréluyer | Benoît Tréluyer | Benoît Tréluyer | Mugen Dome Project |
| 9 | R2 | Okayama International Circuit | 9 September | Benoît Tréluyer | Benoît Tréluyer | Benoît Tréluyer | Mugen Dome Project |
| 10 | R1 | Twin Ring Motegi, Motegi | 21 October | Jeremie Dufour | Benoît Tréluyer | Benoît Tréluyer | Mugen Dome Project |
| 10 | R2 | Twin Ring Motegi, Motegi | 21 October | Benoît Tréluyer | Benoît Tréluyer | Benoît Tréluyer | Mugen Dome Project |

## Standings

* Points are awarded as follows, with only the best 13 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 | SUZ | SUZ | TSU | TSU | FUJ | FUJ | MIN | MIN | MOT | MOT | SUZ | SUG | SUG | SEN | SEN | OKA | OKA | MOT | MOT | Pts |
| 1 | Benoît Tréluyer | 1 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 2 | Ret | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 260 |
| 2 | Paolo Montin | 3 | 1 | 6 | 4 | 3 | 1 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 8 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 201 |
| 3 | Jeremie Dufour | 2 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 1 | Ret | 2 | 6 | 3 | 3 | 4 | 3 | 4 | 4 | 3 | Ret | 12 | 2 | 3 | 177 |
| 4 | Sakon Yamamoto | DNS | 9 | 12 | 10 | 10 | Ret | Ret | 9 | 5 | 4 | 3 | Ret | 3 | 3 | 4 | 2 | 2 | 5 | 4 | 117 |
| 5 | Yuji Ide | Ret | 4 | 7 | 7 | 5 | Ret | 4 | 3 | Ret | 5 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 6 | 6 | 5 | 8 | 8 | 8 | 100 |
| 6 | Peter Sundberg | 4 | Ret | 3 | 6 | 4 | 2 | 7 | Ret | Ret | 8 | 10 | Ret | Ret | Ret | 2 | 6 | 5 | 7 | 12 | 94 |
| 7 | Masataka Yanagida | DNS | 8 | 13 | 5 | 14 | Ret | 6 | 4 | 4 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 7 | 9 | 7 | Ret | 4 | 5 | 80 |
| 8 | Shinya Sato | 9 | 7 | 8 | 3 | Ret | Ret | 10 | 8 | Ret | 7 | 6 | 4 | 8 | 5 | 7 | 4 | 6 | 6 | Ret | 79 |
| 9 | Shogo Mitsuyama | 8 | Ret | 4 | Ret | 7 | 3 | Ret | Ret | 6 | 9 | 8 | 10 | 6 | Ret | Ret | 10 | 7 | 10 | 7 | 57 |
| 10 | Norihiko Tasaki | Ret | 5 | Ret | Ret | 8 | 4 | 9 | 7 | 12 | Ret | Ret | 7 | 7 | Ret | 11 | 8 | 4 | Ret | 6 | 54 |
| 11 | Takashi Kogure | 6 | Ret | Ret | Ret | 9 | Ret | 5 | 5 | 7 | Ret | Ret | 6 | 13 | 9 | 5 | 15 | Ret | 12 | 11 | 44 |
| 12 | Keita Sawa | 5 | 6 | 5 | 8 | 6 | 5 | | | | | | 11 | Ret | | | 9 | Ret | 16 | Ret | 41 |
| 13 | Takahiro Ogawa | 10 | Ret | 10 | Ret | 11 | 6 | 13 | Ret | Ret | 10 | Ret | | | | | 11 | 10 | 13 | 14 | 10 |
| 14 | Akitsugu Matsunaga | 7 | 10 | 14 | 12 | Ret | Ret | 12 | Ret | 9 | 13 | | | | | | | | | | 7 |
| 15 | Hideshi Nishimura | 11 | 11 | 9 | 13 | 12 | Ret | 8 | Ret | 14 | Ret | | 13 | 12 | | | 16 | 9 | | | 7 |
| 16 | Shigeki Ebihara | 12 | Ret | Ret | 16 | | | | | 11 | 11 | 9 | 12 | 11 | 8 | 12 | 14 | Ret | 15 | Ret | 5 |
| 17 | Hiroshi Nakamura | | | Ret | 15 | 13 | Ret | 11 | Ret | 10 | Ret | 11 | 9 | 10 | Ret | 10 | 13 | 11 | 14 | 13 | 5 |
| 18 | Kazuyuki Nishizawa | 13 | Ret | Ret | 11 | | | Ret | Ret | 8 | DNS | | | | | | 12 | Ret | | | 3 |
| 19 | Bruce Jouanny | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | 9 | 10 | 3 |
| 20 | Saturo Gotou | | | 11 | 9 | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | 2 |
| 21 | Shinya Hosokawa | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | 11 | 9 | 2 |
| 22 | Motonari Higuchi | Ret | 12 | Ret | 14 | | | | | 13 | 12 | | | | | | | | | | 0 |
| 23 | Vladimir Tchekanine | | | | | | | | | | | 12 | | | | | | | | | 0 |
| 24 | Keiichi Nisimiya | | | DNS | DNS | 15 | Ret | | | Ret | Ret | | | | | | | | | | 0 |
| 25 | Yousuke Shimojima | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | 17 | Ret | 0 |
| | Hiroki Yoshimoto | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | Ret | Ret | | | 0 |
| Pos | Driver | SUZ | SUZ | TSU | TSU | FUJ | FUJ | MIN | MIN | MOT | MOT | 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) |