# 2023 F4 Japanese Championship

The 2023 F4 Japanese Championship season was the ninth season of the F4 Japanese Championship. It was competed with 14 races over seven double-header rounds.

## Teams and drivers

All teams & drivers were Japanese-registered.
| Team | No. | Driver | Class | Rounds |
| Akiland Racing | 2 | Keiji Nakao | I | All |
| Akiland Racing | 10 | Masayuki Ueda | I | All |
| Akiland Racing | 12 | Ryota Horachi | | All |
| Akiland Racing | 18 | Kazuya Oshima | | 1 |
| Akiland Racing | 18 | Norio Tsukamoto | I | 2–5 |
| Akiland Racing | 18 | Aoto Nagahara | | 6 |
| Akiland Racing | 22 | Yuta Fujiwara | | All |
| Akiland Racing | 71 | Masayoshi Oyama | I | All |
| Akiland Racing | 96 | Makio Saito | I | All |
| DayDream Racing | 4 | Yuichi Sasaki | I | 5–7 |
| Honda Formula Dream Project | 5 | Yusuke Mitsui | | All |
| Honda Formula Dream Project | 6 | Yuto Nomura | | All |
| Honda Formula Dream Project | 7 | Tosei Moriyama | | All |
| Team GMB | 8 | Masamune Handa | | 1–5 |
| Spread | 8 | Masamune Handa | | 6–7 |
| Rn-sports | 11 | Isao Nakashima | I | All |
| Rn-sports | 99 | Yoshitsugu Kondo | I | 1, 5 |
| Rn-sports | 99 | Kazuaki Yasui | I | 3 |
| B-Max Racing Team | 13 | Makoto Fujiwara | I | All |
| B-Max Racing Team | 27 | "Syuji" | I | 6 |
| B-Max Racing Team | 30 | "Dragon" | I | All |
| B-Max Racing Team | 44 | Nobuhiro Imada | I | 1–6 |
| B-Max Racing Team | 44 | "Syuji" | I | 7 |
| Zap Speed | 14 | Souryuu Tagami | | 1–4, 7 |
| Zap Speed | 86 | Hachiro Osaka | I | 1–4 |
| Zap Speed | 87 | Rio Shimono | | 1–4 |
| Zap Speed | 88 | Rin Arakawa | | 1–4 |
| Media Do Kageyama Racing | 15 | Tomohito Watabe | | 1–5 |
| Media Do Kageyama Racing | 16 | Kazuma Nishimura | | 1–5, 7 |
| Media Do Kageyama Racing | 26 | Reijiro Yamazaki | I | All |
| Eagle Sports | 21 | Tadakazu Kojima | I | 1–6 |
| Eagle Sports | 49 | Bunsei Okawa | I | 1–2 |
| Eagle Sports | 49 | Akito Itsuki | | 3 |
| Eagle Sports | 49 | Daitetsu Ueno | | 4 |
| Eagle Sports | 49 | Shoichiro Akamatsu | I | 5–6 |
| NSPEED | 23 | "Yugo" | I | All |
| Tsuyoshi Usui | 24 | Tsuyoshi Usui | I | 2, 6 |
| TOM'S Youth | 28 | Yoshiaki Nakamura | | All |
| Buzz Racing | 31 | Ryoma Henzan | | All |
| Buzz Racing | 32 | Taiga Imoto | | 2 |
| Buzz Racing | 41 | Taiga Imoto | | 3–4 |
| Buzz Racing | 41 | Masahiro Aoai | I | 1–2 |
| Drago Corse | 34 | Hironobu Shimizu | | All |
| TGR-DC Racing School | 35 | Jin Nakamura | | All |
| TGR-DC Racing School | 36 | Rikuto Kobayashi | | All |
| TGR-DC Racing School | 37 | Yuki Sano | | All |
| TGR-DC Racing School | 38 | Shunji Okumoto | | All |
| PONOS Racing | 45 | Kento Omiya | | All |
| Fujita Pharmacy Racing | 46 | Kohei Tokumasu | | 1–5, 7 |
| Fujita Pharmacy Racing | 48 | Fuma Horio | | 1–5 |
| Field Motorsports | 55 | "Kentaro" | I | All |
| HELM Motorsports | 61 | Jiei Okuzumi | | 3 |
| HELM Motorsports | 62 | Itsuki Sato | | All |
| HELM Motorsports | 63 | Yutaka Toriba | I | 1–3, 5–7 |
| Skill Speed | 77 | Hibiki Komatsu | | All |
| Skill Speed | 78 | Yohei Ono | | All |
| OTG Motor Sports | 80 | Yuto Nozawa | | All |
| Bionic Jack Racing | 81 | Kazuhisa Urabe | | All |
| Bionic Jack Racing | 97 | Shion Tsujimoto | | 1–2 |
| Bionic Jack Racing | 97 | Hiroyuki Saka | I | 3–4 |
| Bionic Jack Racing | 97 | Jiei Okuzumi | | 5–7 |
| Bionic Jack Racing | 98 | Yuki Mishima | | All |
| Dr.Dry | 86 | Hachiro Osaka | I | 5–7 |
| Dr.Dry | 87 | Rio Shimono | | 5–7 |
| Dr.Dry | 88 | Rin Arakawa | | 5–7 |
| Sources: |||||
| Icon | Class |
| I | Independent Cup |

## Race calendar and results

All rounds were held in Japan and supported the Super GT events.
| Round | Round | Circuit | Date | Pole position | Fastest lap | Winning driver | Winning team | Independent Cup winner |
| 1 | R1 | Fuji Speedway, Oyama | 3 May | Rikuto Kobayashi | Rin Arakawa | Rikuto Kobayashi | TGR-DC Racing School | Yutaka Toriba |
| 1 | R2 | Fuji Speedway, Oyama | 4 May | Rikuto Kobayashi | Yusuke Mitsui | Jin Nakamura | TGR-DC Racing School | Makoto Fujiwara |
| 2 | R3 | Suzuka Circuit, Suzuka | 3 June | Yusuke Mitsui | Rikuto Kobayashi | Yusuke Mitsui | Honda Formula Dream Project | Masayuki Ueda |
| 2 | R4 | Suzuka Circuit, Suzuka | 4 June | Yusuke Mitsui | Yusuke Mitsui | Yusuke Mitsui | Honda Formula Dream Project | Masayuki Ueda |
| 3 | R5 | Fuji Speedway, Oyama | 5 August | Yuto Nomura | Ryota Horachi | Rikuto Kobayashi | TGR-DC Racing School | Nobuhiro Imada |
| 3 | R6 | Fuji Speedway, Oyama | 6 August | Yuto Nomura | Rikuto Kobayashi | Rikuto Kobayashi | TGR-DC Racing School | Yutaka Toriba |
| 4 | R7 | Suzuka Circuit, Suzuka | 26 August | Yusuke Mitsui | Yuto Nomura | Yusuke Mitsui | Honda Formula Dream Project | Makio Saito |
| 4 | R8 | Suzuka Circuit, Suzuka | 27 August | Yusuke Mitsui | Yuto Nomura | Yusuke Mitsui | Honda Formula Dream Project | Nobuhiro Imada |
| 5 | R9 | Sportsland Sugo, Murata | 16 September | Yuto Nomura | Jin Nakamura | Yuto Nomura | Honda Formula Dream Project | Makoto Fujiwara |
| 5 | R10 | Sportsland Sugo, Murata | 17 September | Kazuhisa Urabe | Yuto Nomura | Kazuhisa Urabe | Bionic Jack Racing | Makoto Fujiwara |
| 6 | R11 | Autopolis, Hita | 14 October | Rikuto Kobayashi | Yusuke Mitsui | Rikuto Kobayashi | TGR-DC Racing School | Yutaka Toriba |
| 6 | R12 | Autopolis, Hita | 15 October | Jin Nakamura | Jin Nakamura | Jin Nakamura | TGR-DC Racing School | Yutaka Toriba |
| 7 | R13 | Mobility Resort Motegi, Motegi | 4 November | Rikuto Kobayashi | Rikuto Kobayashi | Jin Nakamura | TGR-DC Racing School | Yutaka Toriba |
| 7 | R14 | Mobility Resort Motegi, Motegi | 5 November | Rikuto Kobayashi | Rin Arakawa | Rikuto Kobayashi | TGR-DC Racing School | Keiji Nakao |

## Championship standings

Points were awarded as follows:
| Position | 1st | 2nd | 3rd | 4th | 5th | 6th | 7th | 8th | 9th | 10th |
| Points | 25 | 18 | 15 | 12 | 10 | 8 | 6 | 4 | 2 | 1 |

### Drivers' standings

| Pos | Driver | FUJ1 | FUJ1 | SUZ1 | SUZ1 | FUJ2 | FUJ2 | SUZ2 | SUZ2 | SUG | SUG | AUT | AUT | MOT | MOT | Pts |
| Pos | Driver | R1 | R2 | R3 | R4 | R5 | R6 | R7 | R8 | R9 | R10 | R11 | R12 | R13 | R14 | Pts |
| 1 | Rikuto Kobayashi | 1 | 3 | 2 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 33 | 5 | 6 | 22 | 1 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 221 |
| 2 | Jin Nakamura | Ret | 1 | Ret | 6 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 4 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 209 |
| 3 | Yusuke Mitsui | Ret | 28 | 1 | 1 | 4 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 10 | 10 | 8 | 181 |
| 4 | Yuto Nomura | Ret | 2 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 24 | 6 | 5 | Ret | 5 | 167 |
| 5 | Tosei Moriyama | 9 | 5 | 4 | 2 | 5 | 6 | Ret | 9 | 5 | 3 | 7 | 6 | 11 | Ret | 101 |
| 6 | Rin Arakawa | 34 | 4 | 5 | 5 | 7 | 8 | 8 | 20 | 8 | 7 | 11 | 8 | 3 | 12 | 75 |
| 7 | Yuki Sano | 3 | 9 | 8 | 11 | Ret | 5 | 6 | Ret | 3 | 5 | 5 | 40 | Ret | 37 | 74 |
| 8 | Kazuhisa Urabe | 20 | 8 | 43† | 10 | 10 | 12 | 9 | 6 | 7 | 1 | 10 | 7 | 5 | 6 | 72 |
| 9 | Shunji Okumoto | 2 | 7 | 10 | 7 | 11 | 10 | 15 | 10 | 12 | 11 | 4 | 2 | 12 | 20 | 63 |
| 10 | Ryota Horachi | 6 | 13 | 9 | 8 | 15 | 37 | 4 | 4 | 11 | 10 | 8 | 4 | Ret | 10 | 56 |
| 11 | Kento Omiya | 15 | Ret | 7 | 9 | 8 | 11 | 5 | 8 | 19 | 9 | 9 | Ret | 6 | 3 | 53 |
| 12 | Ryoma Henzan | Ret | Ret | 11 | 15 | Ret | 7 | 7 | 7 | Ret | 8 | 14 | 9 | 4 | 4 | 48 |
| 13 | Itsuki Sato | 28 | 6 | 6 | 13 | 9 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 9 | 12 | 12 | 11 | 9 | 9 | 27 |
| 14 | Jiei Okuzumi | | | | | 6 | 39 | | | 10 | 13 | 13 | 15 | 8 | 7 | 19 |
| 15 | Kazuma Nishimura | 4 | 12 | 14 | 19 | 18 | Ret | DNS | 16 | 18 | 23 | | | 16 | 19 | 12 |
| 16 | Yuki Mishima | 5 | 10 | 17 | 18 | Ret | 31 | 18 | 15 | 17 | 19 | 20 | 18 | 20 | 17 | 11 |
| 17 | Yuta Fujiwara | 10 | 14 | 13 | 12 | 12 | 14 | 12 | 12 | Ret | 6 | 15 | 13 | 34 | 13 | 9 |
| 18 | Souryuu Tagami | 12 | 15 | 18 | 17 | 20 | Ret | 14 | 24 | | | | | 7 | 11 | 6 |
| 19 | Rio Shimono | 7 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 19 | 24 | 19 | 19 | 16 | 17 | 17 | 16 | 17 | 15 | 6 |
| 20 | Hibiki Komatsu | 8 | 19 | 15 | 16 | 13 | 13 | Ret | 13 | 21 | 20 | 18 | 12 | Ret | Ret | 4 |
| 21 | Hironobu Shimizu | Ret | 11 | 12 | 14 | 22 | 18 | 13 | 18 | 14 | 16 | 22 | 28 | 15 | 21 | 0 |
| 22 | Kohei Tokumasu | Ret | 17 | 16 | 23 | 21 | 15 | 11 | 14 | 13 | 14 | | | 18 | 18 | 0 |
| 23 | Tomohito Watabe | 11 | 37 | 21 | 24 | 14 | 17 | 16 | 17 | WD | WD | | | | | 0 |
| 24 | Yuto Nozawa | 19 | 20 | 23 | 25 | 16 | 16 | 22 | 21 | 15 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 13 | 14 | 0 |
| 25 | Kazuya Oshima | 13 | 16 | | | | | | | | | | | | | 0 |
| 26 | Yoshiaki Nakamura | 14 | DNS | 24 | 26 | 24 | 21 | 23 | 23 | Ret | 18 | 19 | 14 | 14 | 16 | 0 |
| 27 | Yutaka Toriba | 16 | Ret | 36 | 34 | Ret | 19 | | | 33 | 29 | 23 | 20 | 19 | 28 | 0 |
| 28 | Keiji Nakao | 17 | 23 | 30 | 31 | 26 | 27 | 26 | 28 | 29 | 28 | 40† | 26 | 32 | 23 | 0 |
| 29 | Akito Itsuki | | | | | 17 | 23 | | | | | | | | | 0 |
| 30 | Daitetsu Ueno | | | | | | | 17 | 38 | | | | | | | 0 |
| 31 | Fuma Horio | 18 | Ret | 25 | 28 | Ret | 25 | 21 | 29 | 20 | 20 | | | | | 0 |
| 32 | Yohei Ono | 27 | 26 | 28 | 29 | 32 | 38 | 25 | 31 | Ret | Ret | 24 | 19 | 26 | 29 | 0 |
| 33 | Taiga Imoto | | | 22 | 21 | 23 | 20 | 20 | 22 | | | | | | | 0 |
| 34 | Shion Tsujimoto | Ret | Ret | 20 | 22 | | | | | | | | | | | 0 |
| 35 | Masamune Handa | 33 | 27 | Ret | Ret | 34 | 26 | 27 | 26 | 25 | 30 | 21 | 21 | 21 | 22 | 0 |
| 36 | Makoto Fujiwara | 22 | 21 | 31 | 41 | 28 | 28 | Ret | 32 | 22 | 25 | 25 | 22 | 24 | 26 | 0 |
| 37 | Nobuhiro Imada | 21 | 38 | 37 | Ret | 25 | DNS | Ret | 25 | 23 | Ret | 27 | 24 | | | 0 |
| 38 | Masayuki Ueda | 38 | 22 | 26 | 27 | 29 | 29 | 32 | Ret | 31 | 27 | Ret | 33 | 22 | 27 | 0 |
| 39 | Makio Saito | 26 | 33 | 27 | 30 | 27 | 22 | 24 | 39 | 27 | 40 | 26 | 41 | 23 | 24 | 0 |
| 40 | "Dragon" | 23 | 24 | 29 | Ret | DNQ | DNQ | 29 | 27 | 26 | 26 | Ret | 25 | 25 | 25 | 0 |
| 41 | Aoto Nagahara | | | | | | | | | | | 38 | 23 | | | 0 |
| 42 | Reijiro Yamazaki | 24 | 25 | DNQ | DNQ | 39† | 35 | Ret | 30 | Ret | Ret | 28 | 29 | 27 | 30 | 0 |
| 43 | "Kentaro" | 31 | 30 | 33 | 42† | 30 | Ret | Ret | 40† | 24 | 34 | 31 | 36 | Ret | 34 | 0 |
| 44 | Yoshitsugu Kondo | 25 | 29 | | | | | | | 28 | 31 | | | | | 0 |
| 45 | Tadakazu Kojima | 30 | 36 | 42 | 38 | 33 | Ret | 28 | Ret | 32 | 38 | 29 | 27 | | | 0 |
| 46 | Yuichi Sasaki | | | | | | | | | 36 | 33 | 34 | 34 | 28 | Ret | 0 |
| 47 | Masayoshi Oyama | 32 | 32 | 35 | 33 | 36 | 33 | Ret | 34 | 30 | 32 | 30 | 32 | 29 | 31 | 0 |
| 48 | Hachiro Osaka | 29 | Ret | 41 | 40 | 40† | Ret | Ret | 36 | 37 | 37 | 35 | 35 | 30 | 32 | 0 |
| 49 | Isao Nakashima | 35 | 31 | 34 | 32 | 38 | 34 | Ret | DNS | 35 | 35 | 32 | 30 | 31 | 33 | 0 |
| 50 | Hiroyuki Saka | | | | | 31 | 30 | Ret | 33 | | | | | | | 0 |
| 51 | Norio Tsukamoto | | | 38 | 36 | 35 | 32 | 30 | 35 | 38 | 36 | | | | | 0 |
| 52 | "Yugo" | DNQ | DNQ | 40 | 39 | 37 | 36 | 31 | 37 | 39 | Ret | 39 | 39 | 33 | 36 | 0 |
| 53 | Shoichiro Akamatsu | | | | | | | | | 34 | 39 | 37 | 31 | | | 0 |
| 54 | Bunsei Okawa | 36 | 35 | 32 | 35 | | | | | | | | | | | 0 |
| 55 | Tsuyoshi Usui | | | DNS | DNS | | | | | | | 33 | 38 | | | 0 |
| 56 | Masahiro Aoai | 37 | 34 | 39 | 37 | | | | | | | | | | | 0 |
| 57 | "Syuji" | | | | | | | | | | | 36 | 37 | Ret | 35 | 0 |
| – | Kazuaki Yasui | | | | | DNQ | DNQ | | | | | | | | | – |
| Pos | Driver | R1 | R2 | R3 | R4 | R5 | R6 | R7 | R8 | R9 | R10 | R11 | R12 | R13 | R14 | Pts |
| Pos | Driver | FUJ1 | FUJ1 | SUZ1 | SUZ1 | FUJ2 | FUJ2 | SUZ2 | SUZ2 | SUG | SUG | AUT | AUT | 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) |

### Independent Cup

| Pos | Driver | FUJ1 | FUJ1 | SUZ1 | SUZ1 | FUJ2 | FUJ2 | SUZ2 | SUZ2 | SUG | SUG | AUT | AUT | MOT | MOT | Pts |
| Pos | Driver | R1 | R2 | R3 | R4 | R5 | R6 | R7 | R8 | R9 | R10 | R11 | R12 | R13 | R14 | Pts |
| 1 | Makoto Fujiwara | 4 | 1 | 5 | 13 | 4 | 4 | Ret | 5 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 4 | 4 | 191 |
| 2 | Keiji Nakao | 2 | 3 | 4 | 3 | 2 | 3 | 2 | 3 | 7 | 4 | 16† | 5 | 11 | 1 | 179 |
| 3 | Makio Saito | 8 | 10 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 11 | 5 | 15 | 3 | 18 | 3 | 2 | 157 |
| 4 | Yutaka Toriba | 1 | Ret | 10 | 6 | Ret | 1 | | | 11 | 5 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 6 | 152 |
| 5 | Masayuki Ueda | 16 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 5 | 5 | 7 | Ret | 9 | 3 | Ret | 11 | 2 | 5 | 139 |
| 6 | "Dragon" | 5 | 4 | 3 | Ret | DNQ | DNQ | 4 | 2 | 4 | 2 | Ret | 4 | 5 | 3 | 134 |
| 7 | Nobuhiro Imada | 3 | 14 | 11 | Ret | 1 | DNS | Ret | 1 | 2 | Ret | 4 | 3 | | | 110 |
| 8 | Reijiro Yamazaki | 6 | 5 | DNQ | DNQ | 13† | 10 | Ret | 4 | Ret | Ret | 5 | 7 | 6 | 7 | 61 |
| 9 | Masayoshi Oyama | 12 | 9 | 9 | 5 | 10 | 8 | Ret | 7 | 8 | 7 | 7 | 10 | 8 | 8 | 50 |
| 10 | "Kentaro" | 11 | 7 | 7 | 14† | 6 | Ret | Ret | 12 | 3 | 9 | 8 | 14 | Ret | 11 | 41 |
| 11 | Tadakazu Kojima | 10 | 13 | 16 | 10 | 8 | Ret | 3 | Ret | 10 | 13 | 6 | 6 | | | 38 |
| 12 | Isao Nakashima | 13 | 8 | 8 | 4 | 12 | 9 | Ret | DNS | 13 | 10 | 9 | 8 | 10 | 10 | 31 |
| 13 | Yoshitsugu Kondo | 7 | 6 | | | | | | | 6 | 6 | | | | | 30 |
| 14 | Norio Tsukamoto | | | 12 | 8 | 9 | 7 | 5 | 8 | 16 | 11 | | | | | 26 |
| 15 | Hiroyuki Saka | | | | | 7 | 6 | Ret | 6 | | | | | | | 22 |
| 16 | Bunsei Okawa | 14 | 12 | 6 | 7 | | | | | | | | | | | 14 |
| 17 | Yuichi Sasaki | | | | | | | | | 14 | 8 | 11 | 12 | 7 | Ret | 10 |
| 18 | "Yugo" | DNQ | DNQ | 14 | 11 | 11 | 11 | 6 | 10 | 17 | Ret | 15 | 17 | 12 | 13 | 9 |
| 19 | Hachiro Osaka | 9 | Ret | 15 | 12 | 14† | Ret | Ret | 9 | 15 | 12 | 12 | 13 | 9 | 9 | 8 |
| 20 | Masahiro Aoai | 15 | 11 | 13 | 9 | | | | | | | | | | | 2 |
| 21 | Shoichiro Akamatsu | | | | | | | | | 12 | 14 | 14 | 9 | | | 2 |
| 22 | Tsuyoshi Usui | | | DNS | DNS | | | | | | | 10 | 16 | | | 1 |
| 23 | "Syuji" | | | | | | | | | | | 13 | 15 | Ret | 12 | 0 |
| – | Kazuaki Yasui | | | | | DNQ | DNQ | | | | | | | | | – |
| Pos | Driver | R1 | R2 | R3 | R4 | R5 | R6 | R7 | R8 | R9 | R10 | R11 | R12 | R13 | R14 | Pts |
| Pos | Driver | FUJ1 | FUJ1 | SUZ1 | SUZ1 | FUJ2 | FUJ2 | SUZ2 | SUZ2 | SUG | SUG | AUT | AUT | MOT | MOT | | Pts |

### Teams' standings

Only the best finisher scored points for their team.
| Pos | Team | Points |
| 1 | TGR-DC Racing School | 290 |
| 2 | Honda Formula Dream Project | 232 |
| 3 | Bionic Jack Racing | 82 |
| 4 | Akiland Racing | 63 |
| 5 | Zap Speed | 58 |
| 6 | PONOS Racing | 53 |
| 7 | Buzz Racing | 48 |
| 8 | HELM Motorsports | 33 |
| 9 | Dr.Dry | 29 |
| 10 | Media Do Kageyama Racing | 12 |
| 11 | Skill Speed | 4 |