# 2011 Formula Challenge Japan

The 2011 Formula Challenge Japan was a multi-event motor racing championship for open-wheel formula racing cars, and the sixth season of the Formula Challenge Japan racing series, a young driver development series jointly supported by Honda, Toyota, and Nissan. The championship featured a mix of manufacturer-affiliated drivers and independent entries, and commenced on 23 April and ended on 6 November. Three race weekends were run in support of Formula Nippon, with the October round at Suzuka being held in support of the Formula One Japanese Grand Prix.
Toyota junior Takamoto Katsuta won the championship by a five-point margin after winning three of the four races in the final round at Motegi, with fellow Toyota drivers Ryō Hirakawa and Kazuya Ishii coming second and third in the points standings. Kazuki Hiramine finished fourth as the highest Honda-supported driver after taking three wins and the championship lead early on. Nissan junior driver Tsubasa Kondō and Yūya Motojima completed the top six, who were the only drivers to take race wins or pole positions throughout the season.

## Teams and drivers

| Team | No. | Driver | Rounds |
| FTRS Scholarship FTRS Clarion FCJ LUCK FTRS FTRS FCJ FTRS K-office FCJ | 1 | Shintarō Kawabata | All |
| FTRS Scholarship FTRS Clarion FCJ LUCK FTRS FTRS FCJ FTRS K-office FCJ | 4 | Ryō Hirakawa | All |
| FTRS Scholarship FTRS Clarion FCJ LUCK FTRS FTRS FCJ FTRS K-office FCJ | 9 | Takamoto Katsuta | All |
| FTRS Scholarship FTRS Clarion FCJ LUCK FTRS FTRS FCJ FTRS K-office FCJ | 10 | Hiroki Shinotani | All |
| FTRS Scholarship FTRS Clarion FCJ LUCK FTRS FTRS FCJ FTRS K-office FCJ | 11 | Kazuya Ishii | All |
| FTRS Scholarship FTRS Clarion FCJ LUCK FTRS FTRS FCJ FTRS K-office FCJ | 19 | Syunsuke Matsuzaki | All |
| HFDP/SRS-F/Kotira R HFDP/SRS-F/ARTA | 2 | Shinnosuke Yamada | All |
| HFDP/SRS-F/Kotira R HFDP/SRS-F/ARTA | 8 | Yūya Motojima [ja] | All |
| HFDP/SRS-F/Kotira R HFDP/SRS-F/ARTA | 17 | Kazuki Hiramine | All |
| HFDP/SRS-F/Kotira R HFDP/SRS-F/ARTA | 18 | Shōta Kiyohara [ja] | All |
| NDDP Maruso NDDP FCJ | 3 | Tsubasa Kondō [ja] | All |
| NDDP Maruso NDDP FCJ | 12 | Mitsunori Takaboshi | All |
| NDDP Maruso NDDP FCJ | 16 | Zhu Daiwei | All |
| Dream Max FCJ | 5 | Kōhei Sutō | All |
| Meikyō 602 Palm Town Garage | 6 | Kunihiro Iwatsuki | All |
| Houka Racing with Dunlop | 7 | Ryo Ogawa | All |
| AsT Team SBT | 13 | Ryūnosuke Shibata | All |
| Wings Garage | 14 | Takanori Yamabe | All |
| ALT Team Naoki | 15 | Keishi Niki | All |
| Source ||||

## Race calendar and results

All races were held in Japan. Rounds 3–4, 9, and 8–14 were run in support of the Formula Nippon Championship, and Rounds 11–12 were held as support races for the 2011 Japanese Grand Prix, a round of the 2011 Formula One World Championship.
Rounds 8 and 9 were originally scheduled to be held on 3–4 September at Suzuka, but were cancelled due to adverse weather conditions caused by Tropical Storm Talas. Round 8 was moved to the final race weekend at Motegi.
| Round | Circuit | Date | Pole position | Fastest lap | Winning driver |
| 1 | Fuji Speedway, Oyama | 23 April | Kazuya Ishii | Yūya Motojima | Takamoto Katsuta |
| 2 | Fuji Speedway, Oyama | 24 April | Tsubasa Kondō | Kazuki Hiramine | Kazuki Hiramine |
| 3 | Suzuka Circuit, Suzuka | 14 May | Kazuya Ishii | Kazuki Hiramine | Kazuya Ishii |
| 4 | Suzuka Circuit, Suzuka | 15 May | Kazuki Hiramine | Kazuki Hiramine | Kazuki Hiramine |
| 5 | Fuji Speedway, Oyama | 11 June | Kazuki Hiramine | Kazuki Hiramine | Kazuki Hiramine |
| 6 | Fuji Speedway, Oyama | 11 June | Kazuki Hiramine | Yūya Motojima | Ryō Hirakawa |
| 7 | Fuji Speedway, Oyama | 12 June | Yūya Motojima | Yūya Motojima | Yūya Motojima |
| 9 | Suzuka Circuit, Suzuka | 4 September | Race cancelled | Race cancelled | Race cancelled |
| 10 | Suzuka Circuit, Suzuka | 8 October | Kazuya Ishii | Takamoto Katsuta | Kazuya Ishii |
| 11 | Suzuka Circuit, Suzuka | 9 October | Kazuya Ishii | Takamoto Katsuta | Takamoto Katsuta |
| 8 | Twin Ring Motegi, Motegi | 5 November | Ryō Hirakawa | Mitsunori Takaboshi | Tsubasa Kondō |
| 12 | Twin Ring Motegi, Motegi | 5 November | Ryō Hirakawa | Takamoto Katsuta | Takamoto Katsuta |
| 13 | Twin Ring Motegi, Motegi | 6 November | Ryō Hirakawa | Takamoto Katsuta | Takamoto Katsuta |
| 14 | Twin Ring Motegi, Motegi | 6 November | Ryō Hirakawa | Takamoto Katsuta | Takamoto Katsuta |

## Championship standings
### Drivers' Championship

Points were awarded to the top six classified finishers, with one point awarded for pole position and fastest lap respectively.
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | PP | FL |
| 10 | 7 | 5 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| Pos. | Driver | FUJ | FUJ | SUZ | SUZ | FUJ | FUJ | FUJ | SUZ | SUZ | SUZ | MOT | MOT | MOT | MOT | Points |
| 1 | Takamoto Katsuta | 1 | 3 | 3 | 4 | 19 | 7 | 11 | C | 3 | 1 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 78 |
| 2 | Ryō Hirakawa | 2 | 2 | 7 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 3 | C | 4 | 5 | 2 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 73 |
| 3 | Kazuya Ishii | Ret | Ret | 1 | 6 | 3 | 2 | 2 | C | 1 | 2 | 5 | 4 | 3 | 16 | 60 |
| 4 | Kazuki Hiramine | 5 | 1 | 15 | 1 | 1 | 6 | 7 | C | 8 | 9 | 7 | 15 | 5 | 4 | 45 |
| 5 | Tsubasa Kondō | 4 | 9 | 6 | 5 | 4 | 4 | 4 | C | 16 | 7 | 1 | 2 | 4 | 9 | 36 |
| 6 | Yūya Motojima | 16 | 6 | 2 | 7 | 5 | 3 | 1 | C | 5 | 4 | 6 | 8 | 7 | 12 | 35 |
| 7 | Mitsunori Takaboshi | 3 | 16 | 4 | 2 | 6 | 14 | 5 | C | 6 | 8 | 19 | 10 | 10 | 5 | 22 |
| 8 | Shinnosuke Yamada | 8 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 10 | 8 | 8 | C | 2 | 3 | 10 | 7 | 8 | 7 | 12 |
| 9 | Shōta Kiyohara | Ret | 4 | 8 | 8 | 8 | 9 | Ret | C | 11 | 6 | 4 | 6 | 6 | 11 | 9 |
| 10 | Keishi Niki | 6 | Ret | 10 | 11 | 13 | Ret | 14 | C | 10 | 14 | 11 | 16 | 14 | 3 | 6 |
| 11 | Hiroki Shinotani | 13 | 10 | 5 | 17 | 9 | 5 | 6 | C | 7 | 12 | 12 | Ret | 13 | 10 | 5 |
| 12 | Shintarō Kawabata | 14 | 7 | 14 | 16 | 14 | Ret | 13 | C | Ret | 16 | 9 | 5 | 11 | DNS | 2 |
| 13 | Syunsuke Matsuzaki | 9 | 5 | Ret | 9 | 11 | 15 | 12 | C | 13 | 15 | 15 | 11 | 12 | Ret | 2 |
| 14 | Zhu Daiwei | Ret | DNS | 11 | Ret | 12 | 12 | 9 | C | 9 | 11 | 8 | 9 | 9 | 6 | 1 |
| - | Takanori Yamabe | 7 | 13 | 13 | 12 | 7 | 10 | 10 | C | 12 | 13 | 13 | Ret | 15 | 8 | 0 |
| - | Kōhei Sutō | 11 | 12 | 16 | 15 | 18 | Ret | 17 | C | Ret | 10 | 16 | 14 | Ret | Ret | 0 |
| - | Ryūnosuke Shibata | 10 | 15 | Ret | 14 | 16 | Ret | 16 | C | 14 | Ret | 17 | Ret | 17 | 14 | 0 |
| - | Ryō Ogawa | 15 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 17 | 11 | 15 | C | DNS | 17 | 14 | 12 | 16 | 13 | 0 |
| - | Kunihiro Iwatsuki | 12 | 14 | 17 | 18 | 15 | 13 | 18 | C | 15 | 18 | 18 | 13 | 18 | 15 | 0 |
| Pos. | Driver | FUJ | FUJ | SUZ | SUZ | FUJ | FUJ | FUJ | SUZ | SUZ | SUZ | MOT | MOT | MOT | MOT | Points |
Key :
| Colour | Result |
| Gold | Race winner |
| Silver | 2nd place |
| Bronze | 3rd place |
| Green | Points finish |
| Blue | Non-points finish |
| Blue | Non-classified finish (NC) |
| Purple | Did not finish (Ret) |
| Black | Disqualified (DSQ) |
| Black | Excluded (EX) |
| White | Did not start (DNS) |
| White | Race cancelled (C) |
| White | Withdrew (WD) |
| Blank | Did not participate |