# 2000 Japanese Formula 3 Championship

The 2000 Japanese Formula 3 Championship was the 22nd edition of the Japanese Formula 3 Championship. It began on 26 March at Suzuka and ended on 5 November at the same place. French driver Sébastien Philippe took the championship title, winning three from ten races.

## Teams and drivers

* All teams were Japanese-registered. All cars were powered by Bridgestone tyres.
| Team | No | Driver | Chassis | Engine | Rounds |
| TOM'S | 1 | Robert Lechner | F300 | Toyota-TOM'S 3S-GE | 1–9 |
| TOM'S | 7 | Haruki Kurosawa | F300 | Toyota-TOM'S 3S-GE | 1–9 |
| TOM'S | 8 | Kaichi Sato | F399 | Toyota-TOM'S 3S-GE | All |
| Toda Racing | 2 | Seiji Ara | F300 | Toda-Honda MF204B | All |
| Inging | 3 | Benoît Tréluyer | F300 | Torii-Toyota 3S-GE | All |
| Inging | 5 | Shinichi Takagi | F399 | TOM'S-Toyota 3S-GE | 1–9 |
| Team 5Zigen | 6 | Hideki Nishimura | F399 | Torii-Toyota 3S-GE | 2 |
| Team 5Zigen | 6 | Kota Sasaki | F399 | Torii-Toyota 3S-GE | 9 |
| Team 5Zigen | 15 | Tadashi Nagamori | F399 | Torii-Toyota 3S-GE | 1, 3, 5–8, 10 |
| Pal Sport | 9 | Takeshi Tsuchiya | F399 | Tomei Nissan SR20VE | 1–2, 4–10 |
| Pal Sport | 19 | Tsubasa Kurosawa | F399 | Torii-Toyota 3S-GE | 1–3 |
| Mugen Dome Project | 10 | Sébastien Philippe | F300 | Mugen-Honda MF204B | All |
| Mugen Dome Project | 11 | Yuji Ide | F300 | Mugen-Honda MF204B | All |
| Lian Racing Team | 17 | Kota Sasaki | F399 | Toda-Honda MF204B | 1–4 |
| Lian Racing Team | 17 | Tsubasa Kurosawa | F399 | Toda-Honda MF204B | 6–10 |
| Team Yellow Hat with Aim Sports | 18 | Shogo Mitsuyama | F399 | Torii-Toyota 3S-GE | All |
| DTM | 20 | Kyousuke Mineo | F399 | Toyota-TOM'S 3S-GE | 1–4, 7 |
| DTM | 20 | Racer Kashima | F399 | Toyota-TOM'S 3S-GE | 8–10 |
| Tomei Sport | 24 | Kazuyuki Nishizawa | F399 | Toyota-TOM'S 3S-GE | All |
| Maejima Racing Team | 32 | Masaru Tomizawa | F399 | Torii-Toyota 3S-GE | 1–3 |
| Now Motor Sports | 32 | Tomoyuki Inoue | F399 | Torii-Toyota 3S-GE | 9–10 |
| Now Motor Sports | 33 | Akira Yamaguchi | F300 | Toyota-TOM'S 3S-GE | All |
| Nobel France Racing Team | 37 | Motonari Higuchi | F397 | Torii-Toyota 3S-GE | 2–3, 5, 7–8 |
| Prokidai with Torii Racing | 38 | Yasutaka Gomi | F300 | Torii-Toyota 3S-GE | 1–2, 4–6 |
| Prokidai with Torii Racing | 38 | Teruyuki Tokuda | F300 | Torii-Toyota 3S-GE | 7 |
| Prokidai with Torii Racing | 38 | Hirotaka Nakajima | F300 | Torii-Toyota 3S-GE | 9 |
| Prokidai with Torii Racing | 38 | Kota Sasaki | F300 | Torii-Toyota 3S-GE | 10 |
| Prokidai with Torii Racing | 39 | Masayuki Suzuki | F397 | Torii-Toyota 3S-GE | 10 |
| Nakajima Racing | 64 | Yasuyuki Honjyo | F399 | Mugen-Honda MF204B | 1–8 |
| Nakajima Racing | 64 | Shinya Sato | F399 | Mugen-Honda MF204B | 9–10 |
| Skill Speed | 77 | Kou Hirano | F399 | Toda-Honda MF204B | 1–9 |

### Notes

* ↑ All drivers competed in Dallara chassis; model listed.

## Race calendar and results

| Round | Circuit | Date | Pole Position | Fastest Lap | Winning driver | Winning team |
| 1 | Suzuka Circuit, Suzuka | 26 March | Sébastien Philippe | Sébastien Philippe | Sébastien Philippe | Mugen Dome Project |
| 2 | Tsukuba Circuit, Shimotsuma | 9 April | Yuji Ide | Yuji Ide | Yuji Ide | Mugen Dome Project |
| 3 | Fuji Speedway, Oyama | 4 May | Sébastien Philippe | Haruki Kurosawa | Sébastien Philippe | Mugen Dome Project |
| 4 | Mine Circuit, Mine | 21 May | Robert Lechner | Benoît Tréluyer | Robert Lechner | TOM'S |
| 5 | Twin Ring Motegi, Motegi | 11 June | Robert Lechner | Seiji Ara | Robert Lechner | TOM'S |
| 6 | Suzuka Circuit, Suzuka | 2 July | Shinichi Takagi | Sébastien Philippe | Shinichi Takagi | Inging |
| 7 | Sportsland SUGO, Murata | 30 July | Benoît Tréluyer | Benoît Tréluyer | Benoît Tréluyer | Inging |
| 8 | Twin Ring Motegi, Motegi | 20 August | Seiji Ara | Haruki Kurosawa | Haruki Kurosawa | TOM'S |
| 9 | Sendai Hi-Land Raceway, Aoba-ku | 24 September | Sébastien Philippe | Sébastien Philippe | Sébastien Philippe | Mugen Dome Project |
| 10 | Suzuka Circuit, Suzuka | 5 November | Sébastien Philippe | Yuji Ide | Yuji Ide | Mugen Dome Project |

## Standings

* Points are awarded as follows, with only the best 7 results to count:
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 |
| 9 | 6 | 4 | 3 | 2 | 1 |
| Pos | Driver | SUZ | TSU | FUJ | MIN | MOT | SUZ | SUG | MOT | SEN | SUZ | Pts |
| 1 | Sébastien Philippe | 1 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 3 | 4 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 49 |
| 2 | Yuji Ide | Ret | 1 | 6 | 3 | 6 | 2 | 5 | 3 | 6 | 1 | 35 |
| 3 | Seiji Ara | Ret | 2 | 4 | 5 | 2 | 4 | 3 | 9 | 3 | 3 | 30 |
| 4 | Robert Lechner | Ret | Ret | 2 | 1 | 1 | 6 | 7 | 4 | 8 | | 28 |
| 5 | Benoît Tréluyer | 2 | 16 | 13 | 4 | 8 | Ret | 1 | 7 | 2 | Ret | 24 |
| 6 | Haruki Kurosawa | Ret | 4 | 7 | 6 | 4 | 5 | 2 | 1 | 7 | | 24 |
| 7 | Shinichi Takagi | 4 | 7 | Ret | 7 | Ret | 1 | 13 | 5 | 5 | | 16 |
| 8 | Takeshi Tsuchiya | 3 | Ret | | 14 | Ret | Ret | 12 | 17 | 4 | 5 | 9 |
| 9 | Kyousuke Mineo | 7 | 10 | 3 | 13 | | | Ret | | | | 4 |
| 10 | Yasuyuki Honjyo | 6 | 8 | 5 | Ret | 7 | 7 | 6 | 8 | | | 4 |
| 11 | Shinya Sato | | | | | | | | | 12 | 4 | 3 |
| 12 | Kaichi Sato | Ret | 11 | Ret | 11 | 5 | 8 | 8 | 6 | 11 | 7 | 3 |
| 13 | Shogo Mitsuyama | 5 | 13 | 10 | 12 | 9 | 12 | Ret | 10 | 13 | 10 | 2 |
| 14 | Kota Sasaki | Ret | 6 | Ret | 8 | | | | | 9 | 6 | 2 |
| 15 | Masaru Tomizawa | Ret | 5 | Ret | | | | | | | | 2 |
| 16 | Akira Yamaguchi | 8 | 9 | 11 | Ret | 11 | Ret | 11 | 11 | Ret | 9 | 0 |
| 17 | Tsubasa Kurosawa | Ret | 17 | Ret | | | 11 | 10 | Ret | Ret | 8 | 0 |
| 18 | Kou Hirano | Ret | 12 | 9 | 9 | Ret | 9 | 9 | 12 | Ret | | 0 |
| 19 | Yasutaka Gomi | Ret | Ret | | 10 | 10 | 10 | | | | | 0 |
| 20 | Tomoyuki Inoue | | | | | | | | | 10 | Ret | 0 |
| 21 | Tadashi Nagamori | Ret | | DNS | | 12 | Ret | Ret | 15 | 11 | | 0 |
| 22 | Motonari Higuchi | | 14 | 12 | | 13 | | 14 | 14 | | | 0 |
| 23 | Racer Kashima | | | | | | | | 16 | 16 | 12 | 0 |
| 24 | Kazuyuki Nishizawa | Ret | Ret | 14 | Ret | Ret | 13 | Ret | 13 | 14 | Ret | 0 |
| 25 | Hideki Nishimura | | 15 | | | | | | | | | 0 |
| 26 | Teruyuki Tokuda | | | | | | | 15 | | | | 0 |
| 27 | Hirotaka Nakajima | | | | | | | | | 15 | | 0 |
| | Masayuki Suzuki | | | | | | | | | | Ret | 0 |
| Pos | Driver | SUZ | TSU | FUJ | MIN | MOT | SUZ | SUG | MOT | SEN | SUZ | 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) |