# 2003 Formula Nippon Championship

The 2003 Formula Nippon Championship was contested over 10 rounds. 10 different teams and 21 different drivers competed. All teams had to use Lola chassis (Lola B03/51) and Mugen Honda (Mugen MF308) engines.

## Teams and drivers

| Team | # | Driver | Chassis | Engine | Rounds |
| PIAA Nakajima Racing | 1 | Takashi Kogure | Lola B03/51 | Mugen MF308 | All |
| PIAA Nakajima Racing | 2 | André Lotterer | Lola B03/51 | Mugen MF308 | All |
| Olympic Kondo Racing Team | 3 | Yuji Tachikawa | Lola B03/51 | Mugen MF308 | All |
| Olympic Kondo Racing Team | 4 | Dominik Schwager | Lola B03/51 | Mugen MF308 | All |
| Team 5ZIGEN | 5 | Ryo Michigami | Lola B03/51 | Mugen MF308 | All |
| Team 5ZIGEN | 6 | Ryo Fukuda | Lola B03/51 | Mugen MF308 | 1–5 |
| Team 5ZIGEN | 6 | James Courtney | Lola B03/51 | Mugen MF308 | 7–10 |
| Forum Engineering ARTA Team LeMans | 7 | Toshihiro Kaneishi | Lola B03/51 | Mugen MF308 | All |
| Forum Engineering ARTA Team LeMans | 8 | Takeshi Tsuchiya | Lola B03/51 | Mugen MF308 | All |
| Planex EBBRO Nova Kacchao TCPRO Nova Team Nova Oizumi Team Nova | 9 | Haruki Kurosawa | Lola B03/51 | Mugen MF308 | All |
| Planex EBBRO Nova Kacchao TCPRO Nova Team Nova Oizumi Team Nova | 10 | Tetsuya Fujisawa | Lola B03/51 | Mugen MF308 | 1–4 |
| Planex EBBRO Nova Kacchao TCPRO Nova Team Nova Oizumi Team Nova | 10 | Yudai Igarashi | Lola B03/51 | Mugen MF308 | 5–7 |
| Planex EBBRO Nova Kacchao TCPRO Nova Team Nova Oizumi Team Nova | 10 | Hiroki Katoh | Lola B03/51 | Mugen MF308 | 8–10 |
| Cosmo Oil Racing Team Cerumo | 11 | Tsugio Matsuda | Lola B03/51 | Mugen MF308 | All |
| Cosmo Oil Racing Team Cerumo | 12 | Yuji Ide | Lola B03/51 | Mugen MF308 | All |
| Team Impul | 19 | Satoshi Motoyama | Lola B03/51 | Mugen MF308 | All |
| Team Impul | 20 | Benoît Tréluyer | Lola B03/51 | Mugen MF308 | All |
| Team 22 | 22 | Juichi Wakisaka | Lola B03/51 | Mugen MF308 | All |
| Carrozzerria Team MOHN | 28 | Hideki Noda | Lola B03/51 | Mugen MF308 | All |
| DoCoMo Team Dandelion Racing | 40 | Richard Lyons | Lola B03/51 | Mugen MF308 | All |
| DoCoMo Team Dandelion Racing | 41 | Naoki Hattori | Lola B03/51 | Mugen MF308 | All |

## Race calendar and results

All races were held in Japan
| Race | Track | Date | Pole Position | Fastest Race Lap | Winning Driver | Winning Team |
| 1 | Suzuka Circuit | 23 March | Ryo Michigami | Richard Lyons | Satoshi Motoyama | Team Impul |
| 2 | Fuji Speedway | 6 April | Satoshi Motoyama | Takeshi Tsuchiya | Satoshi Motoyama | Team Impul |
| 3 | Mine Circuit | 27 April | Satoshi Motoyama | Yuji Tachikawa | Satoshi Motoyama | Team Impul |
| 4 | Twin Ring Motegi | 8 June | Juichi Wakisaka | Satoshi Motoyama | Juichi Wakisaka | Team 22 |
| 5 | Suzuka Circuit | 6 July | Richard Lyons | Satoshi Motoyama | Richard Lyons | DoCoMo Team Dandelion Racing |
| 6 | Sportsland SUGO | 27 July | André Lotterer | Satoshi Motoyama | Satoshi Motoyama | Team Impul |
| 7 | Fuji Speedway | 31 August | Satoshi Motoyama | Satoshi Motoyama | Benoît Tréluyer | Team Impul |
| 8 | Mine Circuit | 21 September | Satoshi Motoyama | Satoshi Motoyama | Benoît Tréluyer | Team Impul |
| 9 | Twin Ring Motegi | 19 October | Toshihiro Kaneishi | Takeshi Tsuchiya | Toshihiro Kaneishi | Forum Engineering ARTA Team LeMans |
| 10 | Suzuka Circuit | 2 November | Satoshi Motoyama | Richard Lyons | Juichi Wakisaka | Team 22 |
* At race 5 a sprint race of 18 laps (104.526 km) set the grid for the main race. The sprint race winner Richard Lyons started from pole in the main race. Takeshi Tsuchiya set pole position for the sprint race.

## Championship standings
### Drivers' Championship
#### Scoring system

| Position | 1st | 2nd | 3rd | 4th | 5th | 6th |
| Points | 10 | 6 | 4 | 3 | 2 | 1 |
| Rank | Name | SUZ | FUJ | MIN | MOT | SUZ | SGO | FUJ | MIN | MOT | SUZ | Points |
| 1 | Satoshi Motoyama | 1 | 1 | 1 | 9 | 14 | 1 | 2 | 13 | 2 | 3 | 56 |
| 2 | Benoît Tréluyer | Ret | 2 | Ret | NC | 2 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 9 | Ret | 35 |
| 3 | Juichi Wakisaka | Ret | 5 | Ret | 1 | 3 | 3 | Ret | 6 | Ret | 1 | 31 |
| 4 | Toshihiro Kaneishi | 3 | 8 | 5 | 7 | Ret | 8 | Ret | 2 | 1 | Ret | 22 |
| 5 | André Lotterer | 2 | 4 | 7 | 6 | Ret | 2 | 3 | 9 | 5 | Ret | 22 |
| 6 | Richard Lyons | 9 | Ret | Ret | 3 | 1 | 5 | Ret | Ret | 3 | 9 | 20 |
| 7 | Yuji Ide | 4 | 7 | 3 | 2 | 7 | 10 | Ret | 3 | 12 | 5 | 19 |
| 8 | Takeshi Tsuchiya | Ret | NC | 2 | 4 | 5 | 7 | 6 | 12 | 6 | 4 | 16 |
| 9 | Ryo Michigami | Ret | 3 | 4 | 5 | 4 | NC | Ret | NC | 13 | 6 | 13 |
| 10 | Takashi Kogure | 12 | 6 | Ret | DNS | 6 | Ret | Ret | 14 | 4 | 2 | 11 |
| 11 | Tsugio Matsuda | 5 | 9 | Ret | Ret | 15 | 6 | 5 | 5 | 14 | Ret | 7 |
| 12 | James Courtney | | | | | | | 4 | 7 | Ret | Ret | 3 |
| 13 | Naoki Hattori | 8 | Ret | Ret | 11 | 8 | 9 | 9 | 4 | 7 | 11 | 3 |
| 14 | Hideki Noda | 6 | 10 | 8 | DNS | 12 | Ret | Ret | 10 | Ret | 10 | 1 |
| 15 | Ryo Fukuda | 7 | Ret | 6 | Ret | 13 | | | | | | 1 |
| 16 | Dominik Schwager | Ret | Ret | Ret | 8 | 9 | 11 | 7 | 8 | 10 | 8 | 0 |
| 17 | Hiroki Katoh | | | | | | | | Ret | 11 | 7 | 0 |
| 18 | Yuji Tachikawa | 10 | 12 | 10 | Ret | Ret | NC | Ret | Ret | 8 | Ret | 0 |
| 19 | Haruki Kurosawa | Ret | Ret | 9 | 10 | 11 | Ret | Ret | 11 | Ret | Ret | 0 |
| 20 | Yudai Igarashi | | | | | 10 | 12 | Ret | | | | 0 |
| 21 | Tetsuya Fujisawa | 11 | 11 | Ret | 12 | | | | | | | 0 |

### Teams' Championship

| Rank | Team | Car | SUZ | FUJ | MIN | MOT | SUZ | SGO | FUJ | MIN | MOT | SUZ | Points |
| 1 | Impul | 19 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 9 | 14 | 1 | 2 | 13 | 2 | 3 | 91 |
| 1 | Impul | 20 | Ret | 2 | Ret | NC | 2 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 9 | Ret | 91 |
| 2 | Team LeMans | 7 | 3 | 8 | 5 | 7 | Ret | 8 | Ret | 2 | 1 | Ret | 38 |
| 2 | Team LeMans | 8 | Ret | NC | 2 | 4 | 5 | 7 | 6 | 12 | 6 | 4 | 38 |
| 3 | PIAA Nakajima | 1 | 12 | 6 | Ret | DNS | 6 | Ret | Ret | 14 | 4 | 2 | 33 |
| 3 | PIAA Nakajima | 2 | 2 | 4 | 7 | 6 | Ret | 2 | 3 | 9 | 5 | Ret | 33 |
| 4 | Team 22 | 22 | Ret | 5 | Ret | 1 | 3 | 3 | Ret | 6 | Ret | 1 | 31 |
| 5 | Cosmo Oil Cerumo | 11 | 5 | 9 | Ret | Ret | 15 | 6 | 5 | 5 | 14 | Ret | 23 |
| 5 | Cosmo Oil Cerumo | 12 | 4 | 7 | 3 | 2 | 7 | 10 | Ret | 3 | 12 | 5 | 23 |
| 6 | DoCoMo Dandelion | 40 | 9 | Ret | Ret | 3 | 1 | 5 | Ret | Ret | 3 | 9 | 23 |
| 6 | DoCoMo Dandelion | 41 | 8 | Ret | Ret | 11 | 8 | 9 | 9 | 4 | 7 | 11 | 23 |
| 7 | 5ZIGEN | 5 | Ret | 3 | 4 | 5 | 4 | NC | Ret | NC | 13 | 6 | 17 |
| 7 | 5ZIGEN | 6 | 7 | Ret | 6 | Ret | 13 | | 4 | 7 | Ret | Ret | 17 |
| 8 | Team MOHN | 28 | 6 | 10 | 8 | DNS | 12 | Ret | Ret | 10 | Ret | 10 | 1 |
| 9 | Team Nova | 9 | Ret | Ret | 9 | 10 | 11 | Ret | Ret | 11 | Ret | Ret | 0 |
| 9 | Team Nova | 10 | 11 | 11 | Ret | 12 | 10 | 12 | Ret | Ret | 11 | 7 | 0 |
| 10 | Kondo Racing Team | 3 | 10 | 12 | 10 | Ret | Ret | NC | Ret | Ret | 8 | Ret | 0 |
| 10 | Kondo Racing Team | 4 | Ret | Ret | Ret | 8 | 9 | 11 | 7 | 8 | 10 | 8 | 0 |