Kazuyoshi Hoshino
The 2003 season began with success and tragedy. Motoyama won the opening round at Suzuka Circuit, and won the following round at Fuji. Motoyama was unable to celebrate his win at Fuji, however, after he learned of his childhood friend Daijiro Kato suffering critical injuries in a crash during the 2003 MotoGP World Championship round at Suzuka. On April 27, a week after Kato died of his injuries, Motoyama took his third consecutive win of the season at Miné. Motoyama took another victory in the sixth round at Sugo, and despite a late surge from his Impul teammate Benoît Tréluyer, Motoyama was able to clinch his third championship with a second-place finish in the penultimate round at Motegi. He joined his mentor Kazuyoshi Hoshino and former F1 driver Satoru Nakajima as only the third driver to win three or more Japanese top formula championships, and was the first driver in the Formula Nippon era to win three championships.