Entering its 10th season this year, Japanese F4 is one of the longest-running FIA–certified F4 series and a veritable stepping stone to successful Super Formula careers, and it begins a new chapter in its history this year with the introduction of a new car. Feeder Series tells you all you need to know about the 2024 season. 

By Gavin Guthrie and Finjo Muschlien

In the championship’s nine years of existence, the drivers’ title has been decided in the final race of the season on seven occasions. Both Toyota and Honda place their most promising young talents into the championship every season, and the title has always been won by either Toyota or Honda juniors. Previous champions of the series include F1’s Yuki Tsunoda and reigning Super Formula champion Ritomo Miyata, currently competing in F2.

Last year, there was a four-way title fight involving Toyota juniors Rikuto Kobayashi and Jin Nakamura and Honda juniors Yusuke Mitsui and Yuto Nomura, Kobayashi was 22 points behind championship leader Mitsui with four races to go, but  two wins over the course of the final four races were enough for Kobayashi to snatch the title.  

Champion Kobayashi and runner-up Nakamura will step up to Super Formula Lights with TOM’S in 2024, while Mitsui is currently scheduled to leave single-seaters and race in Super GT and Super Taikyu. Nomura remains in Japanese F4 in 2024 as the highest-placed returning driver.

A new car: Introducing the MCS4-24

The biggest change for Japanese F4, of course, is the introduction of a new car. The second-generation chassis, labelled MCS4-24, from Toray Carbon Magic replaces the Dome F110 that has been used since the series’ first season in 2015; revised FIA safety standards disallowed the use of the original chassis after the 2023 championship. This change also means the introduction of the halo for the first time in the series’ history.

The new car will also feature a new engine for the 2024 season, supplied by TOM’S as  in previous years. The new TMA43 engine will have 180 horsepower, which is an increase of 20 horsepower compared to the previous engine used.

While the Dome F110 was not on the same technical level as the Tatuus F4 chassis used in the Italian or Spanish F4 championships, the change to the new car will make the series a more attractive alternative to F4 championships in Europe. 

The calendar

With the calendar unchanged since 2022, the 2024 season will again kick off at FIA Grade 1–certified circuits Fuji and Suzuka before moving on to less internationally known FIA Grade 2 circuits Sugo, Autopolis and Motegi. All the circuits on which Japanese F4 will race also feature on the Super Formula calendar.

• Round 1: Fuji Speedway (3–4 May)
• Round 2: Suzuka Circuit (1–2 June)
• Round 3: Fuji Speedway (3–4 August)
• Round 4: Suzuka Circuit (31 August–1 September)
• Round 5: Sportsland Sugo (21–22 September) 
• Round 6: Autopolis International Racing Course (19–20 October)
• Round 7: Mobility Resort Motegi (2–3 November)

The format

Each round consists of two 30-minute-long races, with the grid for the first races being set by the best times set in qualifying. For the second races, the  second-fastest lap times set by each driver form the grid. 

The series uses the FIA points format, with the winner receiving 25 points. There are no bonus points for pole positions or fastest laps. The series does not support a rookie championship, but there is an Independent Cup for older drivers. Points for the teams’ championship are awarded for every team’s best-scoring driver in a race.

Where to watch

Practice sessions and qualifying won’t be broadcast by Japanese F4. Live timing will still be available on the race tracks’ own timing platforms, however, and all races will be livestreamed and free to watch on the series’ official YouTube channel.

Teams and drivers

TGR-DC Racing School

Having won both the drivers’ and teams’ championship last year, TGR-DC Racing School enters this year’s Japanese F4 season as one of the favourites for both titles in 2024. 

Yuki Sano (#35) may not have won a race in his debut season for TGR in 2023, but consistent results as well as third-place finishes at the season opener at Fuji and at the fifth round at Sugo gave him seventh position in the overall drivers’ standings and make him the highest-placed returning driver TGR fields this year.

Alongside Sano, TGR fields another returning driver in Kazuhisa Urabe (#36). The 18-year-old joins Toyota’s racing school programme this year, having previously performed well with Bionic Jack Racing in 2023. Although Urabe finished eighth in last years’ championship, two points behind Sano, Urabe will be the team’s only driver who previously won a race in the series. Urabe also topped the afternoon session of the series’ official test day at Fuji at the end of March. 

Tokiya Suzuki (#37) and Kiyoshi Umegaki (#38) join TGR for their debut season of Japanese F4 as both graduate from karting. Seventeen-year-old Suzuki is the 2023 GPR Karting Series OK champion, while Umegaki, 16, also competed in the GPR Karting Series and got to test F4 machinery on multiple occasions in 2023 before earning his seat at the team after participating in finals of TGR’s young driver selection program in a Formula Challenge Japan car at Fuji. 

Honda Formula Dream Project with B-Max Racing

Honda previously fielded three talents in their F4-level Honda Formula Dream Project team, but there are some changes for the 2024 season. The team collaborates with B-Max for the 2024 season, fielding just two drivers.

Yuto Nomura (#50) will be the highest-placed returning driver from the 2023 season. The former Red Bull junior enters his third F4 season and his second in Japan. Having taken one win and seven further podiums but only finishing fourth overall in 2023, the 18-year-old will be aiming for the championship title.  

Alongside Nomura, Ryota Horachi (#51) makes the switch from Akiland Racing to HFDP. Horachi contested a partial campaign in the series in 2022 and a full-time campaign in 2023; in the latter season, he finished fourth on three occasions en route to 10th in the drivers’ standings. At the end of 2023, Horachi participated in the Honda Racing School among other talented drivers, which is an indicator of why Honda may have decided to sign him for their F4 outfit. Horachi topped the morning session of the series’ official test day at Fuji at the end of March. 

Alongside Honda’s youth drivers, B-Max will field two Independent Cup drivers. The team itself finished outside the teams’ championship for scoring no official championship points but fielded the 2023 Independent Cup champion, Makoto Fujiwara.

Team owner Ryuji Kumita (#30), entered as “Dragon”, is set to do a dual campaign of Japanese F4 and Super Formula Lights in 2024. The 57-year-old, who has participated in all but two seasons of Japanese F4, finished sixth in the 2023 Independent Cup..

2023 Super Formula Lights Masters class champion Nobuhiro Imada (#44) remains with B-Max Racing in Japanese F4. The 59-year-old took two Independent Cup wins last year en route to seventh in the Independent Cup standings.

Bionic Jack Racing

Despite being 208 points behind championship winners’ TGR in the 2023 teams’ championship, Bionic Jack secured third place in the standings. The team had a competitive line-up last season headlined by Urabe, who was responsible for the majority of all points scored and became the only driver not from TGR or HFDP to win a race in 2023.

Ryo Shirasaki (#97) is one of two announced drivers for the 2024 season and joins the team for his Japanese F4 debut season. The 25-year-old, however, does have previous single-seater experience as he competed in Japanese slicks-and-wings series Super FJ in 2022 and 2023. 

Ikari Goto, competing under the pseudonym “Ikari” (#98), returns to the championship’s Independent Cup after having previously taken part in 2019 and 2020, when he finished fifth and fourth in class respectively. The 62-year-old also races in the Porsche Carrera Cup Japan with Bionic Jack. 

Akiland Racing

After fielding a total of seven cars per race in 2023, of which five were permanently driven by Independent Cup drivers, Akiland surprisingly enters the first round of the 2024 season with just three drivers, all of whom are competing in the Independent Cup. 

Keiji Nakao (#2) remains with Akiland for a second consecutive season and for good reason. The 65-year-old has been racing in Japanese F4 since 2017 and came second in last year’s Independent Cup, finishing just 12 points behind champion Fujiwara.

Masayoshi Oyama (#71) returns for his fifth season of Japanese F4 and his fourth season with Akiland. The 58-year-old has a best result of eighth in the Independent Cup championship, secured in 2022. Along with the Japanese F4 championship, Oyama previously also competed in the TCR and GT World Challenge Asia championship.

Fifty-year-old Makio Saito (#96) stays at Akiland Racing for the third consecutive season. The teams’ current youngest driver came second and third in the Independent Cup in 2022 and 2023 respectively.

Zap Speed

Zap Speed only entered the first four rounds of the 2023 season, before the teams’ drivers switched to compete for Dr. Dry. 

Zap Speed, however, returned for the final round of the season at Motegi, where the team fielded Souryuu Tagami, the only driver who didn’t move on to race with Dr. Dry for the remaining races of 2023. Still, the team scored a total of 58 points and finished fifth in the championship. 

Masaki Murata (#14) will make his debut in Japanese F4 with Zap Speed this season. The Japanese driver previously competed in Super FJ with Dr. Dry and will be the team’s only driver entering the first round of the season. Murata competed in the official pre-season test day at Fuji, where he finished 20th overall. 

Ponos Racing

With 53 points and a podium finish, Ponos Racing had a solid 2023. The team fielded just one driver, Kento Omiya (#45), who remains with the team for his second season of Japanese F4. Omiya achieved nine points finishes, including a podium in the final race of the championship at Motegi, finishing 11th in the standings.

Nineteen-year-old Omiya will be partnered by Rintaro Sato (#54) for this season. The son of F1 podium finisher and Indy 500 winner Takuma Sato makes his debut in the series after having gained previous single-seater experience in the Honda Racing School 2023.

Buzz Racing

Despite fielding up to three drivers on one occasion, Buzz Racing only had one driver, Ryoma Henzan, who was able to score points for the team in 2023. However, by scoring 48 points, he helped the team reach seventh in the teams’ championship – the best result in the team’s nine-season-long history.

Henzan left single-seater racing for the 2024 season, giving Buzz Racing a task to find an adequate replacement. “Ken Alex” (#9) will make his single-seater debut in the 2024  season. The Japanese driver previously competed with Buzz Racing in the ST-Z class of Super Taikyu, racing a McLaren 570S GT4.

The team’s second driver will be one of two drivers who will not compete with a Japanese flag in this year’s championship. Lin Chenghua (#90) will be the only Chinese driver to compete in the championship this year. The 26-year-old achieved four points finishes in the Chinese Touring Car Championship in 2022 and 2023 and will make his single-seater debut in 2024.

Helm Motorsports

Helm Motorsports fielded three drivers, but only one full-time driver, in the 2023 season. Itsuki Sato, Helm’s full-timer and highest scorer, helped the team finish eighth in the teams’ championship, but he moves to Drago Corse for 2024. 

The team will field two Independent Cup drivers, with one of them being the series’ other international driver, William Sakai (#61), who races under the United States flag.

Their other driver is 2022 Independent Cup champion Yukata Toriba (#63). The 60-year-old is set to remain with Helm Motorsports for his third consecutive season, but he is not listed on the entry list for the opening round at Fuji. 

Alongside the Independent Cup drivers, the team will also field two drivers who compete in the overall championship. Tosei Moriyama (#62) joins the team after spending his 2023 campaign at HFDP. The 21-year-old finished fifth in the 2023 drivers’ championship, securing two podium finishes.

Forty-three-year-old “Hirobon” (#64) previously competed a partial campaign of Japanese F4 in 2022, where he finished 14th in the Independent Cup. His focus, however, was on the Formula Regional Japanese Championship, in which he finished fifth overall, securing a podium. Along with his single-seater duties, “Hirobon” also races in the GT World Challenge Asia with Team 5Zigen. Interestingly, “Hirobon” is not listed as an Independent Cup contestant despite his age and previous participation. 

Dr. Dry

Dr. Dry’s line-up in 2024 will see the return of both Hachiro Osaka (#86) and Rio Shimono (#87), who both raced for the team last year.

Osaka, 63, has been competing in the Japanese F4 Championship since 2017 and had his best season in 2022, when he came fifth with four consecutive third-place finishes in the Independent Cup.

In the second car will be 23-year-old Shimono, who is coincidentally from Osaka Prefecture. She enters her third season of Japanese F4 after having finished 31st and 19th in the past two seasons respectively. 

Kageyama Racing

Kageyama fielded two cars on a full-time basis in 2023, one of which was driven by Reijiro Yamazaki, who competed in the Independent Cup. The team, however, finished 10th in the teams’ championship, with all their points scored by Kazuma Nishimura. 

Nishimura does not return to the team in 2024, with Kageyama signing Kotaro Shimbara (#16) as the team’s only driver for the season. Shimbara previously competed in Japanese F4 in 2022, driving for Zap Speed. He scored points on two occasions and finished 20th in the overall drivers’ standings.

Skill Speed

The team that scored the least amount of points of those who scored points in 2023 likewise reduces its 2024 line-up to just one car. At Skill Speed, Daiki Matsuda (#77) replaces Yohei Ono and Hibiki Komatsu, who was the team’s only point scorer in 2023. Matsuda spent 2022 and 2023 racing in the S-FJ Suzuka Clubman and Okayama Challenge Cup series, regularly finishing in the top half of the grid.

The last time the team fielded just one driver was in 2022, when their driver Gento Miyashita scored 54 points and finished in third place in the final race of the season. He took ninth in the drivers’ championship, while the team finished sixth.

OTG Motor Sports

Aiming for points in 2024 will be OTG Motor Sports. The team fielded Yuto Nozawa in the 2023 season, but the debutant did not score any points and finished 24th in the drivers’ championship.  

Undoubtedly, OTG will aim to return to the form that saw them score in every season they entered. The team had its best season in 2018, when their three drivers – Yuko Tamaki, Tugo Suganami and Youma Shouji – scored a total of 119 points and helped the team to fourth in the teams’ championship. 

In 2024 the team will field just one driver, debutant Kenta Kumagai (#60). The 18-year-old spent the last three years in karting.  

DayDream RacingTeam

DayDream Racing Team owner Yuichi Sasaki (#4) returns for his seventh season of Japanese F4 in 2024. The 60-year-old returned to the championship for the final three rounds of the 2023 season, after previously competing in the championship between 2015 and 2020. It is not confirmed whether Sasaki will contest the championship’s full season, and he was not present for the series’ official test day at Fuji at the end of March.

Rn-sports

Rn-sports scored no points in the overall championship in 2023 as the team only fielded Independent Cup drivers, of whom just one contested all races. The team’s best driver, Isao Nakashima, finished 12th in the Independent Cup, scoring a best result of fourth in that championship. 

For 2024, the team has a realistic chance of scoring points in the main championship. Hibiki Komatsu (#10) was confirmed to be driving for the team at the opening round at Fuji. Komatsu already competed in the championship in 2023 and scored four points for Skill Speed, finishing 20th overall in the drivers’ standings.

2018 Independent Cup champion Masayuki Ueda (#11) will be in the second car at the opening round at Fuji. The 63-year-old has been active in F4 machinery for many years and  has driven in Japanese F4, Japanese F3, Super Formula Lights and Formula Regional Japan. His best seasons came in 2017 and 2018, when he became Japanese F4 Independent Cup champion and finished second in the Japanese F3 “National Class”. Alongside single-seaters, Ueda has also been racing in various GT championships, including Super GT’s GT300 class. 

N-Speed

As in FR Japan, N-Speed will field “Yugo” (#23) as the team’s only driver in 2024. Unlike in Formula Regional, where the 65-year-old did only partial campaigns, he contested all rounds of Japanese F4 last season and finished 18th in the Independent Cup, securing a best result of sixth at the fourth round at Suzuka.

Drago Corse

Founded in 2014 by former Formula Nippon and Super GT driver Ryo Michigami, Drago Corse has competed in various championships, including Super Formula and Super GT. The team has been participating in Japanese F4 since 2023, when they fielded just one driver but scored no championship points. 

The team’s only driver of 2023, Hironobu Shimizu (#34), will return to the championship in 2024. Shimizu secured a best result of 11th at the opening round at Fuji, and scoring points will be a reasonable target for the 18-year-old in 2024.

Alongside Shimizu, the team will field a second car in the championship this year. Itsuki Sato (#33) makes the switch from Helm Motorsports to Drago Corse. The 21-year-old finished 13th in the 2023 championship and finished inside the top 10 on eight out of 14 occasions, scoring a total of 27 points.

Eagle Sports

Eagle Sports reduces its entries to just one car for the opening round of Japanese F4 in 2024. The team competed in the first six out of seven rounds in 2023 and fielded two cars. One was permanently driven by Independent Cup driver Tadakazu Kojima, and the other was driven by multiple other drivers over the course of the season. 

The team will once again field Shoichiro Akamatsu (#40) in 2024. Racing in rounds five and six n 2023, he secured a best result of 31st overall and ninth in the Independent Cup at Autopolis, going on to finish 21st in the Independent Cup standings.

Fujita Pharmacy Racing

Fujita Pharmacy Racing also reduces its entry size for the opening round of the season to one car. The team fielded two drivers, Kohei Tokumasu and Fuma Horio, for the first five rounds of 2023. Tokumasu scored a best result of 11th at the fourth round at Sugo.For the opening round of 2024, the team will field Shoma Airmura (#46) as the team’s only driver. Arimura finished 19th overall in Japanese F4’s the official 2024 pre-season test day.

Field Motorsport

Having been present in every season of the series’ history, Field Motorsport will mark its 10th season in Japanese F4 in 2024. In its heyday in 2018, the team fielded. Rikiya Kanazawa, podium finisher Kiryu Hosoda and 2022 FR Japan champion and onetime W Series racer Miki Koyama, who combined to score 66 points to put the team fifth in the standings.

Since 2019,however, the team has failed to score any championship points outright, although it must be said that the team only fielded Independent Cup drivers since. 

For the opening round of 2024, “Kentaro” (#55) will continue to drive for the team. The 41-year-old already competed with the team in the 2022 and 2023 seasons and finished seventh and 10th in the Independent Cup respectively. 

Team 5Zigen

New to the Japanese F4 Championship in 2024 is Team 5Zigen, which last raced in single-seaters in Formula Nippon – now Super Formula – in 2008. The team fields Motohiro Kotani (#5), who most recently competed in Ferrari Challenge Japan. Kotani will contest the series’ Independent Cup and finished 37th out of 38 in the series’ official pre-season test day.

Falcon Motorsport

Also new to the championship in 2024 is Falcon Motorsport. The team fields returning driver Takumi Saigusa (#26), who last raced in the series in 2019, when he competed in the opening four rounds for NRS and scored a best result of 16th. Despite not racing in the championship since, 27-year-old Saigusa has tested F4 machinery every year since his departure.

Header photo credit: B-Max Racing