The 2017 Japanese Super Formula Championship Series final round and 16th JAF Grand Prix Suzuka
As Super Formula Championship approach the final round, the battle for the championship remains very tight
Japan Race Promotion Inc. today announced details of “The 2017 Japanese Super Formula Championship Series Final Round and 16th JAF Grand Prix Suzuka” scheduled to take place on October 21-22 at the Suzuka Circuit International Racing Course (length = 5.807km) in Mie Prefecture, Japan.
Round 7 is a two-race format. Qualifying sessions will be held on Saturday, followed by two championship races of different distances on Sunday. Race 1 will be run over 19 laps of the Suzuka Circuit and Race 2 will be run over 36 laps of the same course. With the two-race format, drivers usually receive half the normal number of points in each race, but in the final round, three bonus points are also awarded to the winner of each race, setting the stage for an exciting competition that could see some shocking moves in the driver standings depending on the results.
As Super Formula Championship approach the final round, the battle for the championship remains very tight. Hiroaki Ishiura (P.Mu/Cerumo・Inging) still holds the top position in the driver’s standings, but rookie Pierre Gasly (Team Mugen), who has won two races this season and has been on the podium for the last three races, currently sits second in the standings just 0.5 points behind Ishiura. Chasing the top two are Felix Rosenqvist (Sunoco Team Lemans) and Yuhi Sekiguchi (Itochu Enex Team Impul), with all four drivers still with a real chance of being crowned the 2017 series champion. In addition, a maximum of 18 points are available in the final round, putting a number of strong drivers within reach of current leader Ishiura, including Kazuki Nakajima (Vantelin Team Tom's), Andre Lotterer (Vantelin Team Tom's) and Kamui Kobayashi (KCMG Elyse). Those drivers are likely to attack aggressively from the first qualifying session to close the 18-point gap.
Japanese Super Formula Championship Series could see the first ever Super Formula driver to win the championship in their debut year if either Pierre Gasly or Felix Rosenqvist end the season at the top of the standings. Round 7 is also likely to attract considerable attention because of Pierre Gasly, who made his F1 debut in the Malaysian Grand Prix with the Scuderia Toro Rosso team and will miss out of the United States Grand Prix do to his participation in the Super Formula Round 7 series finale.
Entry List
DRIVER |
DATE OF BIRTH PLACE OF BIRTH |
ENTRANT |
MANAGER |
ENGINE |
|
1 |
Yuji Kunimoto |
12 September 1990 Kanagawa, Japan |
P.MU / CERUMO・INGING |
Yuji Tachikawa |
TOYOTA RI4A |
2 |
Hiroaki Ishiura |
23 April 1981 Tokyo, Japan |
|||
3 |
Nick Cassidy |
19 August 1994 New Zealand |
KONDO RACING |
Masahiko Kondo |
TOYOTA RI4A |
4 |
Kenta Yamashita |
3 August 1995 Chiba, Japan |
|||
7 |
Felix Rosenqvist |
7 November 1991 Sweden |
SUNOCO TEAM LEMANS |
Tatsuya Kataoka |
TOYOTA RI4A |
8 |
Kazuya Oshima |
30 April 1987 Gunma, Japan |
|||
10 |
Koudai Tsukakoshi |
20 November 1986 Tochigi, Japan |
REAL RACING |
Katsutomo Kaneishi |
HONDA HR-417E |
15 |
Pierre Gasly |
7 February 1996 France |
TEAM MUGEN |
Nagataka Tezuka |
HONDA HR-417E |
16 |
Naoki Yamamoto |
11 July 1988 Tochigi, Japan |
|||
18 |
Kamui Kobayashi |
13 September 1986 Hyogo, Japan |
KCMG |
Ryuji Doi |
TOYOTA RI4A |
19 |
Yuhi Sekiguchi |
29 December 1987 Tokyo, Japan |
ITOCHU ENEX TEAM IMPUL |
Kazuyoshi Hoshino |
TOYOTA RI4A |
20 |
Jann Mardenborough |
9 September 1991 United Kingdom |
|||
36 |
Andre Lotterer |
19 November 1981 Germany |
VANTELIN TEAM TOM’S |
Nobuhide Tachi |
TOYOTA RI4A |
37 |
Kazuki Nakajima |
11 January 1985 Aichi, Japan |
|||
40 |
Tomoki Nojiri |
15 September 1989 Ibaraki, Japan |
DOCOMO TEAM DANDELION RACING |
Kiyoshi Muraoka |
HONDA HR-417E |
41 |
Takuya Izawa |
1 June 1984 Tokyo, Japan |
|||
50 |
Takashi Kogure |
1 August 1980 Gunma, Japan |
B-MAX RACING TEAM |
Ryuji Kumita |
HONDA HR-417E |
64 |
Daisuke Nakajima |
29 January 1989 Aichi, Japan |
TCS NAKAJIMA RACING |
Satoru Nakajima |
HONDA HR-417E |
65 |
Narain Karthikeyan |
14 January 1977 India |
Super Formula Championship Series
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