Super FJ, commonly abbreviated as S-FJ, is a

single-seater An open-wheel car is a car with the wheels outside the car's main body, and usually having only one seat. Open-wheel cars contrast with street cars, sports cars, stock cars, and touring cars, which have their wheels below the body or inside fend ...

motor racing category based in

Japan Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...

. Utilized by several regional championships throughout Japan since its introduction in 2007 by the

Japan Automobile Federation The is an automobile association based in Minato, Tokyo. Founded in 1963, the main purpose of the organization is to handle various businesses related to automobiles, and to protect the interests of owners and drivers in Japan. , the organizati ...

, the category is overseen by the Japan Scholarship System and supported by the FJ Association, and is commonly referred to as the entry point on the Japanese formula racing ladder. Numerous graduates of Super FJ have gone on to achieve high-level success in motorsport, including Formula One driver Yūki Tsunoda,

FIA World Endurance Championship The FIA World Endurance Championship, abbreviated as WEC, is a world championship for automobile endurance racing organized by the Automobile Club de l'Ouest (ACO) and sanctioned by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA). The se ...

champion

Ryō Hirakawa is a Japanese racing driver who is currently competing for Toyota Gazoo Racing in the FIA World Endurance Championship. He was Super GT GT500 champion in 2017 Super GT Series, 2017, and finished runner-up in Super Formula Championship, Super For ...

Super GT Super GT (stylized as SUPER GT) is a sports car racing series that began in 1993. Launched as the , generally referred to as the All Japan Grand Touring Car Championship (JGTC), the series was renamed to Super GT in 2005. It is the top level of ...

champions

Tadasuke Makino is a Japanese racing driver for Honda Motor Company who currently competes in Super GT for Team Kunimitsu and in the Super Formula Championship for Dandelion Racing. A feature race winner in the FIA Formula 2 Championship during his time abroa ...

and

Kenta Yamashita is a Japanese racing driver for Toyota Gazoo Racing who is currently competing in Super GT for Rookie Racing, ROOKIE Racing and in Super Formula Championship, Super Formula for Masahiko Kondō, Kondō Racing. He won the GT500-class Super GT cham ...

, and

Super Formula The Japanese Super Formula Championship is a formula racing series held primarily in Japan. It is considered to be the pinnacle of single-seater racing in Japan or Asia as a whole, making it one of the top motorsport series in the region. The s ...

driver

Ayumu Iwasa is a Japanese racing driver who currently competes in the Super Formula Championship for Mugen Motorsports, Team Mugen. He previously competed with DAMS in the FIA Formula 2 Championship, earning Rookie of the Year honours by finishing fifth ove ...

Origins and history

Since its inception in 1980, the

Formula Ford Formula Ford, also known as F1600 and Formula F, is an entry-level class of single-seater, open-wheel formula racing. The various championships held across the world have historically been an important step for many prospective Formula One dri ...

-adjacent FJ1600 series had served as Japan's entry-level formula racing category; however, the

Subaru is the automaker, automobile manufacturing division of Japanese transportation conglomerate (company), conglomerate Subaru Corporation (formerly known as Fuji Heavy Industries), the Automotive industry#By manufacturer, twenty-first largest aut ...

-manufactured EA71 engine, originally introduced in 1976 for use in the

Subaru Leone The Subaru Leone is a compact car produced by the Japanese automaker, car manufacturer Subaru from 1971 to 1994. The word ''leone'' is Italian for lion. It was released as a replacement for the Subaru 1000 and was the predecessor of the Subaru Im ...

and long utilised as the regulation engines for FJ1600, had become increasingly difficult to source since the engine was discontinued in 1994. In response to calls for a more accessible regulation set, Super FJ was announced by the

in November 2006 as Japan's new entry-level formula racing category. In the inaugural 2007 season, Super FJ featured JAF-sanctioned regional championships at four major circuits throughout Japan. The Suzuka Series featured grids of solely Super FJ cars, while the championships at Motegi,

Okayama is the prefectural capital, capital Cities of Japan, city of Okayama Prefecture in the Chūgoku region of Japan. The Okayama metropolitan area, centered around the city, has the largest urban employment zone in the Chugoku region of western J ...

, and

Tsukuba is a city located in Ibaraki Prefecture, Japan. As of January 1, 2024, the city had an estimated population of 256,526 in 121,001 households and a population density of 900 persons per km2. The percentage of the population aged over 65 wa ...

were run alongside the existing FJ1600 entries. In the subsequent years, new regional championships were introduced for

Fuji Speedway is a motorsport race track standing in the foothills of Mount Fuji, in Oyama, Shizuoka, Oyama, Suntō District, Shizuoka, Suntō District, Shizuoka Prefecture, Japan. It was built in the early 1960s. In the 1980s, Fuji Speedway was used for the ...

Autopolis is a international racing circuit located near Kamitsue, Ōita, Kamitsue village in Ōita Prefecture, Japan on the northeast of Kumamoto. Nippon Autopolis">F1 News - Grandprix.com > GP Encyclopedia > Circuits > Nippon Autopolis/ref> Tsurumaki ...

, and the northern

Tōhoku region The , Northeast region, , or consists of the northeastern portion of Honshu, the largest island of Japan. This traditional region consists of six prefectures (): Akita, Aomori, Fukushima, Iwate, Miyagi, and Yamagata. Tōhoku retains ...

(where the championship was held between

Sportsland SUGO } is a motorsports facility in the town of Murata, Miyagi, Murata, Shibata District, Miyagi, Shibata District, Miyagi Prefecture, Japan. Course The track was opened in 1975 and is one of the largest motorsports facilities in Japan, with a total ...

and

Sendai Hi-Land Raceway Sendai Hi-Land Raceway was a motor racing circuit in 12 Hayasaka, Shinkawa, Aoba-ku, Sendai, Miyagi Prefecture, Japan. In the 1990s, Sendai hosted rounds of the Japanese Touring Car Championship and Japanese Grand Touring Championship. It al ...

until the latter's closure in 2014.) Since 2007, champions and other top competitors in each regional series have competed in the season-ending final race at

Suzuka International Racing Course The , the , is a long motorsport race track located in Ino, Suzuka City, Mie Prefecture, Japan and operated by Honda Mobilityland, a subsidiary of Honda Motor Co, Ltd. It has a capacity of 155,000. It is most well known by its use by both th ...

in December. Through the Japan Scholarship System, top drivers in the final race are awarded scholarships to compete in higher-level formula (typically the

F4 Japanese Championship The is a formula racing series held in Japan regulated according to FIA Formula 4 regulations. The inaugural season was held in 2015. History Gerhard Berger and the FIA Single Seater Commission launched the current FIA Formula 4 in March 201 ...

) for the following season.

Car specifications

A number of chassis manufacturers compete in Super FJ, with all cars adhering to the same series regulations. All cars feature a

Honda commonly known as just Honda, is a Japanese multinational corporation, multinational Conglomerate (company), conglomerate automotive manufacturer headquartered in Minato, Tokyo, Japan. Founded in October 1946 by Soichiro Honda, Honda has bee ...

L15A engine (originally manufacturered for the

Honda Fit The Honda Fit ( Japanese: ホンダ・フィット, Hepburn: ''Honda Fitto'') or Honda Jazz is a small car manufactured and marketed by Honda since 2001 over four generations. It has a five-door hatchback body style and is considered a super ...

) mated to a five-speed manual racing transmission, powering a steel space-frame chassis designed as an evolution of the FJ1600/Formula Ford design. Unlike the FJ1600 cars, Super FJ cars feature front and rear wings.

Champions

References

External links

Official website
(in Japanese)
FJ Association
(in Japanese) {{Japanese racing ladder Auto racing series in Japan Formula racing Formula racing series Recurring sporting events established in 2007