2012 Formula Nippon Championship

The 2012 Formula Nippon Championship was the fortieth season of the premier Japanese open-wheel motor racing series. The series for Formula Nippon racing cars was contested over seven rounds with a non-championship final round at Fuji Speedway as part of the JAF Grand Prix. The two-time Le Mans winner André Lotterer was the defending champion.

2012 Formula Nippon Championship

Previous

2011

Next

2013

Car of 2012 champion Kazuki Nakajima, pictured in 2022

Kazuki Nakajima, the 2012 Formula Nippon champion.

This was also the final season run under the name Formula Nippon, the series would be renamed into Japanese Championship Super Formula, a name selected by public, in 2013.^[1]

Teams and drivers

Team	No.	Driver	Engine	Rounds
Petronas Team TOM'S	1	André Lotterer[2]	Toyota RV8K	All
	2	Kazuki Nakajima[2]	Toyota RV8K	All
Kondō Racing	3	Hironobu Yasuda[2]	Toyota RV8K	All
Team LeMans	7	Kazuya Oshima[2]	Toyota RV8K	All
Team Kygnus Sunoco	8	Loïc Duval[2]	Toyota RV8K	All
HP Real Racing	10	Toshihiro Kaneishi[2]	Honda HR12E	All
	11	Yuhki Nakayama	Honda HR12E	4–5
Team Mugen	15	Takuma Sato[3]	Honda HR12E	6–7
	16	Naoki Yamamoto[2]	Honda HR12E	All
SGC by KCMG	18	Ryo Orime[2]	Toyota RV8K	All
Team Impul	19	João Paulo de Oliveira[2]	Toyota RV8K	All
	20	Tsugio Matsuda[2]	Toyota RV8K	All
Nakajima Racing	31	Daisuke Nakajima[2]	Honda HR12E	All
	32	Takashi Kogure[2]	Honda HR12E	All
Project μ/cerumo・INGING	38	Kohei Hirate[2]	Toyota RV8K	All
	39	Yuji Kunimoto[2]	Toyota RV8K	All
Docomo Team Dandelion Racing	40	Takuya Izawa[2]	Honda HR12E	All
	41	Koudai Tsukakoshi[2]	Honda HR12E	All
Le Beausset Motorsports	62	Koki Saga[2]	Toyota RV8K	All

Note:All drivers (except Yuhki Nakayama) also participated the non-Championship JAF Grand Prix.

Race calendar and results

Suzuka

Motegi

Autopolis

Fuji

SUGO

2012 venues

• All races will be held in Japan. A non-championship round, entitled JAF Grand Prix Super GT and Formula Nippon Sprint Cup 2012, will be held at the conclusion of the season.^[4]

Round	Circuit	Date	Pole Position	Fastest Lap	Winning Driver	Winning Team
1	Suzuka Circuit	15 April	Takuya Izawa	João Paulo de Oliveira	Kazuki Nakajima	Petronas Team TOM'S
2	Twin Ring Motegi	13 May	André Lotterer	João Paulo de Oliveira	André Lotterer	Petronas Team TOM'S
3	Autopolis	27 May	Koudai Tsukakoshi	Hironobu Yasuda	Koudai Tsukakoshi	Docomo Team Dandelion Racing
4	Fuji Speedway	15 July	Kazuki Nakajima	João Paulo de Oliveira	André Lotterer	Petronas Team TOM'S
5	Twin Ring Motegi	5 August	João Paulo de Oliveira	Hironobu Yasuda	João Paulo de Oliveira	Team Impul
6	Sportsland SUGO	23 September	Takuya Izawa	Loïc Duval	Takuya Izawa	Docomo Team Dandelion Racing
7	Suzuka Circuit	4 November	Tsugio Matsuda	Takuya Izawa	Takuya Izawa	Docomo Team Dandelion Racing
			João Paulo de Oliveira	Kohei Hirate	Kazuki Nakajima	Petronas Team TOM'S
NC	Fuji Speedway	18 November	Koudai Tsukakoshi	João Paulo de Oliveira	Takuya Izawa	Docomo Team Dandelion Racing

Championship standings

Drivers' Championship

Scoring system

Round	Position	1st	2nd	3rd	4th	5th	6th	7th	8th	Pole
1–6	Points	10	8	6	5	4	3	2	1	1
7		8	4	3	2.5	2	1.5	1	0.5	1

Pos Driver SUZ MOT AUT FUJ MOT SUG SUZ FUJ Points 1 Kazuki Nakajima 1 3 5 2 4 5 12 1 7 46 2 Koudai Tsukakoshi 2 5 1 9 3 2 3 3 Ret 43 3 Takuya Izawa 6 4 2 13 5 1 1 6 1 41.5 4 André Lotterer 5 1 Ret 1 2 10 5 8 DSQ 35.5 5 João Paulo de Oliveira 3 2 Ret 6 1 6 4 Ret 2 34.5 6 Loïc Duval 9 11 3 4 6 3 7 2 3 25 7 Kazuya Oshima 4 8 6 3 Ret 4 8 7 10 21.5 8 Tsugio Matsuda 8 6 4 5 7 Ret 2 Ret 5 20 9 Kohei Hirate 10 NC 7 7 8 8 9 5 6 8 10 Takashi Kogure 15 Ret 10 10 13 Ret 6 4 11 4 11 Naoki Yamamoto 7 7 9 12 Ret 14 15 Ret 8 4 12 Toshihiro Kaneishi 12 13 12 Ret 11 7 14 14 12 2 13 Yuji Kunimoto 14 9 8 8 10 13 11 12 4 2 14 Hironobu Yasuda 11 12 13 16 9 11 13 9 16 0 15 Takuma Sato 9 17 10 13 0 16 Daisuke Nakajima 16 10 11 11 12 12 10 11 9 0 17 Koki Saga 13 14 Ret 14 Ret 15 16 13 14 0 18 Yuhki Nakayama 15 14 0 19 Ryo Orime 17 15 Ret Ret Ret Ret 18 15 15 0 Pos Driver SUZ MOT AUT FUJ MOT SUG SUZ FUJ Points

Colour Result Gold Winner Silver Second place Bronze Third place Green Points classification Blue Non-points classification Non-classified finish (NC) Purple Retired, not classified (Ret) Red Did not qualify (DNQ) Did not pre-qualify (DNPQ) Black Disqualified (DSQ) White Did not start (DNS) Withdrew (WD) Race cancelled (C) Blank Did not practice (DNP) Did not arrive (DNA) Excluded (EX) Bold – Pole Italics – Fastest Lap

Teams' Championship

Pos Team No. SUZ MOT AUT FUJ MOT SUG SUZ FUJ Points 1 Docomo Team Dandelion Racing 40 6 4 2 13 5 1 1 6 1 78.5 41 2 5 1 9 3 2 3 3 Ret 2 Petronas Team TOM'S 1 5 1 Ret 1 2 10 5 8 DSQ 76.5 2 1 3 5 2 4 5 12 1 7 3 Team Impul 19 3 2 Ret 6 1 6 4 Ret 2 51.5 20 8 6 4 5 7 Ret 2 Ret 5 4 Team Kygnus Sunoco 8 9 11 3 4 6 3 7 2 3 25 5 Team LeMans 7 4 8 6 3 Ret 4 8 7 10 21.5 6 Project μ/cerumo・INGING 38 10 NC 7 7 8 8 9 5 6 10 39 14 9 8 8 10 13 11 12 4 7 Nakajima Racing 31 16 10 11 11 12 12 10 11 9 4 32 15 Ret 10 10 13 Ret 6 4 11 8 Mugen 15 9 17 10 13 4 16 7 7 9 12 Ret 14 15 Ret 8 9 HP Real Racing 10 12 13 12 Ret 11 7 14 14 12 2 11 15 14 10 Kondō Racing 3 11 12 13 16 9 11 13 9 16 0 11 Le Beausset Motorsports 62 13 14 Ret 14 15 16 13 14 0 12 SGC by KCMG 18 17 15 Ret Ret Ret Ret 18 15 15 0 Pos Team No. SUZ MOT AUT FUJ MOT SUG SUZ FUJ Points

Colour Result Gold Winner Silver Second place Bronze Third place Green Points classification Blue Non-points classification Non-classified finish (NC) Purple Retired, not classified (Ret) Red Did not qualify (DNQ) Did not pre-qualify (DNPQ) Black Disqualified (DSQ) White Did not start (DNS) Withdrew (WD) Race cancelled (C) Blank Did not practice (DNP) Did not arrive (DNA) Excluded (EX) Bold – Pole Italics – Fastest Lap