2001 Japanese Formula 3 Championship

The 2001 Japanese Formula 3 Championship was the 23rd edition of the Japanese Formula 3 Championship. It began on 25 March at Suzuka and ended on 21 October at Motegi.^[1] French driver Benoît Tréluyer took the championship title by winning 15 of 19 races.^[2]

Teams and drivers

All teams were Japanese-registered. All cars were powered by Bridgestone tires.^[3]

Team	No	Driver	Chassis	Engine	Rounds
TOM'S	0	Paolo Montin	Dallara F301	Toyota-TOM'S 3S-GE	All
	7	Sakon Yamamoto	Dallara F301		All
	8	Norihiko Tasaki	Dallara F301		All
Mugen Dome Project	1	Benoît Tréluyer	Dallara F300/301	Mugen-Honda MF204B	All
Mugen Dome Project	11	Shinya Hosokawa	Dallara F300	Mugen-Honda MF204B	10
Toda Racing	2	Masataka Yanagida	Dallara F399/301	Toda-Honda MF204B	All
Inging	3	Jeremie Dufour	Dallara F300	Torii-Toyota 3S-GE	All
Inging	4	Bruce Jouanny	Dallara F399	Torii-Toyota 3S-GE	10
XO Racing	4	Keiichi Nisimiya	XOR-99F	Torii-Toyota 3S-GE	2–3, 5
Team 5Zigen	5	Hideshi Nishimura	Dallara F300	Torii-Toyota 3S-GE	1–5, 7, 9
Team 5Zigen	6	Takahiro Ogawa	Dallara F300	Torii-Toyota 3S-GE	1–6, 9–10
Pal Sport	9	Akitsugu Matsunaga	Dallara F300	Torii-Toyota 3S-GE	1–5
ThreeBond Racing	12	Yuji Ide	Dallara F399/301	Tomei Nissan SR20VE	All
Team Daikokuya	16	Yousuke Shimojima	Dallara F300	Toyota-TOM'S 3S-GE	10
Aim Sports	16	Hiroki Yoshimoto	Dallara F300	Torii-Toyota 3S-GE	9
Aim Sports	18	Shogo Mitsuyama	Dallara F399	Torii-Toyota 3S-GE	All
Lian Racing	17	Peter Sundberg	Dallara F399	Toda-Honda MF204B	All
DTM	19	Keita Sawa	Dallara F399	Toyota-TOM'S 3S-GE	1–3, 7, 9–10
DTM	20	Vladimir Tchekanine	Dallara F399	Toyota-TOM'S 3S-GE	6
Team Echigoya	21	Shigeki Ebihara	Dallara F399	Toyota-TOM'S 3S-GE	1–2
Kondō Racing	24	Kazuyuki Nishizawa	Dallara F399	Toyota-TOM'S 3S-GE	1–2, 4–5, 9
Maejima	32	Saturo Gotou	Dallara F399	Torii-Toyota 3S-GE	2
Maejima	32	Shigeki Ebihara	Dallara F399	Toyota-TOM'S	5–10
Now Motor Sports	33	Takashi Kogure	Dallara F399	Toyota-TOM'S 3S-GE	All
Nobel France Racing Team	37	Motonari Higuchi	Dallara F399	Torii-Toyota 3S-GE	1–2, 5
Nakajima Racing	64	Shinya Sato	Dallara F399	Mugen-Honda MF204B	All
Skill Speed	77	Hiroshi Nakamura	Dallara F399	Toda-Honda MF204B	2–10

Race calendar and results

Round		Circuit	Date	Pole Position	Fastest Lap	Winning driver	Winning team
1	R1	Suzuka Circuit, Suzuka	25 March	Jeremie Dufour	Paolo Montin	Benoît Tréluyer	Mugen Dome Project
1	R2	Suzuka Circuit, Suzuka	25 March	Paolo Montin	Benoît Tréluyer	Paolo Montin	TOM'S
2	R1	Tsukuba Circuit, Shimotsuma	8 April	Benoît Tréluyer	Benoît Tréluyer	Benoît Tréluyer	Mugen Dome Project
2	R2	Tsukuba Circuit, Shimotsuma	8 April	Benoît Tréluyer	Benoît Tréluyer	Benoît Tréluyer	Mugen Dome Project
3	R1	Fuji Speedway, Oyama	4 May	Benoît Tréluyer	Benoît Tréluyer	Jeremie Dufour	TOM'S
3	R2	Fuji Speedway, Oyama	4 May	Jeremie Dufour	Paolo Montin	Paolo Montin	TOM'S
4	R1	Mine Circuit, Mine	20 May	Benoît Tréluyer	Benoît Tréluyer	Benoît Tréluyer	Mugen Dome Project
4	R2	Mine Circuit, Mine	20 May	Benoît Tréluyer	Benoît Tréluyer	Benoît Tréluyer	Mugen Dome Project
5	R1	Twin Ring Motegi, Motegi	10 June	Benoît Tréluyer	Paolo Montin	Benoît Tréluyer	Mugen Dome Project
5	R2	Twin Ring Motegi, Motegi	10 June	Benoît Tréluyer	Paolo Montin	Benoît Tréluyer	Mugen Dome Project
6		Suzuka Circuit, Suzuka	1 July	Paolo Montin	Paolo Montin	Paolo Montin	TOM'S
7	R1	Sportsland SUGO, Murata	29 July	Benoît Tréluyer	Benoît Tréluyer	Benoît Tréluyer	Mugen Dome Project
7	R2	Sportsland SUGO, Murata	29 July	Benoît Tréluyer	Benoît Tréluyer	Benoît Tréluyer	Mugen Dome Project
8	R1	Sendai Hi-Land Raceway, Aoba-ku	26 August	Benoît Tréluyer	Benoît Tréluyer	Benoît Tréluyer	Mugen Dome Project
8	R2	Sendai Hi-Land Raceway, Aoba-ku	26 August	Benoît Tréluyer	Benoît Tréluyer	Benoît Tréluyer	Mugen Dome Project
9	R1	Okayama International Circuit	9 September	Benoît Tréluyer	Benoît Tréluyer	Benoît Tréluyer	Mugen Dome Project
9	R2	Okayama International Circuit	9 September	Benoît Tréluyer	Benoît Tréluyer	Benoît Tréluyer	Mugen Dome Project
10	R1	Twin Ring Motegi, Motegi	21 October	Jeremie Dufour	Benoît Tréluyer	Benoît Tréluyer	Mugen Dome Project
10	R2	Twin Ring Motegi, Motegi	21 October	Benoît Tréluyer	Benoît Tréluyer	Benoît Tréluyer	Mugen Dome Project

Standings

Points are awarded as follows, with only the best 13 results to count:

1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10
20	15	12	10	8	6	4	3	2	1

Pos	Driver	SUZ		TSU		FUJ		MIN		MOT		SUZ	SUG		SEN		OKA		MOT		Pts
1	Benoît Tréluyer	1	2	1	1	2	Ret	1	1	1	1	2	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	1	260
2	Paolo Montin	3	1	6	4	3	1	3	2	2	2	1	2	2	2	8	3	3	3	2	201
3	Jeremie Dufour	2	3	2	2	1	Ret	2	6	3	3	4	3	4	4	3	Ret	12	2	3	177
4	Sakon Yamamoto	DNS	9	12	10	10	Ret	Ret	9	5	4	3	Ret	3	3	4	2	2	5	4	117
5	Yuji Ide	Ret	4	7	7	5	Ret	4	3	Ret	5	5	5	5	6	6	5	8	8	8	100
6	Peter Sundberg	4	Ret	3	6	4	2	7	Ret	Ret	8	10	Ret	Ret	Ret	2	6	5	7	12	94
7	Masataka Yanagida	DNS	8	13	5	14	Ret	6	4	4	6	7	8	9	7	9	7	Ret	4	5	80
8	Shinya Sato	9	7	8	3	Ret	Ret	10	8	Ret	7	6	4	8	5	7	4	6	6	Ret	79
9	Shogo Mitsuyama	8	Ret	4	Ret	7	3	Ret	Ret	6	9	8	10	6	Ret	Ret	10	7	10	7	57
10	Norihiko Tasaki	Ret	5	Ret	Ret	8	4	9	7	12	Ret	Ret	7	7	Ret	11	8	4	Ret	6	54
11	Takashi Kogure	6	Ret	Ret	Ret	9	Ret	5	5	7	Ret	Ret	6	13	9	5	15	Ret	12	11	44
12	Keita Sawa	5	6	5	8	6	5						11	Ret			9	Ret	16	Ret	41
13	Takahiro Ogawa	10	Ret	10	Ret	11	6	13	Ret	Ret	10	Ret					11	10	13	14	10
14	Akitsugu Matsunaga	7	10	14	12	Ret	Ret	12	Ret	9	13										7
15	Hideshi Nishimura	11	11	9	13	12	Ret	8	Ret	14	Ret		13	12			16	9			7
16	Shigeki Ebihara	12	Ret	Ret	16					11	11	9	12	11	8	12	14	Ret	15	Ret	5
17	Hiroshi Nakamura			Ret	15	13	Ret	11	Ret	10	Ret	11	9	10	Ret	10	13	11	14	13	5
18	Kazuyuki Nishizawa	13	Ret	Ret	11			Ret	Ret	8	DNS						12	Ret			3
19	Bruce Jouanny																		9	10	3
20	Saturo Gotou			11	9																2
21	Shinya Hosokawa																		11	9	2
22	Motonari Higuchi	Ret	12	Ret	14					13	12										0
23	Vladimir Tchekanine											12									0
24	Keiichi Nisimiya			DNS	DNS	15	Ret			Ret	Ret										0
25	Yousuke Shimojima																		17	Ret	0
	Hiroki Yoshimoto																Ret	Ret			0
Pos	Driver	SUZ		TSU		FUJ		MIN		MOT		SUZ	SUG		SEN		OKA		MOT		Pts

Colour	Result
Gold	Winner
Silver	Second place
Bronze	Third place
Green	Points finish
Blue	Non-points finish
Blue	Non-classified finish (NC)
Purple	Retired (Ret)
Red	Did not qualify (DNQ)
Red	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)