A Hodgepodge of info about Japanese Super Formula [jsf]

Because it's new to us too! Below is Andre Lotterer, yes, n7thGear's Andre Lotterer, zipping around in a sweet Team Tom's PETRONAS Formula car. That's what caught our attention, given their strong allegiance with all things Toyota, and Andre's allegiance with all things Audi, and finally, the huge rivalry between Toyota and Audi in the WEC LMP1 cars. Team Tom's is a big player in the JSF, as well as Super GT and F3. They are a factory supported racing team and tuner of Toyota and Lexus vehicles. The name stands for Tachi Oiwa Motor Sport and are headquartered in Tokyo, Japan. They are currently heavily involved with Super GT racing and Formula 3 racing. TOM'S creates aftermarket parts for current Toyota vehicles, and have also created their own special edition of certain current Lexus models, seen below in it's GT togs.

Andre is not the only Audi Sport Team Joest member to jump into the enemy camp. Tom Kristensen has been known to take the wheel, along with others who make up a veritable who’s who of the racing industry, such as Pedro de la Rosa, Tom Coronel and Adrian Sutil, and of course, Lewis Hamilton.

Until recently, Super Formula was an open formula, where a variety of chassis builders and engine manufacturers could compete. Chassis were supplied by Lola, Reynard, and G-Force, while Mugen-Honda supplied the vast majority of the engines (though Cosworth engines were found in the Formula 3000 era). However, with the bankruptcy of Reynard in 2002, and the withdrawal of G-Force a year earlier, Super Formula once again followed F3000's lead in becoming a one-make series. Formula Nippon cars were now all Lola B03/50 chassis powered by Mugen-Honda engines; however, unlike F3000, engines in Formula Nippon are open-tuned by private companies.

Despite the more technically demanding regulations, Super Formula remains a national series, with second tier status compared to the pan-European GP2 Series and its predecessor Formula 3000. Foreign drivers have always been regular participants in Super Formula, and there have been several drivers to come from a Japanese Formula 3000 or Formula Nippon drive to a prominent Formula One role; the best-known of these are Eddie Irvine, Ralf Schumacher, the 1996 Formula Nippon champion, and Pedro de la Rosa, the 1997 Formula Nippon champion.

Nowadays, many Formula Nippon drivers double in the Japanese Super GT championship.

Learn more about Super Formula at superformula.net