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The 2008 Formula Nippon Championship was the thirty-sixth season of the premier Japanese open-wheel motor racing series. The series for Formula Nippon racing cars was contested over eight rounds. All teams were required to use Lola chassis (Lola FN06) and have the choice between utilising Mugen Honda (Mugen HF386E) or Toyota (Toyota RV8J) engines.

Defending champion Tsugio Matsuda secured the championship with a round in hand. Together with teammate Benoît Tréluyer, Matsuda's Team Impul also secured the teams championship with a round to go.

Teams and drivers

Team	#	Driver	Chassis	Engine	Rounds
Lawson Team Impul	1	Tsugio Matsuda	Lola FN06	Toyota RV8J	All
Lawson Team Impul	2	Benoît Tréluyer	Lola FN06	Toyota RV8J	All
Kondo Racing	3	Naoki Yokomizo	Lola FN06	Toyota RV8J	All
Kondo Racing	4	João Paulo de Oliveira	Lola FN06	Toyota RV8J	All
SG Team 5Zigen	5	Toshihiro Kaneishi	Lola FN06	Honda HF386E	All
	6	Katsuyuki Hiranaka	Lola FN06	Honda HF386E	1–4, 7–8
	6	Hiroki Yoshimoto	Lola FN06	Honda HF386E	5–6
Team LeMans	7	Satoshi Motoyama	Lola FN06	Toyota RV8J	All
Team LeMans	8	Hiroaki Ishiura	Lola FN06	Toyota RV8J	All
TP Checker Team Impul	20	Kohei Hirate	Lola FN06	Toyota RV8J	1–6, 8
TP Checker Team Impul	20	Richard Lyons	Lola FN06	Toyota RV8J	7
PIAA Nakajima Racing	31	Loïc Duval	Lola FN06	Honda HF386E	All
PIAA Nakajima Racing	32	Takashi Kogure	Lola FN06	Honda HF386E	All
Petronas Team TOM'S	36	André Lotterer	Lola FN06	Toyota RV8J	All
Petronas Team TOM'S	37	Seiji Ara	Lola FN06	Toyota RV8J	All
DoCoMo Team Dandelion Racing	40	Kosuke Matsuura	Lola FN06	Honda HF386E	All
DoCoMo Team Dandelion Racing	41	Takeshi Tsuchiya	Lola FN06	Honda HF386E	All
Cerumo/Inging	47	Ronnie Quintarelli	Lola FN06	Toyota RV8J	All
Cerumo/Inging	48	Yuji Tachikawa	Lola FN06	Toyota RV8J	All
Autobacs Racing Team Aguri	55	Yuji Ide	Lola FN06	Honda HF386E	All
Autobacs Racing Team Aguri	56	Takuya Izawa	Lola FN06	Honda HF386E	All
Stonemarket Blaak Cerumo/Inging	67	Roberto Streit	Lola FN06	Toyota RV8J	All

Calendar

2008 venues

All races held in Japan.

Round	Circuit	Date	Pole Position	Fastest Lap	Winning Driver	Winning Team
1	Fuji Speedway	6 April	Tsugio Matsuda	Yuji Tachikawa	Tsugio Matsuda	Team Impul
2	Suzuka Circuit	11 May	Tsugio Matsuda	Yuji Tachikawa	Tsugio Matsuda	Team Impul
3	Twin Ring Motegi	25 May	Tsugio Matsuda	Tsugio Matsuda	Tsugio Matsuda	Team Impul
4	Okayama International Circuit	8 June	Tsugio Matsuda	Satoshi Motoyama	Loïc Duval	Nakajima Racing
5	Suzuka Circuit	13 July	Tsugio Matsuda	Hiroaki Ishiura	Tsugio Matsuda	Team Impul
5	Suzuka Circuit	13 July	Satoshi Motoyama	Roberto Streit	Kohei Hirate	Team Impul
6	Twin Ring Motegi	10 August	Tsugio Matsuda	Roberto Streit	Loïc Duval	Nakajima Racing
6	Twin Ring Motegi	10 August	Takeshi Tsuchiya	Takeshi Tsuchiya	Seiji Ara	TOM'S Racing
7	Fuji Speedway	31 August	João Paulo de Oliveira	Takashi Kogure	João Paulo de Oliveira	Kondō Racing
7	Fuji Speedway	31 August	Kosuke Matsuura	Toshihiro Kaneishi	Kosuke Matsuura	Dandelion Racing
8	Sportsland SUGO	21 September	Satoshi Motoyama	Loïc Duval	Tsugio Matsuda	Team Impul

Championship standings

Drivers' Championship

Scoring system

	Position	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	PP
Rds 1–4, 8	Points	15	12	10	8	6	5	4	3	2	1	1
Rds 5–7 R1	Points	10	8	6	5	4	3	2	1	0		1
Rds 5–7 R2	Points	5	4	3	2	1	0

* – In race 2 at the August Fuji meeting, the race was run behind the safety car for five laps before the race was halted. Half points were awarded.

Pos	Driver	FUJ	SUZ	MOT	OKA	SUZ		MOT		FUJ		SUG	Pts
1	Tsugio Matsuda	1	1	1	Ret	1	8	2	2	4	5	1	93.5
2	Loïc Duval	10	10	3	1	6	2	1	Ret	2	7	3	62
3	André Lotterer	Ret	3	2	2	2	4	11	7	5	4	12	49
4	Kohei Hirate	Ret	2	6	3	5	1	Ret	DNS			5	42
5	Takashi Kogure	6	5	Ret	9	3	7	5	Ret	3	6	2	41
6	João Paulo de Oliveira	Ret	Ret	9	11	4	5	3	3	1	8	6	33
7	Yuji Tachikawa	2	17	7	4	17	12	4	4	9	9	15	31
8	Benoît Tréluyer	4	7	Ret	8	Ret	13	15	Ret	7	2	4	27
9	Ronnie Quintarelli	5	8	Ret	7	10	9	Ret	13	6	3	7	21.5
10	Takuya Izawa	Ret	9	4	5	12	Ret	Ret	12	18	17	8	19
11	Satoshi Motoyama	Ret	4	16	Ret	8	3	9	5	14	14	Ret	14
12	Naoki Yokomizo	NC	6	11	6	7	6	Ret	11	12	12	Ret	12
13	Roberto Streit	3	15	Ret	Ret	11	10	Ret	9	19	18	10	11
14	Seiji Ara	Ret	11	10	10	13	11	7	1	10	10	16	9
15	Toshihiro Kaneishi	11	Ret	5	14	Ret	14	6	Ret	16	20	11	9
16	Hiroaki Ishiura	7	13	8	Ret	14	Ret	13	8	17	16	9	9
17	Takeshi Tsuchiya	8	14	14	12	16	Ret	8	14	11	11	14	4
18	Kosuke Matsuura	12	16	12	13	9	Ret	10	6	8	1	13	3.5
19	Yuji Ide	9	18	15	NC	15	Ret	12	Ret	NC	19	17	2
20	Hiroki Yoshimoto					18	15	14	10				0
21	Katsuyuki Hiranaka	Ret	12	13	15					15	15	Ret	0
22	Richard Lyons									13	13		0
Pos	Driver	FUJ	SUZ	MOT	OKA	SUZ		MOT		FUJ		SUG	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)

Bold - Pole
Italics - Fastest Lap

Teams' Championship

Scoring system

	Position	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10
Rds 1–4, 8	Points	15	12	10	8	6	5	4	3	2	1
Rds 5–7 R1	Points	10	8	6	5	4	3	2	1	0
Rds 5–7 R2	Points	5	4	3	2	1	0

Pos	Team	Car	FUJ	SUZ	MOT	OKA	SUZ		MOT		FUJ		SUG	Pts
1	Lawson Team Impul	1	1	1	1	Ret	1	8	2	2	4	5	1	114.5
1	Lawson Team Impul	2	4	7	Ret	8	Ret	13	15	Ret	7	2	4	114.5
2	PIAA Nakajima Racing	31	10	10	3	1	6	2	1	Ret	2	7	3	103
2	PIAA Nakajima Racing	32	6	5	Ret	9	3	7	5	Ret	3	6	2	103
3	Petronas Team TOM'S	36	Ret	3	2	2	2	4	11	7	5	4	12	58
3	Petronas Team TOM'S	37	Ret	11	10	10	13	11	7	1	10	10	16	58
4	Cerumo/Inging	47	5	8	Ret	7	10	9	Ret	13	6	3	7	52.5
4	Cerumo/Inging	48	2	17	7	4	17	12	4	4	9	9	15	52.5
5	Kondo Racing	3	NC	6	11	6	7	6	Ret	11	12	12	Ret	44
5	Kondo Racing	4	Ret	Ret	9	11	4	5	3	3	1	8	6	44
6	TP Checker Impul	20	Ret	2	6	3	5	1	Ret	DNS	13	13	5	42
7	Team LeMans	7	Ret	4	16	Ret	8	3	9	5	14	14	Ret	22
7	Team LeMans	8	7	13	8	Ret	14	Ret	13	8	17	16	9	22
8	Autobacs Racing Team Aguri	55	9	18	15	NC	15	Ret	12	Ret	NC	19	17	21
8	Autobacs Racing Team Aguri	56	Ret	9	4	5	12	Ret	Ret	12	18	17	8	21
9	Stonemarket Cerumo/Inging	67	3	15	Ret	Ret	11	10	Ret	9	19	18	10	11
10	SG Team 5Zigen	5	11	Ret	5	14	Ret	14	6	Ret	16	20	11	9
10	SG Team 5Zigen	6	Ret	12	13	15	18	15	14	10	15	15	Ret	9
11	DoCoMo Team Dandelion Racing	40	12	16	12	13	9	Ret	10	6	8	1	13	7.5
11	DoCoMo Team Dandelion Racing	41	8	14	14	12	16	Ret	8	14	11	11	14	7.5