Formula Nippon

[O'Schumacher]

I read in last week's AUTOSPORT that most FNippon teams are running 2001 cars. Are these cars cast-offs from other series' e.g. F3000, or are they purpose built for FNippon?

[Mekola]

Formula Nippon cars are purpose built to be F3000 cars theoretically, but in practice the cars are purpose built for the Japanese formula. F.Nippon uses the rules that were in F3000 before it was converted to mono-marque formula.

In the first years of F.Nippon the teams entered and replaced often their Lola and Reynard chassises, but later with the Asian crisis it happened very rarely.
1999 was the last year in what all the formula cars were new, with 13 Reynards 99L, 7 Lolas B99/51 and 2 G-Forces GF03, all with Mugen engines. In that year, the Reynard chassis stated as the most dominant and reliable; the things stated in that form what in the next year all teams (except Nova) raced with the Reynard 99L (or his evolution, the 2KL) chassis.
After that period there were only a few new Reynard 2KL and 01L chassises and the constant actualization of the old ones.