OCTOBER 17, 2003

Formula Nippon moves towards a showdown

This weekend Satoshi Motoyama could wrap up the Formula Nippon Championship at Twin Ring Motegi although the Japanese star, who recently tested for Jordan in F1, is under pressure from his Team Impul colleague Benoit Treluyer, who has won the last two rounds of the series and is now only 11 points behind Motoyama, who won four races early in the season.

In the past the series has produced a number of future Formula 1 drivers including last year's title champion Ralph Firman and previous champions Tora Takagi in 2000, Pedro de la Rosa (1997) and Ralf Schumacher (1996).

If Motoyama wins at Motegi with Treluyer failing to score the championship is over but it looks likely that the fight will go down to the wire at Suzuka on November 2.