2009 Swift 017.n, FN09, Formula Super, Formula Nippon

History

The Swift 017.n also known as the model FN09 raced in the Formula Nippon/FormulaSuper Championship for five years from 2009 to 2013. This particular 017.n car carried number 20 its entire time in the series.

The Formula Nippon Championship, now known as the Formula Super Championship, is known as the 2nd fastest championship in the world, second only to Formula One. Drivers that have come from Formula Nippon include Michael Schumacher, Ralf Schumacher, Pierre Gasley, Stoffel Vandoorne, Kamui Koybayashi, Pedro de la Rosa, as well as other F1 drivers.

The Formula Nippon cars ran factory sealed 3.4 liter V8 engines from Honda and Toyota. They were the Toyota RV8K and the Honda HR09. They produced approximately 640 horsepower. These engines were required to be returned to the manufacturers at the end of the 2013 season.

Another engine, the Cosworth LMP1, 640 h.p. engine, was also approved by the series but not used. The Cosworth was based on the 3.0 and 3.5 liter Cosworth XG engines. In 2016 a 5.0 liter Ford Coyote V8 engine was installed in one of the 017.n chassis as the prototype for the Australian Formula Thunder Series.

These are powerful, very light (1340 lbs. with engine) cars with tremendous performance. For comparison, in 2011 at the Twin Ring Motegi road course under similar conditions, Scott Dixon captured pole position in the IndyCar race with a time of 1:38.391. J.P. Olivera in a Hoshino Racing Team car, one of which is offered here, had a pole time of 1:35.012. That’s 3.4 seconds faster than Dixon’s Indycar pole time.

In 2012, Sebastian Vettel captured the F1 pole at Suzuka with a time of 1:30.8. That same year Tsugio Matsuda driving a Hoshino Swift 017.n scored the Formula Nippon pole with a time of 1:39.2. That time was within 107% of Vettel’s F1 pole time which would have qualified the Swift for the F1 race. 

This Swift 017.n, chassis number 011, was raced for the Hoshino Team (Team Impul) by only two drivers during its racing career. Kohei Hirate drove from 2009 thru 2011, and Tsugio Matsuda drove in 2012 and 2013. In 2010 Hirate won at Fuji Speedway. He finished third at Motegi, and finished 5th overall for the season. That year the Team Impul car number 19 driven by J.P. Oliveira won the championship. The strong showing by both cars led to a team championship that year. The shock tower on chassis 011 has been signed by team owner Kazuyoshi Hoshino, and Championship winning driver J.P. Oliveira. The number 20 car entered 41 races and finished as follows during its 5 year racing career. 

2009:   3 4 R 5 5 8 4 3: 5th

2010:   4 7 1 3 12 8 9 8: 5th

2011:    9 8 2 5 8 7 R 10: 8th

2012:    8 6 4 5 7 R 2 R 5: 8th

2013:    2 5 16R 13 5 4 16 3: 6th

The Swift has not been raced since its Formula Nippon days. It still retains its Lenovo livery that it ran in its last race. Thereafter the car was used as a show car in Japan by Team Impul. At that time the number was changed from 20 to 19, and the driver’s name was changed to JP Olivera to reflect the championship win by that driver. 

The Hoshino Team (Team Impul) owned the car from 2009 to 2017 before selling it to its next owner. The ownership history is short, complete, and documented.

Description

The Swift is comprised of an all carbon fiber tub with all carbon fiber body panels, wings, and

crush box.

The Swift was received in very good condition by its current owner. Portions of the car were then painted to bring it to show car quality, and the rest was  cleaned and polished. The seat  was professionally covered in Nomex, and the gold heat shield in the engine bay was recovered.

The six piston brakes have been rebuilt with new pistons and Performance Friction brake pads.. The fuel cell and seat belts are in good condition but are out of date. The car rolls on 13” BBS aluminum wheels. The front tires are 265/55R 13, and the rears are 325/45R 13.

The Swift is equipped with a Momo Steering wheel with a Pi data logger and multiple selector buttons.

The car is complete except for engine, shocks, springs, batteries, fire bottle and external ignition cut off switch. 

Appropriate engines would generally be anything over 450 HP, including the Coyote Ford, a modern Mecachrome (Formula 2, 3.4 liter V6) as raced in GP2, or many other small V8 or V6 engines.

The gearbox is a Ricardo SG5. This is a six speed sequential, paddle shift, no-lift, gearbox. It is as last raced. The shift without lift system is Zytek.

All components were race worthy as last raced but would of course need a complete going through if the car was going to be raced instead of used as a show car. There are no spares.

The Swift would be an ultimate track day car, or an inexpensive test car to prepare a driver for Historic Formula One events. Of course it can also run in various “wings and slicks” groups including SVRA where it would be a dominant car. It is also a great show car as-is.

The Swift is currently located in Texas.

All vehicle descriptions are accurate to the best of our knowledge at the time of writing. Corrections, and supplemental information, are always welcome. Buyers are responsible for confirming vehicle histories, condition, and authenticity to their own satisfaction prior to purchase. Motorsports Market is not the owner of the vehicle and assumes no liability for errors and omissions.

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