Formula Crane 45
# Formula Crane 45

The Formula Crane 45 was a single-seater racing series held at Autopolis in 1991 and 1992.

## History

Owner of the Autopolis circuit Tomonori Tsurumaki ordered 30 Buick powered US built single seater race cars called Sabre FC45 for a race to take place on his circuit's grand opening on November 1990, consisting of a mixture of invited US CART drivers such as Stan Fox, Johnny Rutherford, Dick Simon, Gary and Tony Bettenhausen against local Japanese drivers. The cars were originally built for a spec racing class to have been run by USAC; however, this class was never realized. After the grand opening, Tsurumaki planned on a series with the cars, known as Formula Crane 45. With only a handful of cars during the 1991 and 1992 season the class was not very successful. When Autopolis went bankrupt the assets including the cars were sold to the highest bidder.

### 1991

| Round | Date | Winning driver |
| - | - | - |
| 1 | April 21 | Masatomo Shimizu |
| 2 | June 9 | Masatomo Shimizu |
| 3 | August 18 | Shunji Kasuya |
| 4 | November 11 | Shunji Kasuya |

### 1992

| Round | Date | Winning driver |
| - | - | - |
| 1 | May 31 | Shunji Kasuya |
| 2 | September 20 | Tetsuji Tamanaka |
| 3 | October 18 | Fumio Muto |
| 4 | November 22 | Tetsuji Tamanaka |

## Champions

| Year | Driver | Car |
| - | - | - |
| 1991 | Masatomo Shimizu | Sabre FC45 |
| 1992 | Tetsuji Tamanaka | Sabre FC45 |
