The 1996 All Japan Grand Touring Car Championship was the fourth season of Japan Automobile Federation GT premiere racing. It was marked as well as the fourteenth season of a JAF-sanctioned sports car racing championship dating back to the All Japan Sports Prototype Championship. The GT500 class champion was the #61 Team Lark McLaren F1 GTR driven by David Brabham and John Nielsen, and the GT300 class champion was the #26 Team Taisan Jr Porsche 964 driven by Keiichi Suzuki and Morio Nitta.
For the 1996 season, the names of the two classes of the JGTC were changed to GT500 and GT300, replacing the previous GT1 and GT2 names from the 1994 and 1995 season. This season also mandated two-driver teams for all races. On November 17, the series held its first non-championship "All-Star Race" at Central Circuit.
The arrival of the McLaren F1 GTRs, prepared by Team Goh, was the biggest story of the 1996 season. The number 60 McLaren of Naoki Hattori and Ralf Schumacher led a 1-2 finish at the season opening round at Suzuka. However, despite winning three races, Hattori and Schumacher also suffered three retirements, and were beaten to the title by their senior teammates, Brabham and Nielsen. Despite massive performance handicaps instituted by the GTA, the two McLaren F1 GTRs combined to win four of the six championship races, and won pole position and set fastest lap in all six. At odds with the GTA over further performance handicaps that were to be proposed, Team Goh withdrew from the series after the championship finale at Miné Circuit, and after an aborted attempt to return in 2006, they would not return to the series until 2019.
The season also featured the debut of the Honda NSX in the series, although direct factory support would not appear until the following season; as such, the car entered by Team Kunimitsu was mostly mechanically identical to the 1995 24 Hours of Le Mans GT2 class winner.
Team | Make | Car | Engine | Drivers | Tyre | Rounds | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
imuraya Racing Team | Toyota | Toyota MR2 | Toyota 3S-GE 2.0 L I4 | 6 | ![]() | 1–5 | |
![]() | 1–2, 4–5 | ||||||
![]() | 3 | ||||||
![]() | 6 | ||||||
![]() | 6 | ||||||
RE Amemiya Racing | Mazda | Mazda RX-7 (FD3S) | Mazda RE13B 1.3 L 2-rotor | 7 | ![]() | All | |
![]() | 1 | ||||||
![]() | 2–3 | ||||||
![]() | 4–6, NC | ||||||
Schloss Motorsport | Porsche | Porsche 993 RS | Porsche M64/80 3.8 L F6 | 9 | ![]() | 1 | |
![]() | 1 | ||||||
M Factory Racing | Nissan | Nissan Skyline GTS-R (HR31) | Nissan SR20DET 2.0 L Turbo I4 | 11 | ![]() | 2–4 | |
![]() | 2–4 | ||||||
Hoshino Racing | Nissan | Nissan Silvia (S14) | Nissan SR20DET 2.0 L Turbo I4 | 12 | ![]() | 3–6 | |
![]() | 3 | ||||||
![]() | 4–6 | ||||||
Eimei Auto | Mitsubishi | Mitsubishi Mirage C53A | Mitsubishi 4G63 2.0 L I4 | 14 | ![]() | 2 | |
![]() | 2 | ||||||
Team Power Magic | BMW | BMW 318i Coupe | BMW M43B18 1.8L I4 | 16 | ![]() | 5 | |
![]() | 5 | ||||||
Kageisen Racing Team | Mazda | Mazda RX-7 (FC3S) | Mazda RE13B 1.3 L 2-rotor | 17 | ![]() | 1–2, 4–5 | |
![]() | 1–2, 4–5 | ||||||
Goldenbear Sportswear R.T. | Porsche | Porsche 993 RS | Porsche M64/80 3.8 L F6 | 18 | ![]() | 3–4 | |
![]() | 3–4 | ||||||
AI Auto Racing | Porsche | Porsche 993 RS | Porsche M64/70 3.8 L F6 | 20 | ![]() | All | |
![]() | All | ||||||
Hitotsuyama Racing | BMW | BMW M3 (E36) | BMW S14 2.2 L Turbo I4 | 21 | ![]() | 1, 3–6 | |
![]() | 1–2 | ||||||
![]() | 2, 4–5 | ||||||
![]() | 3, 6 | ||||||
Hirano Motorsport | Nissan | Nissan Skyline GTS-i (R32) | Nissan RB20DET 2.0 L Turbo I6 | 24 | ![]() | 4 | |
![]() | 4 | ||||||
Team Taisan Jr. | Porsche | Porsche 964 RSR | Porsche M64/80 3.8 L F6 | 26 | ![]() | All | |
![]() | All | ||||||
BMW | BMW M3 (E30) | BMW S14 2.5 L I4 | 28 | ![]() | 1 | ||
![]() | 1 | ||||||
Toyota | Toyota MR2 | Toyota 3S-GE 2.0 L I4 | ![]() | 5–6 | |||
![]() | 5–6 | ||||||
Porsche | Porsche 993 RSR | Porsche M64/80 3.8 L F6 | 38 | ![]() | 1, 3–6 | ||
Rodney Jones | 1 | ||||||
![]() | 3–6 | ||||||
NAC West | Nissan | Nissan Silvia (S13) | Nissan FJ20DET 2.0 L Turbo I4 | 27 | ![]() | 4 | |
![]() | 4 | ||||||
Cobra Racing Team | Porsche | Porsche 993 RSR | Porsche M64/80 3.8 L F6 | 31 | ![]() | All | |
![]() | All | ||||||
51 | ![]() | All | |||||
![]() | All | ||||||
Rank Up Tomei Sports | Porsche | Porsche 993 RSR | Porsche M64/80 3.8 L F6 | 50 | ![]() | 3–4 | |
![]() | 3–4 | ||||||
Sports Factory R.T. | Mazda | Mazda RX-7 (FD3S) | Mazda RE13B 1.3 L 2-rotor | 57 | ![]() | 4 | |
![]() | 4 | ||||||
Team Gaikokuya | Porsche | Porsche 993 RSR | Porsche M64/80 3.8 L F6 | 70 | ![]() | All | |
![]() | All | ||||||
Makiguchi Engineering | BMW | BMW M3 (E30) | BMW S14 2.5 L I4 | 72 | ![]() | All | |
![]() | All | ||||||
First Racing Team | Toyota | Toyota MR2 | Toyota 3S-GE 2.0 L I4 | 91 | ![]() | 3–6 | |
![]() | 3–4 | ||||||
![]() | 5–6 | ||||||
Team Daishin | Nissan | Nissan Silvia (S13) | Nissan FJ20DET 2.0 L Turbo I4 | 95 | ![]() | All | |
![]() | All | ||||||
910 Racing | Porsche | Porsche 993 RSR | Porsche M64/80 3.8 L F6 | 910 | ![]() | 2–6, NC | |
![]() | 2–4 | ||||||
![]() | 5–6, NC | ||||||
Round | Race | Circuit | Date |
---|---|---|---|
1 | Suzuka GT 300 | ![]() | March 31 |
2 | All Japan Fuji GT Race | ![]() | May 4 |
3 | HiLand GT Championship | ![]() | June 30 |
4 | Japan Special GT-Cup | ![]() | August 11 |
5 | SUGO GT Championship | ![]() | October 6 |
6 | CP Mine GT Race | ![]() | October 27 |
NC | Nicos Cup GT Allstar Race | ![]() | November 17 |
Round | Circuit | GT500 Winning Team | GT300 Winning Team |
---|---|---|---|
GT500 Winning Drivers | GT300 Winning Drivers | ||
1 | Suzuka Circuit | ||
![]() ![]() | ![]() ![]() | ||
2 | Mt. Fuji |
| |
![]() John Nielsen | ![]() ![]() | ||
3 | Sendai |
| |
![]() ![]() | ![]() ![]() | ||
4 | Mt. Fuji |
| |
![]() ![]() | ![]() ![]() | ||
5 | Sportsland SUGO | ||
![]() ![]() | ![]() ![]() | ||
6 | Mine Circuit | ||
![]() ![]() | ![]() ![]() | ||
NC | Central Circuit |
| |
![]() ![]() | ![]() ![]() | ||
Rank | No. | Driver | data-sort-type="number" | SUZ | data-sort-type="number" | FUJ | data-sort-type="number" | SEN | data-sort-type="number" | FUJ | data-sort-type="number" | SUG | data-sort-type="number" | MIN | data-sort-type="number" | CEN | data-sort-type="number" | Points |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | 61 | John Nielsen![]() | 2 | 1 | 8 | 2 | Ret | 4 | 63 | |||||||||
2 | 60 | ![]() Ralf Schumacher | 1 | Ret | 15 | Ret | 1 | 1 | 60 | |||||||||
3 | 37 | ![]() | 16 | 4 | 1 | Ret | 4 | 2 | 2 | 55 | ||||||||
4 | 1 | ![]() ![]() | 8 | 5 | 5 | 1 | 2 | Ret | 5 | 54 | ||||||||
5 | 3 | ![]() ![]() | 3 | 6 | 2 | 14 | 6 | 5 | 1 | 47 | ||||||||
6 | 2 | ![]() ![]() | 4 | Ret | 7 | 3 | 5 | 3 | 3 | 46 | ||||||||
7 | 37 | ![]() | 1 | Ret | 4 | 2 | 2 | 45 | ||||||||||
8 | 36 | ![]() | 5 | 2 | 3 | Ret | 8 | Ret | 4 | 38 | ||||||||
8 | 36 | ![]() | 5 | 2 | 3 | Ret | 8 | Ret | 38 | |||||||||
9 | 39 | ![]() | 17 | 3 | 4 | 9 | 7 | 28 | ||||||||||
10 | 39 | ![]() | 17 | 3 | 4 | 9 | 8 | 27 | ||||||||||
11 | 556 | ![]() ![]() | 6 | Ret | 17 | 5 | 3 | 10 | 10 | 27 | ||||||||
12 | 8 | Tom Kristensen | 10 | 13 | 6 | 4 | 14 | 7 | 21 | |||||||||
13 | 8 | ![]() | 4 | 14 | 7 | 14 | ||||||||||||
14 | 37 | ![]() | 16 | 4 | 10 | |||||||||||||
15 | 34 | ![]() ![]() | 9 | 9 | Ret | 12 | 12 | 6 | 8 | 10 | ||||||||
16 | 55 | ![]() ![]() | 11 | 10 | 11 | 6 | 9 | 9 | ||||||||||
17 | 100 | ![]() ![]() | Ret | 8 | 12 | 7 | 10 | 11 | 6 | 8 | ||||||||
18 | 8 | ![]() | 10 | 13 | 6 | 7 | ||||||||||||
19 | 30 | ![]() | 7 | 11 | 9 | Ret | Ret | Ret | 9 | 6 | ||||||||
19 | 30 | ![]() | 7 | 11 | 9 | Ret | Ret | Ret | 6 | |||||||||
20 | 35 | ![]() | 7 | Ret | 15 | Ret | 4 | |||||||||||
20 | 35 | ![]() | 12 | 7 | Ret | 4 | ||||||||||||
20 | 39 | ![]() | 7 | 4 | ||||||||||||||
23 | 43 | ![]() ![]() | Ret | 12 | 13 | 8 | 13 | Ret | 3 | |||||||||
23 | 39 | ![]() | 8 | 3 | ||||||||||||||
25 | 25 | ![]() ![]() | Ret | Ret | Ret | 9 | 2 | |||||||||||
26 | 5 | ![]() | 13 | 14 | 10 | Ret | Ret | 12 | 1 | |||||||||
26 | 5 | ![]() | 13 | 14 | 10 | Ret | 12 | 1 | ||||||||||
26 | 16 | ![]() | 10 | 11 | 1 | |||||||||||||
26 | 15 | ![]() | 16 | 0 | ||||||||||||||
16 | 10 | 1 | ||||||||||||||||
88 | ![]() | Ret | Ret | 11 | Ret | 13 | 0 | |||||||||||
88 | ![]() | Ret | 11 | Ret | 13 | 0 | ||||||||||||
16 | ![]() | 11 | 0 | |||||||||||||||
35 | ![]() | 12 | 15 | 0 | ||||||||||||||
19 | ![]() | Ret | 17 | 16 | 13 | Ret | 14 | 0 | ||||||||||
19 | ![]() | 13 | 0 | |||||||||||||||
69 | ![]() ![]() | 14 | 15 | 14 | 0 | |||||||||||||
19 | ![]() | Ret | 14 | 0 | ||||||||||||||
15 | ![]() | 15 | 16 | Ret | 15 | Ret | 0 | |||||||||||
15 | ![]() | Ret | 15 | Ret | 0 | |||||||||||||
15 | ![]() | 15 | 0 | |||||||||||||||
19 | ![]() | Ret | 17 | 16 | 0 | |||||||||||||
35 | ![]() | Ret | 0 | |||||||||||||||
5 | Michael Krumm | Ret | 0 | |||||||||||||||
16 | ![]() ![]() | Ret | 0 | |||||||||||||||
88 | ![]() | Ret | 0 | |||||||||||||||
36 | ![]() | 4 | 0 | |||||||||||||||
39 | ![]() ![]() | 7 | 0 | |||||||||||||||
30 | ![]() | 9 | 0 |
For teams that entered multiple cars, only the best result from each round counted towards the teams' championship.
Rank | Team | No. | SUZ![]() | FUJ![]() | SEN![]() | FUJ![]() | SUG![]() | MIN![]() | CEN![]() | PTS | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Team Lark McLaren GTR | 60 | 1 | Ret | 15 | Ret | 1 | 1 | 98 | ||
61 | 2 | 1 | 8 | 2 | Ret | 4 | |||||
2 | Toyota Castrol Team | 36 | 5 | 2 | 3 | Ret | 8 | Ret | 4 | 68 | |
37 | 16 | 4 | 1 | Ret | 4 | 2 | 2 | ||||
3 | Calsonic Team Impul | 1 | 8 | 5 | 5 | 1 | 2 | Ret | 5 | 54 | |
4 | Nismo | 2 | 4 | Ret | 7 | 3 | 5 | 3 | 3 | 50 | |
556 | 6 | Ret | 17 | 5 | 3 | 10 | 10 | ||||
5 | Hasemi Motorsports | 3 | 3 | 6 | 2 | 14 | 6 | 5 | 1 | 47 | |
6 | Toyota Team SARD | 39 | 17 | 3 | 4 | 9 | 7 | 8 | 7 | 31 | |
7 | FET Racing Team | 8 | 10 | 13 | 6 | 4 | 14 | 7 | 21 | ||
8 | Team Taisan Advan | 34 | 9 | 9 | Ret | 12 | 12 | 6 | 8 | 12 | |
35 | 12 | 7 | Ret | DNS | 15 | Ret | |||||
9 | Limit Motor Sport | 55 | 11 | 10 | 11 | 6 | 9 | 9 | |||
10 | Team Kunimitsu | 100 | Ret | 8 | 12 | 7 | 10 | 11 | 6 | 8 | |
11 | Team Take One | 30 | 7 | 11 | 9 | Ret | Ret | Ret | 9 | 6 | |
12 | Team BMB Minijuke | 43 | Ret | 12 | 13 | 8 | 13 | Ret | 3 | ||
13 | Bros Factory | 25 | Ret | Ret | Ret | 9 | WD | 2 | |||
14 | Taku Motor Sports | 5 | 13 | 14 | 10 | Ret | Ret | 12 | 1 | ||
14 | Prova Motorsport | 15 | 15 | 16 | Ret | 15 | Ret | DNA | 1 | ||
16 | 10 | 11 | Ret | ||||||||
- | JLOC | 88 | Ret | Ret | 11 | Ret | 13 | 0 | |||
- | Kenji Kawagoe | 69 | 14 | 15 | 14 | DNA | 0 | ||||
Rank | Team | No. | SUZ![]() | FUJ![]() | SEN![]() | FUJ![]() | SUG![]() | MIN![]() | CEN![]() | PTS |
Rank | No. | Driver | data-sort-type="number" | SUZ | data-sort-type="number" | FUJ | data-sort-type="number" | SEN | data-sort-type="number" | FUJ | data-sort-type="number" | SUG | data-sort-type="number" | MIN | data-sort-type="number" | CEN | data-sort-type="number" | Points |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | 26 | ![]() ![]() | 1 | 2 | Ret | 2 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 90 | ||||||||
2 | 910 | ![]() | 1 | 4 | 1 | 2 | Ret | 2 | 65 | |||||||||
3 | 72 | ![]() ![]() | 3 | 4 | 1 | Ret | 10 | 4 | 53 | |||||||||
4 | 910 | ![]() | 1 | 4 | 1 | 50 | ||||||||||||
5 | 31 | ![]() ![]() | 2 | 7 | Ret | Ret | 3 | 2 | 46 | |||||||||
6 | 7 | ![]() | Ret | 9 | 3 | 3 | 5 | 6 | 1 | 40 | ||||||||
7 | 6 | ![]() | 4 | 3 | 2 | 9 | 13 | 39 | ||||||||||
8 | 70 | ![]() ![]() | 5 | 5 | 5 | 5 | Ret | DNA | 4 | 32 | ||||||||
8 | 21 | ![]() | 8 | 6 | 6 | 7 | 3 | 31 | ||||||||||
9 | 7 | ![]() | 3 | 5 | 6 | 1 | 26 | |||||||||||
10 | 6 | ![]() | 4 | 3 | 9 | 24 | ||||||||||||
11 | 21 | ![]() | 6 | 3 | 18 | |||||||||||||
11 | 6 | ![]() | 4 | 5 | 18 | |||||||||||||
11 | 20 | ![]() ![]() | 6 | Ret | 4 | 11 | 9 | 18 | ||||||||||
14 | 6 | ![]() | 2 | 13 | 15 | |||||||||||||
14 | 910 | ![]() | 2 | Ret | 2 | 15 | ||||||||||||
16 | 7 | ![]() | 9 | 3 | 14 | |||||||||||||
17 | 91 | ![]() | 9 | 8 | 6 | 11 | 11 | |||||||||||
18 | 28 | ![]() | 4 | 10 | ||||||||||||||
18 | 21 | ![]() | Ret | 6 | 7 | 10 | ||||||||||||
18 | 51 | ![]() ![]() | 11 | 6 | Ret | 10 | 8 | 10 | ||||||||||
21 | 6 | ![]() | 5 | 8 | ||||||||||||||
21 | 38 | ![]() | 9 | 8 | 12 | 8 | 8 | |||||||||||
23 | 12 | ![]() | 8 | Ret | Ret | 12 | 7 | 7 | ||||||||||
24 | 91 | ![]() | 6 | 11 | 6 | |||||||||||||
24 | 38 | ![]() | 12 | DNA | 8 | 12 | 8 | 6 | ||||||||||
26 | 95 | ![]() ![]() | 7 | Ret | Ret | 15 | 15 | 10 | 5 | |||||||||
26 | 91 | ![]() | 9 | 8 | 5 | |||||||||||||
28 | 18 | ![]() | 7 | Ret | 4 | |||||||||||||
28 | 18 | ![]() | 7 | 4 | ||||||||||||||
28 | 57 | ![]() ![]() | 7 | 14 | 4 | |||||||||||||
28 | 12 | ![]() | DNA | Ret | Ret | 12 | 7 | 4 | ||||||||||
32 | 11 | ![]() ![]() | 8 | Ret | 14 | 3 | ||||||||||||
32 | 17 | ![]() | 10 | Ret | 11 | 9 | 3 | |||||||||||
![]() | ||||||||||||||||||
35 | 38 | Rodney Jones | 9 | 2 | ||||||||||||||
NC | 28 | ![]() | 12 | DNA | 0 | |||||||||||||
NC | 9 | ![]() ![]() | 13 | 0 | ||||||||||||||
NC | 27 | ![]() ![]() | 13 | 0 | ||||||||||||||
NC | 7 | ![]() | Ret | 0 | ||||||||||||||
NC | 14 | ![]() ![]() | Ret | 0 | ||||||||||||||
NC | 17 | ![]() | Ret | 0 | ||||||||||||||
NC | 12 | ![]() | DNA | Ret | 0 | |||||||||||||
NC | 18 | ![]() | Ret | 0 | ||||||||||||||
NC | 50 | ![]() ![]() | DNA | DNS | 0 | |||||||||||||
NC | 15 | ![]() ![]() | DNS | 0 | ||||||||||||||
NC | 76 | ![]() ![]() | DNA | 0 |
For teams that entered multiple cars, only the best result from each round counted towards the teams' championship.
Rank | Team | No. | SUZ![]() | FUJ![]() | SEN![]() | FUJ![]() | SUG![]() | MIN![]() | CEN![]() | PTS | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Team Taisan Jr. | 26 | 1 | 2 | Ret | 2 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 93 | |
28 | 12 | 4 | DNA | ||||||||
38 | 9 | DNA | 8 | 12 | DNA | 8 | |||||
2 | 910 Racing | 910 | 1 | 4 | 1 | 2 | Ret | 2 | 65 | ||
3 | Makiguchi Engineering | 72 | 3 | 4 | 1 | Ret | 10 | 4 | 53 | ||
4 | Cobra Racing Team | 31 | 2 | 7 | Ret | Ret | 3 | 2 | 49 | ||
51 | 11 | 6 | Ret | 10 | 8 | DNA | |||||
5 | imuraya Racing Team | 6 | 4 | 3 | 2 | 9 | 13 | 5 | 47 | ||
6 | RE Amemiya Racing | 7 | Ret | 9 | 3 | 3 | 5 | 6 | 1 | 40 | |
7 | Team Gaikokuya | 70 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 5 | Ret | DNA | 4 | 32 | |
8 | Hitotsuyama Racing | 21 | 8 | Ret | 6 | 6 | 7 | 3 | 31 | ||
9 | AI Auto Racing | 20 | 6 | Ret | 4 | 11 | 9 | 18 | |||
10 | First Racing Team | 91 | 9 | 8 | 6 | 11 | 11 | ||||
11 | Team Daishin | 95 | 7 | Ret | Ret | 15 | 15 | 10 | 5 | ||
12 | Goldenbear Sportswear R.T. | 18 | 7 | Ret | 4 | ||||||
13 | Sports Factory R.T. | 57 | 7 | 14 | 3 | ||||||
14 | M Factory Racing | 11 | 8 | Ret | 14 | 3 | |||||
15 | Kageisen Racing Team | 17 | 10 | Ret | 11 | 9 | 3 | ||||
- | Schloss Motorsport | 9 | 13 | 0 | |||||||
- | NAC West | 27 | 13 | 0 | |||||||
- | Eimei Auto | 14 | Ret | 0 | |||||||
- | Rank Up Tomei Sports | 50 | DNA | DNS | 0 | ||||||
- | Hirano Motorsport | 24 | DNS | 0 | |||||||
- | Team Spirit | 76 | DNA | 0 | |||||||
Rank | Team | No. | SUZ![]() | FUJ![]() | SEN![]() | FUJ![]() | SUG![]() | MIN![]() | CEN![]() | PTS |