1998 All Japan Grand Touring Car Championship Explained

The 1998 All Japan Grand Touring Car Championship was the sixth season of Japan Automobile Federation GT premiere racing. It was marked as well as the sixteenth season of a JAF-sanctioned sports car racing championship dating back to the All Japan Sports Prototype Championship. The GT500 class champion was the #23 Pennzoil NISMO Nissan Skyline GT-R driven by Érik Comas and Masami Kageyama, and the GT300 class champion was the #25 Team Taisan Jr with Tsuchiya MR2 driven by Keiichi Suzuki and Shingo Tachi, who won a record five championship races, plus the post-season all-star race, giving them a total of six wins in 1998.

The season was marred by a horrific crash at the All Japan Fuji GT Race on May 3, 1998, when Ferrari Club of Japan driver Tetsuya Ota lost control of his Ferrari F355 in heavy rain and fog, and crashed into the stationary Porsche 911 of Tomohiko Sunako. Ota's car erupted into flames upon impact, and fellow racer Shinichi Yamaji rushed to extinguish the fire. Ota suffered severe burns and nerve damage that would force him to retire from full-time racing. Sunako suffered a broken leg, but would continue to race in the series later on.

1998 also saw the first GT500 class victory for Honda, at the Japan Special GT Cup at Fuji Speedway.

Drivers and teams

GT500

Team	Make	Car	Engine		Drivers	Tyre	Rounds
Nismo	Nissan	Nissan Skyline GT-R	Nissan RB26DETT 2.7 L Twin Turbo I6	2	Masahiko Kageyama		All
					Aguri Suzuki	1, 3–7, NC
					Pedro de la Rosa	2
				23	Masami Kageyama	All
					Érik Comas	1, 3–7, NC
					Ralph Firman	2
Hasemi Motorsport	Nissan	Nissan Skyline GT-R	Nissan RB26DETT 2.7 L Twin Turbo I6	3	Masahiro Hasemi		All
					Tetsuya Tanaka	All
Team 5ZIGEN	Toyota	Toyota Supra	Toyota 3S-GT 2.0 L Turbo I4	5	Marc Goossens		All
					Yasutaka Hinoi	1–3
					Eiichi Tajima	4–7
INGING	Toyota	Toyota Supra	Toyota 3S-GT 2.0 L Turbo I4	6	Shinichi Takagi		All
					Pierre-Henri Raphanel	1, 3–7
					Anders Olofsson	2
Team Power Craft	Toyota	Toyota Supra	Toyota 3S-GT 2.0 L Turbo I4	8	Wayne Gardner		1–4, 6–7
					Minoru Tanaka	1–4, 6–7
Calsonic Team Impul	Nissan	Nissan Skyline GT-R	Nissan RB26DETT 2.7 L Twin Turbo I6	12	Takuya Kurosawa		All
					Kazuyoshi Hoshino	1, 3–7, NC
					Michael Krumm	2
Endless Sports	Nissan	Nissan Skyline GT-R	Nissan RB26DETT 2.7 L Twin Turbo I6	13	Mitsuhiro Kinoshita		All
					Mitsuo Fujimura	All
Castrol Mugen	Honda	Honda NSX	Honda C32B 3.5 L V6	16			All
					Osamu Nakako	All
Dome Racing Team	Honda	Honda NSX	Honda C32B 3.5 L V6	18	Katsutomo Kaneishi		All
					Katsumi Yamamoto	1–5
					Juichi Wakisaka	6–7, NC
Team Take One	Porsche	Porsche 993 GT2	Porsche M64/81 3.6 L Twin Turbo F6	30	Hideki Okada		All
					Yoji Yamada	All
Toyota Team TOM'S	Toyota	Toyota Supra	Toyota 3S-GT 2.0 L Turbo I4	36	Masanori Sekiya		All
					Norberto Fontana	All
				37	Toshio Suzuki	All
					Kelvin Burt	All
Toyota Team Cerumo	Toyota	Toyota Supra	Toyota 3S-GT 2.0 L Turbo I4	38	Hironori Takeuchi		All
					Hideki Noda	All
Denso Toyota Team SARD	Toyota	Toyota Supra	Toyota 3S-GT 2.0 L Turbo I4	39	Keiichi Tsuchiya		All
					Tatsuya Tanigawa	All
Autobacs Racing Team Aguri	Nissan	Nissan Skyline GT-R	Nissan RB26DETT 2.7 L Twin Turbo I6	50	Takeshi Tsuchiya		All
					Satoshi Motoyama	1, 3–7, NC
					Hiroki Katoh	2
Team Taisan Advan	Chrysler	Chrysler Viper GTS-R	Chrysler Viper 8.0 L V10	55	Hideshi Matsuda		1–2, 4, 7, NC
					Eiichi Tajima	1–2
						4
					Anthony Reid	7
					Mitsuhiro Kinoshita	NC
Mobil 1 Nakajima Racing	Honda	Honda NSX	Honda C32B 3.5 L V6	64	Tom Coronel		All
					Koji Yamanishi	1–2, 4–7, NC
						3
JLOC Corsa	Lamborghini	Lamborghini Diablo GT-1	Lamborghini L532 6.0 L V12	88	Naohiro Furuya		All
					Hisashi Wada	All
		Lamborghini Diablo Jota		777	Takao Wada	2, 4–5, 7
					Masami Sugiyama	2, 4–5, 7
Kenji Kawagoe	Porsche	Porsche 993 GT2	Porsche M64/81 3.6 L Twin Turbo F6	89	Kenji Kawagoe		2
					Toshikazu Kanamori	2
Raybrig Team Kunimitsu with Mooncraft	Honda	Honda NSX	Honda C32B 3.5 L V6	100	Kunimitsu Takahashi		All
					Akira Iida	All

GT300

Team	Make	Car	Engine		Drivers	Tyre	Rounds
RE Amemiya Racing	Mazda	Mazda RX-7	Mazda RE20B 2.0 L 3-rotor	7	Shinichi Yamaji		All
						All
Team Daikokuya	Porsche	Porsche 993 RSR	Porsche M64/80 3.8 L F6	9			1–2
					Tsunefumi Hioki	1, 3
					Yukihiro Hane	3–5, 7
					Naohiro Kawano	4–5, 7
					Hideaki Ichimura	2
				99	Tsunefumi Hioki	5–6
					Kiichi Takahashi	5
					Akira Yoshitomi	6
Ability Motorsport	Porsche	Porsche 993 GT2	Porsche M64/82 3.6 L Turbo F6	10	Hidehiko Aso		All
						All
M Factory Racing Club	Nissan	Nissan Skyline GTS-R (HR31)	Nissan SR20DET 2.0 L Turbo I4	11	Hiromoto Ishimori		2, 4
					Kazuo Miura	2, 4
Xanavi Racing with Nismo Jr.	Nissan	Nissan Silvia (S14)	Nissan SR20DET 2.0 L Turbo I4	15	Masahiko Kondo		All
					Takayuki Aoki	All
Kageisen Racing Team	Mazda	Mazda Roadster (NA)	Mazda RE13B 1.3 L 2-rotor	17			1–2, 4–5, 7
					Tomoyuki Hosono	1, 4
					Masaaki Nagashima	2, 5, 7
Racing Project Bandoh	Toyota	Toyota Celica	Toyota 3S-GE 2.0 L I4	19	Manabu Orido		4–7
					Max Angelelli	4–6
					Katsumi Yamamoto	7
Hitotsuyama Racing	BMW	BMW M3 (E36)	BMW S14 2.2 L Turbo I4	21	Hiroki Katoh		1, 3–7
						1–2, 4, 7
						3, 5–6
					Takayuki Kinoshita	2
Hirano Motorsport	Nissan	Nissan Skyline GTS-i (R32)	Nissan RB20DET 2.0 L Turbo I6	24	Toshiyuki Hirano		2, 4
					Teruhiko Someba	2, 4
Team Taisan Jr. with Tsuchiya	Toyota	Toyota MR2	Toyota 3S-GTE 2.0 L Turbo I4	25	Keiichi Suzuki		All
					Shingo Tachi	All
Team Ferrari Club of Japan	Ferrari	Ferrari F355 GT	Ferrari F129B 3.5 L V8	27	Tetsuya Ota		1–2
					Anders Olofsson	1
					Steven Andskär	2
				28	Masahiro Yamazaki	2–3
					Hiroaki Suga	5
A'PEX	Toyota	Toyota MR2	Toyota 3S-GTE 2.0 L Turbo I4	44	Morio Nitta		All
					Shota Mizuno	1–3
					Peter Dumbreck	4–7
Cobra Racing Team	Porsche	Porsche 993 RSR	Porsche M64/80 3.8 L F6	51	Katsunori Iketani		All
					Seiichi Sodeyama	1
					Masamitsu Ishihara	2–5, 7
					"OSAMU"	6
KRAFT	Toyota	Toyota Cavalier	Toyota 3S-GE 2.0 L I4	60			All
						1
					Junko Mihara	2
					Akira Watanabe	3–7
Team Taeivon Ralliart	Mitsubishi	Mitsubishi FTO	Mitsubishi 4G63 2.0 L Turbo I4	61	Akihiko Nakaya		All
					Takahiko Hara	All
Team Gaikokuya	Porsche	Porsche 993 GT2	Porsche M64/81 3.6 L Turbo F6	70	Yoshimi Ishibashi		All
					Patrick van Schoote	All
SigmaTec Racing Team	Porsche	Porsche 993 GT2	Porsche M64/81 3.6 L Turbo F6	71	Kaoru Hoshino		All
					Masaki Jyonai	All
Okura Rotary Racing	Mazda	Mazda RX-7	Mazda RE20B 2.0 L 3-rotor	72	Mark Porter		3–7
					Yoshimi Katayama	3–4
					Isao Hirano	5–7
Cusco Racing	Subaru	Subaru Impreza WRX STI	Subaru EJ20 2.0 L Turbo F4	77	Katsuo Kobayashi		All
					Hideyuki Tamamoto	All
NAC West	Nissan	Nissan Silvia (S13)	Nissan FJ20DET 2.0 L Turbo I4	79	Masanori Sugiyama		2, 4
					Hiroyasu Aoyagi	2, 4
Team Daishin	Nissan	Nissan Silvia (S14)	Nissan SR20DET 2.0 L Turbo I4	81	Hideo Fukuyama		All
						All
First Racing Team	Toyota	Toyota MR2	Toyota 3S-GTE 2.0 L Turbo I4	91	Masahiro Matsunaga		1–3
					Yasuhisa Fujiwara	1–3
		Toyota Celica			Masahiro Matsunaga	4–7
					Yasuhisa Fujiwara	4–7
Alta Racing Team	Mazda	Mazda RX-7	Mazda RE20B 2.0 L 3-rotor	117	Toshihiro Fukazawa		2, 4–5, 7
					Tetsuo Kozai	2, 4–5, 7
NSX Dream28 Competition	Honda	Honda NSX	Honda C32B 3.5 L V6	280	Hajime Oshiro	align=center rowspan=2		4
					Mamoru Suzuki	4
Yellow Magic	Ferrari	Ferrari F355	Ferrari F129B 3.6 L V8	355	Hiroaki Suga		4–5, 7
						4
					Tatsuyuki Fujiwara	5
					Seiichi Sodeyama	7
910 Racing	Porsche	Porsche 993 RSR	Porsche M64/80 3.8 L F6	910			All
					Tomohiko Sunako	1–2
						3–4
					Takayuki Kinoshita	5–7
				911	Kiichi Takahashi	1–4, 7
					Shogo Kobayashi	1
					Kazushige Saito	2–3, 7
					Hirotaka Nakajima	4

Schedule

Round	Race	Circuit	Date
1	Suzuka GT 300	Suzuka Circuit	March 22
2	All Japan Fuji GT Race	Fuji Speedway	May 3
3	HiLand GT Championship	Sendai Hi-Land Raceway	June 28
4	Japan Special GT-Cup	Fuji Speedway	August 9
5	Motegi GT Championship Race	Twin Ring Motegi	September 13
6	CP Mine GT Race	Mine Circuit	October 11
7	SUGO GT Championship	Sportsland SUGO	October 25
NC	Nicos Cup GT Allstar Race	TI Circuit	November 15

Season results

Round	Circuit	GT500 Winning Team	GT300 Winning Team
		GT500 Winning Drivers	GT300 Winning Drivers
1	Suzuka Circuit	23 Pennzoil NISMO GT-R	25 Team Taisan Jr with Tsuchiya MR-2
		Masami Kageyama Érik Comas	Keiichi Suzuki Shingo Tachi
-	Mt. Fuji	Race abandoned because of crash at start and subsequent fog.^[1]
2	Sendai	23 Pennzoil NISMO GT-R	25 Team Taisan Jr with Tsuchiya MR-2
			Keiichi Suzuki Shingo Tachi
3	Mt. Fuji	64 Mobil 1 Nakajima Racing Honda NSX	25 Team Taisan Jr with Tsuchiya MR-2
		Tom Coronel Koji Yamanishi	Keiichi Suzuki Shingo Tachi
4	Twin Ring Motegi	16 Castrol Mugen Honda NSX	77 Cusco Subaru Impreza
		Ryo Michigami Osamu Nakako	Katsuo Kobayashi Hideyuki Tamamoto
5	Mine Circuit	100 Team Kunimitsu Honda NSX	25 Team Taisan Jr with Tsuchiya MR-2
		Kunimitsu Takahashi Akira Iida	Keiichi Suzuki Shingo Tachi
6	Sportsland SUGO	16 Castrol Mugen Honda NSX	25 Team Taisan Jr with Tsuchiya MR-2
		Ryo Michigami Osamu Nakako	Keiichi Suzuki Shingo Tachi
NC	TI Circuit	64 Mobil 1 Nakajima Racing Honda NSX	25 Team Taisan Jr with Tsuchiya MR-2
		Tom Coronel Koji Yamanishi	Keiichi Suzuki Shingo Tachi

Point Ranking

GT500

Drivers

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"	MOT	data-sort-type="number"	MIN	data-sort-type="number"	SUG	data-sort-type="number"	TAI	data-sort-type="number"	Points
1	23	Masami Kageyama	1	6C	1	10	4	4	6	10	67
1	23	Érik Comas	1		1	10	4	4	6	10	67
2	64	Koji Yamanishi	2	1C		1	16Ret	2	19DNS	1	50
2	64	Tom Coronel	2	1C	19Ret	1	16Ret	2	19DNS	1	50
3	12	Kazuyoshi Hoshino	11		5	3	2	7	4	4	49
3	12	Takuya Kurosawa	11	10C	5	3	2	7	4	5	49
4	16	Osamu NakakoRyo Michigami	17Ret	9C	18Ret	5	1	11	1	7	48
5	3	Masahiro HasemiTetsuya Tanaka	5	11C	14Ret	2	8	8	5	4	37
6	39	Keiichi TsuchiyaTatsuya Tanigawa	3	15C	4	9	14Ret	3	14Ret	3	36
7	36	Masanori SekiyaNorberto Fontana	6	3C	3	8	3	16	15Ret	13Ret	33
8	2	Aguri Suzuki	18Ret		2	7	11	5	9	12Ret	29
8	2	Masahiko Kageyama	18Ret	5C	2	7	11	5	9	12Ret	29
9	37	Toshio SuzukiKelvin Burt	7	7C	6	11	18Ret	10	2	6	26
10	100	Kunimitsu TakahashiAkira Iida	10	4C	12	19Ret	7	1	13Ret	2	25
11	38	Hironori TakeuchiHideki Noda	9	12C	16Ret	21Ret	5	12	3	11Ret	22
12	50	Satoshi Motoyama	13		11	6	6	9	8	15Ret	17
12	50	Takeshi Tsuchiya	13	8C	11	6	6	9	8	15Ret	17
13	5	Marc Goossens	4	14C	7	20Ret	19Ret	18Ret	16Ret		14
14	5	Yasutaka Hinoi	4	14C	7						14
15	18	Katsutomo Kaneishi	20Ret	2C	17Ret	4	15Ret	15	21DSQ	14Ret	10
16	18	Katsumi Yamamoto	20Ret	2C	17Ret	4	15Ret				10
17	8	Wayne GardnerMinoru Tanaka	8	20C	10	12		19Ret	7		8
18	6	Pierre-Henri Raphanel	21Ret		13Ret	13	13Ret	6	20DNQ		6
18	6	Shinichi Takagi	21Ret	18C	13Ret	13	13Ret	6	20DNQ		6
19	30	Yoji YamadaHideki Okada	12	13C	8	15	9	14	17Ret	9	5
20	88	Hisashi WadaNaohiro Furuya	19Ret	19C	9	18	10	13	11		3
21	55	Hideshi Matsuda	14	16C		14			10	8	1
22	55	Anthony Reid							10		1
24	55	Eiichi Tajima	14	16C							0
24	5					20Ret	19Ret	18Ret	16Ret		0
24	55					14					0
25	13	Mitsuhiro Kinoshita		17C	15Ret	16	12	17	12Ret		0
25	55									8	0
26	13	Mitsuo Fujimura		17C	15Ret	16	12	17	12Ret		0
27	777	Takao WadaMasayoshi Sugiyama	15	21C		17	17Ret		18Ret		0
28	18	Juichi Wakisaka						15	21DSQ	14Ret	0
29	64				19Ret						0
30	2	Pedro de la Rosa		5C							0
31	23	Ralph Firman		6C							0
32	50	Hiroki Katoh		8C							0
33	12	Michael Krumm		10C							0
34	6	Anders Olofsson		18C							0
35	89	Kenji KawagoeTonichi Kanamori		22C							0

GT300 Class (Top 5)

Drivers

Rank	width=160	Drivers	width=240	Number/Team	Points	Wins
1	Keiichi Suzuki Shingo Tachi	25 Team Taisan Jr with Tsuchiya MR-2	106	5
2	Manabu Orido	19 Racing Project Bandoh Toyota Celica	46	0
3	Morio Nitta		45	0
4	Hiroki Katoh	21 Hitotsuyama Racing BMW M3	44	0
5	Akihiko Nakaya Takahiko Hara		37	0

External links

• Super GT/JGTC official race archive
• 1998 season results

Notes and References

1. Web site: https://web.archive.org/web/20110605103836/http://www.supergt.net/jgtc/ex/gtc_cham/1998e/cha98_2/982race.htm. 5 June 2011. JGTC Fog Bank Ends 2nd Round of GTC.