1999 All Japan Grand Touring Car Championship Explained

The 1999 All Japan Grand Touring Car Championship was the seventh season of Japan Automobile Federation GT premiere racing. It was marked as well as the seventeenth season of a JAF-sanctioned sports car racing championship dating back to the All Japan Sports Prototype Championship. The GT500 class champion of that season was the Pennzoil Nismo GT-R driven by Érik Comas and Satoshi Motoyama and the GT300 class champion was the MOMOCORSE A'PEX MR2 driven by Morio Nitta and Shinichi Takagi. Both Comas and Nitta won their respective driver's title on their own since Motoyama and Takagi missed a round each; Motoyama skipped the second round at Fuji because he was participating in the pre-qualifying session of that year's 24 Hours of Le Mans while Takagi missed the first round at Suzuka because he was in the United States on a bid to find a seat in Indy Lights.[1]

The season was marred by the death of reigning GT300 Champion, Shingo Tachi, in a pre-season testing crash at TI Circuit Aida on March 11, 1999. Tachi was to drive the number 6 Esso Toyota Supra for Toyota Team LeMans.[2] Kunimitsu Takahashi retired from his racing career at the end of the season at aged 59.

Drivers and teams

GT500

TeamMakeCarEngineDriversTyreRounds
Pennzoil Nismo GT-RNissanNissan Skyline GT-R (R34)Nissan RB26DETT 2.7 L Twin Turbo I61 Érik ComasAll
Satoshi Motoyama1, 3–7, NC
Anders Olofsson2
ARTA Zexel Skyline/NismoNissanNissan Skyline GT-R (R34)Nissan RB26DETT 2.7 L Twin Turbo I62 Aguri SuzukiAll
Michael Krumm1, 3–7, NC
Armin Hahne2
Hasemi MotorsportNissanNissan Skyline GT-R (R33)Nissan RB26DETT 2.7 L Twin Turbo I63 Masahiro HasemiAll
Tetsuya TanakaAll
Esso Toyota Team LeMansToyotaToyota SupraToyota 3S-GT 2.0 L Turbo I46 Wayne Gardner2–7, NC
Hideki Noda2–7, NC
Endless SportsNissanNissan Skyline GT-R (R33) Nissan RB26DETT 2.7 L Twin Turbo I611 Takao Wada1–3, 5
Mitsuhiro Kinoshita1–3, 5
Calsonic Team ImpulNissanNissan Skyline GT-R (R34)Nissan RB26DETT 2.7 L Twin Turbo I612 Kazuyoshi HoshinoAll
Masami KageyamaAll
Castrol Mugen NSX/Mugen x Dome ProjectHondaHonda NSXHonda C32B 3.5 L V616All
Osamu NakakoAll
Takata Dome NSX/Mugen x Dome ProjectHondaHonda NSXHonda C32B 3.5 L V618 Katsutomo KaneishiAll
Juichi WakisakaAll
Team Take OneMcLarenMcLaren F1 GTRBMW S70/2 6.0 L V1230 Hideki OkadaAll
Yoji YamadaAll
Toyota Team CerumoToyotaToyota SupraToyota 3S-GT 2.0 L Turbo I432 Masahiko KondoAll
Takayuki KinoshitaAll
38 Yuji TachikawaAll
Hironori TakeuchiAll
Toyota Team TOM'SToyotaToyota SupraToyota 3S-GT 2.0 L Turbo I435 Shinichi YamajiAll
Pierre-Henri RaphanelAll
36 Masanori SekiyaAll
Takuya KurosawaAll
37 Toshio SuzukiAll
Ukyo Katayama1, 3–7, NC
Darren Manning2
Denso Toyota Team SARDToyotaToyota SupraToyota 3S-GT 2.0 L Turbo I439 Keiichi TsuchiyaAll
Masahiko KageyamaAll
Team Taisan AdvanDodgeDodge Viper GTS-RChrysler Viper 8.0 L V1055 Eiichi Tajima1–2, 4, NC
Hideshi Matsuda1–2, 4
Dominik Schwager3
Yasuyuki HonjoNC
Mobil 1 Nakajima RacingHondaHonda NSXHonda C32B 3.5 L V664 Tom CoronelAll
Koji Yamanishi1–4
Hidetoshi Mitsusada5–7, NC
JLOCLamborghiniLamborghini Diablo GT-1Lamborghini L532 6.0 L V1288 Naohiro FuruyaAll
Hisashi WadaAll
Raybrig Team Kunimitsu with MooncraftHondaHonda NSXHonda C32B 3.5 L V6100 Kunimitsu TakahashiAll
Akira IidaAll

GT300

TeamMakeCarEngineDriversTyreRounds
RE Amemiya RacingMazdaMazda RX-7Mazda RE20B 2.0 L 3-rotor7 Tetsuya YamanoAll
Haruhiko MatsumotoAll
Team DaikokuyaPorschePorsche 993 RSRPorsche M64/80 3.8 L F69 Teruyuki Tokada1, 3, 5
Yukihiro Hane1, 3, 5
99 Akira YoshitomiAll
Tsunefumi Hioki1–2, 4–7
Kiichi Takahashi3
Ability MotorsportPorschePorsche 993 GT2Porsche M64/82 3.6 L Turbo F610 Yasutaka HinoiAll
Hidehiko AsoAll
Alta Racing TeamNissanNissan Silvia (S14)Nissan SR20DET 2.1 L Turbo I414 Tetsuo Kozai1–3, 5, 7
Nobuo Komiya1–3, 5, 7
NismoNissanNissan Silvia (S15)Nissan SR20DET 2.1 L Turbo I415 Takeshi TsuchiyaAll
Yuji IdeAll
Racing Project BandohToyotaToyota CelicaToyota 3S-GE 2.0 L I419 Manabu OridoAll
Takahiro HaraAll
TOM'S SpiritToyotaToyota CelicaToyota 3S-GTE 2.0 L Turbo I420 Masahiro Matsunaga2, 4–7
Yasuhisa Fujiwara2, 4
Kumi Sato5–7
Hitotsuyama RacingBMWBMW M3 (E36)BMW S14 2.2 L Turbo I421 Daisuke ItōAll
Yasushi Hitotsuyama1–3, 5
Mikio Hitotsuyama4, 6–7
Hirano MotorsportNissanNissan Skyline GTS-i (R32)Nissan RB20DETT 2.0 L Twin Turbo I624 Toshiyuki Hirano2, 5
Teruhiko Someba2, 5
Momo Corse Racing Team with TsuchiyaToyotaToyota MR2Toyota 3S-GTE 2.0 L Turbo I425 Morio NittaAll
Yasushi Kikuchi1
Shinichi Takagi2–7, NC
Team TaisanPorschePorsche 993 GT3-R (Rd. 1–4)
Porsche 996 GT3-R (Rd. 5–7)
Porsche M96/77 3.6 L F626 Hiroaki Suga1–4
Dilantha Malagamuwa2–3
Dominik Schwager4–7, NC
Hideshi Matsuda5–7, NC
Tomohiko Sunako1
Porsche 993 GT3-RPorsche M64/75 3.6 L F655 Hiroaki Suga5–7
Eiichi Tajima5–7
Team Taeivon RalliartMitsubishiMitsubishi FTOMitsubishi 4G63 2.0 L Turbo I461 Ralph FirmanAll
Akihiko Nakaya1, 3–7
Rubén Derfler2
Team GaikokuyaPorschePorsche 993 GT2Porsche M64/82 3.6 L Turbo F670 Yoshimi IshibashiAll
Patrick van Schoote1, 5, 7
Kaoru Hoshino2, 6
Hiroshi Sakai3–4
SigmaTec Racing TeamPorschePorsche 993 GT2Porsche M64/82 3.6 L Turbo F671 Masaki JyonaiAll
Naohiro KawanoAll
Okura Rotary RacingMazdaMazda RX-7Mazda RE20B 2.0 L 3-rotor72 Akira IshikawaAll
Koh HiranoAll
Cusco RacingSubaruSubaru Impreza WRX STISubaru EJ20 2.0 L Turbo F477 Katsuo KobayashiAll
Tatsuya TanigawaAll
Team DaishinNissanNissan Silvia (S15)Nissan SR20DET 2.0 L Turbo I481 Hideo FukuyamaAll
Nobuyuki OhyagiAll
I.A. Tec Racing TeamNissanNissan Silvia (S14)Nissan SR20DET 2.0 L Turbo I484 Seiichi Sodeyama2, 5–7
Yoshikuni Nakamura2, 5–7
KRAFTToyotaToyota Corolla Sprinter Trueno (AE86)Toyota 3S-GTE 2.0 L Turbo I486 Minoru Tanaka2–7
Eiki Amemiya2–7
Team GainerFerrariFerrari F355 GTFerrari F129B 3.5 L V8111 Junichi Ikura2, 5–7
Yusei Maki2, 5–7
Club: Yellow MagicFerrariFerrari F355 GTFerrari F129B 3.6 L V8355 Taki Inoue2–3, 5, 7
Tsuyoshi Takahashi2–3, 5, 7
910 RacingPorschePorsche 993 RSRPorsche M64/80 3.8 L F6910 Atsushi Yogo1–3, 5–7
Hideyuki Tamamoto1–3
Dilantha Malagamuwa5–6
Tomohiko Sunako7
911 Masamitsu Ishihara5
Hiroyuki Noji5

Schedule

RoundRaceCircuitDate
1Suzuka GT 300 Suzuka CircuitMarch 21
2All Japan Fuji GT Race Fuji SpeedwayMay 2
3SUGO GT Championship Sportsland SUGOMay 30
4CP Mine GT Race Mine CircuitJuly 11
5JPN Special GT Cup Fuji SpeedwayAugust 8
6GT Championship in TI TI CircuitSeptember 26
7Motegi GT Championship Race Twin Ring MotegiOctober 24
NCNicos Cup GT AllStar AutopolisNovember 28

Season results

RoundCircuitGT500 Winning TeamGT300 Winning Team
GT500 Winning DriversGT300 Winning Drivers
1Suzuka #18 Takata Honda NSX #19 Racing Project Bandoh Toyota Celica
Juichi Wakisaka
Katsutomo Kaneishi
Takahiko Hara
Manabu Orido
2Mt. Fuji #100 Raybrig Honda NSX #25 MOMOCORSE A'PEX Toyota MR2
3Sportsland SUGO #36 Castrol TOM'S Toyota Supra #15 Xanavi ARTA Nissan Silvia
Takuya Kurosawa
Masanori Sekiya
Yuji Ide
Takeshi Tsuchiya
4Mine Circuit #1 Pennzoil Nissan Skyline GT-R
Yuji Ide
Takeshi Tsuchiya
5Mt. Fuji #6 ESSO Team LeMans Toyota Supra
Hideshi Matsuda
Dominik Schwager
6TI Circuit
Yuji Ide
Takeshi Tsuchiya
7Twin Ring Motegi #36 Castrol TOM'S Toyota Supra
Takuya Kurosawa
Masanori Sekiya
Hideshi Matsuda
Dominik Schwager
NCAutopolis

Point Ranking

GT500

Drivers

RankNo.Driverdata-sort-type="number" SUZdata-sort-type="number" FUJdata-sort-type="number" SUGdata-sort-type="number" MINdata-sort-type="number" FUJdata-sort-type="number" TAIdata-sort-type="number" MOTdata-sort-type="number" AUTdata-sort-type="number" Points
11Érik Comas2561373477
236Takuya KurosawaMasanori Sekiya49110441673
31Satoshi Motoyama261373469
418Juichi WakisakaKatsutomo Kaneishi119Ret18Ret112316RetRet47
564Tom Coronel1114416Ret815141
62Aguri Suzuki5119121222340
62Michael Krumm59121222340
812Kazuyoshi HoshinoMasami Kageyama1035651071140
937Toshio Suzuki34112151510Ret38
1016Osamu NakakoRyo Michigami1412339164536
11100Kunimitsu TakahashiAkira Iida18Ret11315759234
126Hideki NodaWayne Gardner816519131533
1364Hidetoshi Mitsusada8 15131
1438Hironori TakeuchiYuji Tachikawa7217Ret86812731
1537Ukyo Katayama3112151510Ret28
1635Pierre-Henri RaphanelShinichi Yamaji1316Ret214136627
173Masahiro HasemiTetsuya Tanaka677411128927
1832Takayuki KinoshitaMasahiko Kondo86817Ret18Ret1115812
1964Koji Yamanishi1114416Ret10
1937Darren Manning410
211Anders Olofsson58
2239Keiichi TsuchiyaMasahiko Kageyama161519Ret7101317Ret135
2330Yoji YamadaHideki Okada1718Ret129141411142
2355Eiichi Tajima9131513102
2355Hideshi Matsuda913132
2711Takao WadaMitsuhiro Kinoshita121010162
282Armin Hahne110
2988Hisashi WadaNaohiro Furuya1517Ret1418Ret1717Ret14120
3055Dominik Schwager150
3155Motoyuki Yasuyuki100

Teams' standings

For teams that entered multiple cars, only the best result from each round counted towards the teams' championship.

RankTeamNo.SUZ
FUJ
SUG
MIN
FUJ
TAI
MOT
AUT
PTS
1Toyota Castrol Team TOM'S3649110441697
3734112151510Ret
2Nismo12561373491
251191212223
3Mugen x Dome Project161412339164581
181RetRet1123RetRet
4Mobil 1 Nakajima Racing6411144Ret815141
5Team Impul121035651071140
6Team Kunimitsu with Mooncraft100Ret11315759234
7Esso Ultron Toyota Team LeMans6DNP816519131533
8Toyota Team Cerumo3872Ret86812731
9MatsumotoKiyoshi Team TOM'S3513Ret214136627
10Hasemi Motorsports3677411128927
11cdma One Toyota Team Cerumo with Key's32868RetRet1115812
12Toyota Team SARD391615Ret71013Ret135
13Team Taisan Advan559131513102
14Team Take One3017Ret129141411142
15Endless Sports11121010162
-JLOC8815Ret14Ret17Ret14120
RankTeamNo.SUZ
FUJ
SUG
MIN
FUJ
TAI
MOT
AUT
PTS

GT300 Class (Top 5)

Drivers

Rankwidth=160Driverswidth=240Number/TeamPointsWins
1 Morio Nitta
  1. 25 MOMOCORSE A'PEX Toyota MR2
731
2 Yuji Ide
Takeshi Tsuchiya
723
3 Takahiko Hara
Manabu Orido
  1. 19 Racing Project Bandoh Toyota Celica
701
4 Shinichi Takagi
  1. 25 MOMOCORSE A'PEX Toyota MR2
701
5 Tetsuya Yamano
Haruhiko Matsumoto
  1. 7 RE Amemiya Mazda RX-7
580

External links

Notes and References

  1. Web site: 2018-02-19. Super GT's Uncrowned Champions. 7 October 2022. Super GT World. en.
  2. News: Remembering Shingo Tachi, 20 Years Later. 12 March 2019. dailysportscar.com. 7 October 2022.