The Japan Le Mans Challenge was a series of endurance races held in Japan, for motor racing cars, following the style of the famous Le Mans 24 Hours endurance race held every year in France.
The 2006 Japan Le Mans Challenge season was the first ever season for the Japan Le Mans Challenge, a series created by SERO, and run under sanctioning from the ACO, to follow 24 Hours of Le Mans rules.
It began May 14, 2006, and ended October 29, 2006 after only three races.
For the 2006 series, three different Japanese motor racing circuits were used.
Four different categories of racing cars were permitted ; LMP1, LMP2, GT1, and GT2.
The 2007 series was not deemed to be a success, and the series was cancelled afterwards.
In the buildup to the first season of JLMC, it was apparent from the start that unlike the Le Mans Series in Europe, JLMC would not start off with great success.
A lack of commitment from major Japanese teams, especially those involved in Super GT, meant that the entry list for the season was small.
An official pre-season test at Sportsland Sugo saw only 8 cars showing up. Even with this, more teams promised to eventually make it to the JLMC grid, including Team Goh, who had earned fame when they won the 2005 24 Hours of Le Mans with the conquering Audi R8.
However, of the teams that did show up, few had quality machinery. The entire LMP2 class was small sportscars that did not actually fit LMP2 regulations. LMP1 was able to boast some machinery that fit LMP rules with a Zytek 05S while there was promise of a new Courage LC70 for Mugen Motorsports on the way as the season went on.
GT classes was made up of a large amount of machinery from Super GT, with an ex-Prodrive Ferrari 550-GTS Maranello and JLOC's Super GT Lamborghini Murcielago RG-1 joined by a privateer Mosler MT900R in GT1.
GT2 was also only able to claim a few competitive entries, with some two Porsche 911 GT3s being mixed with a privateer cars that did not fully reach ACO GT2 specs.
These competitors allowed for the entry list of a mere 12 competitors for the first round at Sportsland Sugo.
| Rnd | Race | Circuit | Date | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Sportsland Sugo 1000 km | Sportsland SUGO | May 14 | |
| 2 | Motegi 1000 km | Twin Ring Motegi | July 2 | |
| 3 | Okayama 1000 km | Okayama International Circuit | October 29 |
Overall winner in bold.
| Rnd | Circuit | LMP1 Winning Team | LMP2 Winning Team | GT1 Winning Team | GT2 Winning Team |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| LMP1 Winning Drivers | LMP2 Winning Drivers | GT1 Winning Drivers | GT2 Winning Drivers | ||
| 1 | Sugo |  #66 Jidosha Koubou Myst | #18 Aim Sports | #20 Hitotsuyama Racing | #27 Team Kawamura |
| Takahiko Shimazawa Masaya Kono Kenji Takeya | Shinsuke Yamakazi Yuji Aso Masaru Tomizawa | Tatsuya Kataoka Naoki Hattori Eiichi Tajima | Koji Aoyama Shinichi Takagi Morio Nitta | ||
| 2 | Motegi | #66 Jidosha Koubou Myst | #4 MYZ | #20 Hitotsuyama Racing | #27 Team Kawamura |
| Takahiki Shimazawa Hiroshi Ohta Kenji Takeya | Yuya Sakamoto Yoshihisa Namekata Tomonobu Fujii | Tatsuya Kataoka Naoki Hattori Eiichi Tajima | Koji Aoyama Shinichi Takagi Morio Nitta | ||
| 3 | Okayama | #16 Team Mugen | #4 MYZ | #88 JLOC | #930 Sunburst Rush |
| Seiji Ara Haruki Kurosawa | Yuya Sakamoto Yoshihisa Namekata Tomonobu Fujii | Koji Yamanishi Yasatuka Hinoi Wada-Q | Yutaka Matsushima Takeru Inui Masashi Kakuichi |
| Pos | Driver | Team | Round 1 | Round 2 | Round 3 | Total | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Takahiko Shimazawa | Jidousya Koubou Myst | 5 | 5 | 2.5 | 12.5 | |
| 2 | Kenji Takeya | Jidousya Koubou Myst | 5 | 5 | 10 | ||
| 3 | Hiroshi Ohta | Jidousya Koubou Myst | 5 | 2.5 | 7.5 |
| Pos | Driver | Team | Round 1 | Round 2 | Round 3 | Total | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Yuya Sakamoto Yoshihisa Namekata Tomonobu Fuji | MYZ | 5 | 10 | 15 | ||
| 2 | Tomokuni Waki Masayoshi Furuya Hisashi Tsukahara | Jidousya Koubou Myst | 8 | 8 | |||
| 3 | Shinsuke Yamazaki Yuji Aso Masaru Tomizawa | Aim Sports | 5 | 5 |
| Pos | Driver | Team | Round 1 | Round 2 | Round 3 | Total | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Tatsuya Kataoka Naoki Hattori Eiichi Tajima | Hitotsuyama Racing | 5 | 5 | 3 | 13 | |
| 2 | Osamu Nakajima Masaki Tanaka Hiroya Iijima | Team Leyjun | 4 | 4 | 4 | 12 | |
| 3 | Koji Yamanishi Yasutaka Hinoi Hisashi Wada | JLOC | 5 | 5 |
| Pos | Driver | Team | Round 1 | Round 2 | Round 3 | Total | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Koji Aoyama Shinichi Takagi Morio Nitta | Team Kawamura | 5 | 5 | 8 | 18 | |
| 2 | Yutaka Matsushima Masashi Kakiuchi Takeshi Inui | Sunburst Rush | 10 | 10 | |||
| 3 | Kazuyoshi Takamizawa Akihiko Tsutsumi Tomohiko Sunako | Team Takamizawa | 4 | 4 | 8 |
Points are awarded to finishers based on how many cars were entered in each class. For classes with a lower car count, the top five were awarded points in the order of 5-4-3-2-1. Classes with more entries were awarded points for the top eight in the order of 10-8-6-5-4-3-2-1.
Only the top finishing car in a team scores points towards the championship.
| Pos | Team | Chassis | Engine | Round 1 | Round 2 | Round 3 | Total | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Jidosha Koubou Myst | RS.Oscar SK-52 RS.Oscar SK-93 | Toyota 3.0L V8 | 5 | 5 | 3 | 13 | |
| 2 | Team Mugen | Courage LC70 | Mugen MF408S 4.0L V8 | 5 | 5 | |||
| 3 | Hitotsuyama Racing | Zytek 05S | Zytek ZB408 4.0L V8 | 4 | 4 |
| Pos | Team | Chassis | Engine | Round 1 | Round 2 | Round 3 | Total | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | MYZ | Dallara GC-21 | Toyota 2.0L I4 | 5 | 10 | 15 | ||
| 2 | Jidosha Koubou Myst | RS.KK-LM RS.Oscar SK-5.2 | Toyota 3.0L V8 | 4 | 8 | 12 | ||
| 3 | AIM Sports | Dallara GC-21 | Toyota 2.0L I4 | 5 | 5 |
| Pos | Team | Chassis | Engine | Round 1 | Round 2 | Round 3 | Total | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Hitotsuyama Racing | Ferrari 550-GTS Maranello | Ferrari 5.9L V12 | 5 | 5 | 3 | 13 | |
| 2 | Team LeyJun | Mosler MT900R | Chevrolet 6.0L V8 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 12 | |
| 3 | JLOC | Lamborghini Murcielago RG-1 | Lamborghini 6.0L V12 | 5 | 5 |
| Pos | Team | Chassis | Engine | Round 1 | Round 2 | Round 3 | Total | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Team Kawamura | Porsche 911 GT3-RSR | Porsche 3.6L Flat-6 | 5 | 5 | 8 | 18 | |
| 2 | Proto Works | Mazda RX-7 Porsche 911 GT3-RS | Mazda 2.0L 3-Rotor Porsche 3.6L Flat-6 | 3 | 3 | 6 | 12 | |
| 3 | Sunburst Rush | Porsche 964 Carrera RS | Porsche 3.6L Flat-6 | 10 | 10 | |||
| 4 | Team Takamizawa | Porsche 911 GT3-R | Porsche 3.6L Flat-6 | 4 | 4 | 8 |