ALREADY 95 ROUNDS SINCE 1993: TOYOTA WINNINGEST WITH 30 From 1993 to 2006 already 95 rounds were contested at the JGTC/Super GT. Most victories went to Toyota (30), closely followed by Nissan (29) and Honda 25. Toyota won 5 tmes the championship, Nissan also 5 times (and even 6 if we add year 1993). Honda, surprisingly, won only once the championship (in 2000). European cars could only win 11 times, and only during the first years of the series. Mac Laren won five rounds and once the championship (in 1996). Porsche won also five rounds and in 1995 the championship with the new Taisan Porsche 911 GT2.  Masahiko Kageyama is the lonely racer having won three times the driver's championship (1993-94-95). France's Eric Comas won twice (1999, 2000). Germany's Michael Krumm won also two championships (in 1997 and in 2003). The Japanese drivers having won twice the championship are Yuji Tachikawa (2001 and 2005), Juichi Wakisaka (2002 and 2006), and Satochi Motoyama (2003-2004). Non-Japanese racers having won the driver's championship are Australia's David Brabham, Denmark's John Nielsen, Portugals Pedro de la Rosa and Germany's Andre Lotterer.  In GT300 Tetsuya Yamamo won three times the driver's championship (in 2004, 2005 and 2006) at the wheel of three different cars  (Honda, Toyota and Mazda). Morio Nitta won also three times (in 1996, 1999 and 2002), but always at the wheel of a Toyota. The GT300 racers are nearly all from Japan, and practically unknown outside their country.   JGTC/SUPER GT  Victories per car
car	93	94	95	96	97	98	99	00	01	02	03	04	05	06	Tot
#1 Nissan 350Z-R	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	2	1	1	4
#2/1 Nissan Skyline	3	1	1	1	1	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	7
#3 Nissan Skyline	-	1	1	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	2
#3 Nissan 350Z-R	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	1	-	-	1
#5 Toyota Supra GT	-	-	-	-	1	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	1
#6/1 Toyota Supra GT	-	-	-	-	-	-	1	-	1	3	2	-	-	-	7
#8 Honda NSX	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	1	1	-	-	-	1	1	4
#12 Nissan Skyline	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	1	-	-	2	-	-	-	3
#12 Nissan 350Z-R	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	1	-	1	2
#16/1 Honda NSX	-	-	-	-	-	2	-	-	1	1	1	-	-	-	3
#18 Honda NSX	-	-	-	-	-	-	1	1	-	1	1	-	-	1	5
#22 Nissan Skyline	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	1	-	1	-	-	-	2
#22 Nissan 350Z-R	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	1	-	-	1
#23/1 Nissan Skyline	-	-	-	-	-	2	1	1	-	-	-	-	-	-	4
#25 Nissan R92CP	1	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	1
#25 Toyota Supra GT	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	1	-	1
#30 Sok McLaren F1 GTR	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	1	-	-	-	-	-	1
#32 Honda NSX	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	1	-	1	2
#33 Taisan Porsche 911GT2	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	1
#34 Taisan Porsche 911GT2	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	1
#35 Taisan Porsche 911GT2	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	1
#35 Taisan Porsche 962C	-	1	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	1
#35 Lexus SC430	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	1	1
#36 Toyota Supra GT	-	-	1	-	2	-	2	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	5
#36 Lexus SC430	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	1	1
#37 Toyota Supra GT	-	-	-	1	-	-	-	-	1	-	-	-	1	-	3
#38 Toyota Supra GT	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	1	-	-	-	1	3	-	5
#38/1 Lexus SC430	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	1	1
#39 Toyota Supra GT	-	-	-	-	2	-	-	-	-	-	1	1	-	-	4
#40 Taisan Ferrari F40	-	1	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	1
#60 McLaren F1 GTR	-	-	-	3	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	3
#61 McLaren F1 GTR	-	-	-	1	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	1
#64 Honda NSX	-	-	-	-	-	1	1	2	1	3	-	-	-	-	8
#100 Kunimitsu Porsche RS	-	1	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	1
#100 Honda NSX	-	-	-	-	-	1	1	-	-	-	-	-	1	1	4
Toyota	0	0	1	1	5	0	3	1	2	4	3	2	5	3	30
Nissan	4	2	2	1	1	4	1	2	1	0	3	5	1	2	29
Honda	0	0	0	0	0	2	3	4	3	4	2	1	2	4	25
McLaren	0	0	0	4	0	0	0	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	5
Porsche	0	2	3	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	5
Ferrari	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1

Created in 1993 the JGTC series (All-Japan Grand Touring Championship) can hardly be compared with any other series for Grand Touring cars such as the FIA GT Championship, AMLS or EMLS. In those series no factory cars are allowed. In the JCTC Nissan, Toyota and Honda introduce real works cars. Regulations concerning the engine are very restricted in JGTC racing. Japanese regulations call for the use of smaller air-restrictors as compared to those allowed by FIA and Le Mans regulations. That means that even in the highest class (GT500) the speed of the cars in the straight is lower than e.g. that of FIA GT cars. However, the presence of works cars in the JGTC resulted in much more liberal rules for the aero-dynamics of the body. That means that the Japanese GT cars are much quicker than the FIA GT cars in cornering and braking. Or, as was said by Jiro Kaji, the secretary general of the organising GT-A: "We try to approach racing from a different angle. As the tool for this, when the performance of the car reaches a certain level, we introduce means to bring the cars back to equality. In this sense, our line of thought is different from any kind of Formula or Touring car race ever held. I think the JGTC has gathered so many fans thanks to the appeal of the cars on one hand, but the real reason for drawing the spectators out to each event is because of the interest in the race itself. We have made it this far together, and I think that if we can maximize the series and continue to improve it, we'll have true car racing entertainment."

JGTC racing is in Japan as popular as DTM racing in Germany, as Nascar racing in the States or as V8-Star racing in Australia. Several non-Japanese racers entered during one or more years the JGTC series. Among them the ex-F1 racers Erik Comas (F), Pierre-Henri Raphanel (F)Bertrand Gachot (F), Pedro de la Rosa (E), Olivier Grouillard (F), Ralph Schumacher (D), Paul Belmondo (F), David Brabham (AU), etc. Among the other non-Japanese famous racers having been seen during one or more seasons at the JGTC we count Marc Goossens (B), Tom Coronel (NL), John Nielsen (DK), Ralph Firman (GB), Michael Krumm (D, Wayne Gardner (AU), Dominik Schwager (D), Marco Apicella (I), Patrick van Schoote (B), Sebastien Philippe (F), Andre Couto (PT), Jeremie Dufour (F), Dilantha Malagamuwa (SL), Richard Lyons (GB), Benoit Treluyer (F), Paolo Montin (I), Charles Kwan (HK), Adam Wilcox (GB), André Lotterer (D), James Courtney (AU), Ronnie Quintarelli (I),etc. Most of them were racing in the GT500 class, where engine capacity oscillates around 500 bhp. GT300, where engine power oscillates around 300 bhp, is nearly exclusively in hands of Japanese racers.
Initially there were 4 rounds per season, now it is already 9 rounds, with off-championship one or more All-Star races. Attendance of public, cars and racers is much higher than in FIA-GT. Moreover the JGTC has an excellent web site, even better than Nascar's in the States. FIA GT with its horrible web site could take great lessons from it. [JPVR]

STARTING THE 2007 SEASON
There is a special reason why we wish to follow this year closely the Super GT: the two warm-up races at the 17th IMCA Model Car Nats are indeed contested with Super GT cars.
This year we find one car more in GT500, the Team Real Rollingstone Honda NSX (#17), shared by Katsutomo Kaneishi/Toshihiro Kaneishi. The two Toyota Supras GT with numbers #25 and #66 have been replaced by two Lexus SC430. Sard's #66 is again raced under its old #39 and has again Denso as main sponsor. The championship winning #36 of last year becomes - traditionally - the new number #1 and changed colours and sponsors. Last year's #1 Lexus SC430 maintained Zent as principal sponsor, has now the number #38, and is no longer painted in red, but in black. The #6 Lexus SC430 has no longer Mobil 1 as main sponsor, but Forum Engineering. The #24 Woodone Nissan 350R-GT changed colours and has now Clarion as major co-sponsor.
Among the racers Eric Comas (F), active in JGTC racing since its early start, is no longer present. At the wheel of the #24 Woodone Nissan he has been replaced by J.P. Lima de Oliveira (BR), coming from the #3 Yellow Hat Nissan. There he is replaced by Sébastien Philippe (F), coming from the #100 Raybrig Honda, where he, at his turn, has been replaced by Dominik Schwager (D), making his return to the Super GT after a year of absence. Yaoki Yokomizo (J) has been fired in Hasemi's #3, having been replaced by Masataka Yanagida (J), coming from the #24 Woodone Nissan, where the open place went to the legendary Seiji Ara (J), winner of the Le Mans 24 hours in 2004, and absent at the Super GT in 2006. On the #22 Motul Autotech Nissan 350R-Z Tsugio Matsuda (J) - having driven the #23 sister car at a couple of rounds last year - replaces Sakon Yamamoto (J). On the #32 Epson Honda NSX Fabio Carbone (I) replaces Hideki Muto (J). On the #6 Forum Engineering Lexus SC430 Björn Wirdheim (S) replaces Akira Iida (J), having won the 2002 JGTC, and now returning to GT300 in the #19 Weds Sport Celica.
The two most spectacular driver's moves in 2007 come from the two Japanese racers having won the GT300 series three times. Tetsuya Yamano (J), having won the three last years the GT300 championship, moves to the #77 Cusco Subaru, having never impressed in its class, whilst Morio Nitta (J) opted for the very special Garaiya Arta he drove already in 2005 (one round won with it).

ROUND #1: SUZUKA 300 KMS TO #38 CERUMO LEXUS SC430
Everybody expected a Honda victory at the windy Suzuka circuit. Indeed at the qualifications we found four Hondas NSX at the four first places, and the fifth one on rank six. The Hondas were clearly setting the pace since after 10 laps we found them at the four first places with Ralph Firman (#8) leading Loic Duval (#32), Ryo Michigani (#18) and Dominik Schwager (#100). One lap further Duval spun off and dropped to the fifth place, with Takagi moving into fourth with the #38 Cerumo Lexus. Running on Bridgestone tyres the Hondas changed only their rear tires during the pit stop. When all stops were made we had always three Hondas on the three first places. On lap 31 Hosokawa crashed the #100 Raybrig NSX, so that Tachikawa (#38 Lexus) could move up in third posi-tion. On lap 45 the #18 Honda, running in second position, exploded its engine, followed one lap later by motor woes for the leading #8 NSX. At once the Cerumo Lexus was out at the lead, holding it until the end. In GT300 the beautiful #2 Shiden was beaten by the #101 Toyota MR-S.

ROUND #2: OKAYAMA 300 KMS TO #8 ARTA HONDA NSX
At the qualifications the Hondas, so unlucky at Suzuka, realised four places among the top-5, with Ryo Michigani on the #18 Tanaka NSX heading Ralph Firman on the #8 Arta NSX. The #1 Lexus could split the Toyota train, by taking the third place on the grid, followed by the #32 Epson NSX and the #100 NSX.
Ryo Michigani failed to maintain his first place and dropped into seventh position. In front Ralph Firman (#8 Arta NSX) and Dominik Schwager (#100 Raybrig NSX) were setting the pace. At mid-race they had already a 12 seconds gap over the #22 Motul Autech Nissan 350Z-R of Michael Krumm and Tsugio Matsuda. Positions were maintained and at the finish the two Hondas had res. 22 and 15 seconds over the Motul Nissan. Fourth place went to the #32 Epson NSX, heading last year championship winners Andre Lotterer and Juichi Wakisaka in their #1 Lexus SC430 by two seconds.
Fastest qualifier in GT300 was the #2 Privée Shiden of Hiroki Katoh realised the pole position ahead of the #101 ToyStory Toyota MR-S of Kazuya Ochima. At the finish, however, positions were inverted, since Ochima/Ishiura were 3 seconds faster than Katoh/Takahashi in the night blue Shiden. [JPVR]  

ROUND #3: FUJI 500 KMS TO #23 XANAVI NISMO Z
The Fuji 500, raced in hot temperature, was full of upsets and mis-haps. Already during the formation lap the #1 Lexus SC430, having qualified as second behind the Takata Honda NSX, stopped at the Dunlop Corner and was out for the rest of the race. The top qualifier was leading during the ten first laps. At lap 14 the #24 Woodone Nismo Z collided with one of the GT300 cars and was out of the race. During the twenty following laps we noted as top-3: #18 Takata Honda, #38 Zent Cerumo Lexus and #32 Epson Lexus. Behind them the #22 Nismo Z was moving up, passing and the #32 and the #38 to take the second spot. Shortly after the #32 Epson Honda NSX collided with one of the back benchers what resulted after 53 laps in the red flag. At the restart there was a spinout of the three leading cars at the first corner, resulting in the loss of the #38 Lexus SC430. Ryo Michigami was still leading the race in the #18 Takata Honda NSX, always followed by the #22 Motul Nissan Z, with now the #23 Xanavi Nissan Z in third position.
On lap 67 the leading Honda, having lost its 20 seconds lead at the restart, slowed at once seriously down with transmission problems. Repairs cost twelve minutes, so that the #22 was now leading the #23 in a 1-2-3 formation for Nissan. Indeed, the #3 Yellow Hat Nissan Z had moved up into third position.

After the second pit stops Richard Lyons on the #23 succeeded to pass Michael Krumm on the #22, whilst the #6 Forum Engineering Lexus SC430, having started in 14th rank, was now third. The three cars raced a given moment nose to tail, but towards the end of the race the gap with the Lexus was widening. Eventually the #23 Motoyama/Lyons #23 Xanavi Nissan Z crossed the finish line two seconds ahead over the #22 sister car and 14 secs ahead over the #6 Lexus SC430. One minute later the #3 Yellow Hat Nissan Z finished as fourth. After three rounds Honda, Lexus and Nissan won each one round, with Motoyama/Lyons leading the provisional ranking, four points ahead over Krumm/Matsuda in the #22.

GT300 went to the Arta Garaiya, having taken a Sabbath year in 2006. Initially the #88 Lamborghini Murciélago R-GT, having realised the pole position in GT300, was leading the race, followed by the #33 and #26 Porsches and by the #43. Racing on Michelins the #43 and #101 ToyStory Toyota MR-S opted for a single pit stop, allowing them to pass the three cars out at the lead. A slight collision with the #7 Mazda made that the #101 lost contact with the leading Arta Garaiya. For Morio Niita it was already his 14th victory in GT300. The #88 Lambo succeeded to pass the #101, to finish as second. [JPVR] 

ROUND #4: SEPANG 300 KMS TO #24 WOODONE NISMO Z
Fastest qualifier was - already for the third time this year - the #18 Takata Honda NSX. Before the start there was a Japan-Malaysia ceremony. The race went under a hot tropical sun, despite rain menaces. During the formation lap the pole sitter #18 Takatra Honda had a train problem and could not start. So the #8 Honda NSX was fastest away, while the #100 Honda NSX received a drive-through penalty. After ten laps the #8 Honda NSX was already passed by the #1 Lexus SC. In positions 3 thru 5 we found the three Nissan Fairlady Z machines with the #24 Woodone - having scored not one single point during the three first rounds - succeeding to pass both the #23 and the #22. Due to the first pit stops the #3 Yellow Hat 350-Z was a while on the lead, but was later passed by the #24 Woodone 350-Z. They waited until lap 32 before making their pit stop, digging a 40 secs lead over the rest of the field. The car rejoined the track in fourth position, but the three first cars, with the #38 Lexus SC on top, had already to make their second pit stop, due to excessive tyre wear.
This meant that #24 was effectively in the lead. When the three leaders had finished their pit stops, the lap chart showed #24 as the leader. At this point #3 sat in 2nd position and #22 in 3rd, giving the Fairlady Z machines a 1-2-3 lead again. But, moving up behind them was # 100 (Dominik Schwager/Shinya Hosokawa). On the next lap, #100 drove past #22 into 3rd position. On the following lap it moved again to pass #3. After lap 40, # 22's tire grip had deteriorated and it began to lose ground rapidly. As a result, #22 was forced to make another pit stop to change tires with 10 laps remaining in the race. This allowed the #25 ECLIPSE ADVAN SC430 (Manabu Orido/Takeshi Tsuchiya) to move into 4th position, still running on a single-pit strategy.

That would only last until the 48th lap, however, where it was passed by #12, which had moved up at a rapid pace after changing drivers back from Hoshino to Treluyer. #8 (Firman/Daisuke Ito) tried to follow suit but was blocked by Tsuchiya in #25.
While all this was happening, #24 continued to run steady laps in the lead.
#100 in 2nd position did its best to narrow the gap, but with little success. On the other hand, Yanagida in #3 had an empty drink bottle and was weakening fast in the Malaysian heat. On lap 51, Yanagida allowed #12 to get past.
The checkered flag began to wave at the end of lap 54. The #24 Woodone Advan Clarion Z had brought the Kondo Racing team their first SUPER GT victory since entering the GT arena last year. It was also the first win for an Advan tire machine since the 2005 opening round at Okayama.
It was Joao Paulo Lima De Oliveira's first SUPER GT win also. And, for Seiji Ara it was his second GT win, following a win at the 2004 round two at Sugo. Finishing 2nd was the #100 Raybrig NSX (Dominik Schwager and Shinya Hosokawa).
There was some disappointment to this 2nd place, however, due to the jumped start penalty. The 3rd place and remaining podium spot went to the #12 Calsonic ImpulZ (Benoit Treluyer / Kazuki Hoshino).
Behind the top three, a dehydrated Yanagida in #3 had been trying to hang on to 4th place until he ran off into the dirt at one point, causing # 8 to spin out too. This moved the #38 Zent Cerumo SC430(Yuji Tachikawa/Toranosuke Takagi) into 4th place. #25 finished 5th, #8 came in 6th and #3was 7th. [JPVR/Autobacs]

ROUND #5: SUGO 300 KMS TO #8 ARTA HONDA NSX
Fastest qualifier - now for the fourth time out of five - was again the #18 Takata Honda. The race was dominated by the Hondas. Struggle for the first place went between the #8 and the #18. Eventually Daisuke Ito and Ralph Firman, on the #8 Arta Honda NSX won the race. It was already their second win of the year. The Takata Honda NSX with #18 finished as second, 3/10ths of a second down to the winners. Loic Duval and Fabio Carbone, on the #32 Epson Honda NSX made the podium a complete Honda affair.
In GT300 the Privé Kenzo Shiden was the fastest qualifier, but failed to win. Here victory went surprisingly to the #19 Wedsport Toyota Celica, finishing seven seconds earlier than the #47 Houzan Nissan Z. The class leading Toy Story #101 Toyota MR finished off the points at three laps for the Celica.

ROUND #6: 36th SUZUKA 1000-KMS TO #1 TOM'S LEXUS SC
Fastest qualifier was the #25 Advan Eclipse Lexus SC430. Several teams showed for the longest race of the Autobacs Series with three racers instead of two. Final victory went to the #1 Tom's Lexus 430 Sc where André Lotterer and Juichi Wakisaka showed with Oliver Jarvis as third driver. At the finish line they were 10 seconds faster than the #8 Arta Honda NSX of Daisuke Ito, Ralph Firman and Yuji Ide. Third place was for the #23 Xanavi Nismo Z of Satoshi Motayama/Richard Lyons with Hironobu Yasuda as third driver.
In GT300 the Privé Kenzo Shiden realised not only the pole, but won also the race. Since the class-leading #101 Toy Story Toyota MR finished for the second time off the points (the car finished at 10 laps from the winner), That implies that the Shiden is now only one small point down to the Toy Story MR in the provisional class standings.

ROUND #7: MOTEGI GT 300 KMS TO #18 TAKATA HONDA NSX
The race started at 14:00. The race started with an upset, as the No. 32 EPSON NSX (Fabio Carbone) was hit from behind and ran off the track in the second curve of the opening lap. Although Carbone was able to get back in the race, it was at the very rear of the GT500 class. This enabled the No. 22 MOTUL AUTECH Z (Tsugio Matsuda) to move into third position. The pole starter, No.18 TAKATA DOME NSX (Takashi Kogure), and the 2ndplace starter, No. 38 ZENT CERUMO SC430 (Toranosuke Takagi) held their positions and gradually picked up the pace. Eventually a gap of ten seconds would open up between these two machines.
On the 10th lap the No. 12 CALSONIC IMPUL Z (Kazuki Hoshino) and No. 100 RAYBRIG NSX (Dominik Schwager) got caught up in the solo spin-out of a back-lapper and both machines ended up dropping out of the race. Two laps later the No. 3 YellowHat YMS MobaHO! TOMICA Z (Sebastien Philippe) ran off the track. Philippe managed to get back into the race but only after losing much ground. One third of the way into the race, just after lap 21 action began in the pit area. On the 25th lap, the No.23 XANAVI NISMO Z (Richard Firman > Satoshi Motoyama) and the No. 35 BANDAI 00 DUNLOP SC430 (Peter Dumbreck > Naoki Hattori) both made their pit stops at the same time in the midst of a close battle for 6th position. The No.23 crew managed its pit work faster and returned to the track first with a substantial lead.
The top-running No. 18 and 2nd-place runner No. 38 both pulled into the pit at the same time on lap 30. Ryo Michigami took the wheel of No. 18 and Yuji Tachikawa took over the wheel of No. 38. It is common for the NSX teams to change only their rear tires, but this time they changed all four tires. In the pit work, the No. 38 team was more than five seconds faster, but the size of the margin No. 18 had built up prevented a change in position.
By the time all the cars had completed their pit stops, No. 18 was in the lead followed by No. 38 in second and No.22 in third. No.18 was suffering from irregularities in its transmission performance and Michigami was keeping his pace down to only what he needed to maintain his margin over No.38. That margin was fluctuating back and forth around 8 seconds.

Behind them the No. 23 XANAVI NISMO Z (Satoshi Motoyama) had the No. 8 ARTA NSX (Daisuke Ito) close on its tail locked in a fierce battle for 6th position. This battle between the two season ranking leaders continued until lap 43 when they collided while running side-by-side in the "S" curve and both ran off the track. Although they managed to get back into the race, neither finished in the points. The collision was subject to an official review, which led to a drive-trough penalty for No.23. After this, both cars returned to the pit to change tires and try to salvage at least some fastest-lap points, but neither succeeded.
Meanwhile, the top three machines continued to run lap after lap with little change in the margins between them. Most thought the race would end that way, but there was one more drama waiting. On lap 58, with five laps left in the race, No. 38 suddenly began to slow down. Even an attempt to coast down the downhill straight failed and Tachikawa was forced to bring his crippled machine to a stop. The apparent engine trouble robbed the team of what had appeared to be a certain podium finish. This moved No. 22 into 2nd place, while the 9th-position starter, the No. 6 Forum Eng.SC430 (Tatsuya Kataoka > Bjorn Wirdheim), moved into 3rd-place. At the wheel of No. 6 during the first half of the race, Kataoka had passed No. 8, the No. 25 ECLIPSE ADVAN SC430 (Manabu Orido/Takeshi Tsuchiya) and others. His teammate Wirdheim had also maintained a strong pace and moved up steadily in position.
There were no further changes in the order of the top runners before the checkered at the end of lap 63. The winning No. 18 TAKATA DOME NSX (Ryo Michigami/Takashi Kogure) had managed no better than a 2nd place this season despite winning the pole position five times. Their long-awaited first victory of the season was also the 7th consecutive win in seven years for Honda at the Twin Ring Motegi circuit. Finishing 2nd was the No. 22 MOTUL AUTECH Z (Michael Krumm/Tsugio Matsuda) and 3rd was the No. 6 Forum Eng.SC430. For both of these teams it was their first podium finish since round three.The present leaders in the drivers' ranking, the pair from No. 8 ARTA NSX, finished 12th this time. Even their effort to win some points with a fastest lap in the closing seven laps of the race after a tire change failed to bring them any points. Although the ranking order did not change, it will be a much tougher fight for the title now with two races remaining in the series. [Text Autobacs Super GT]

The leader, No. 38, was planning to make its pit stop at the end of lap 30, but it was at that very time that the No. 66 triple a GALLARDO RG-3 (Muneyuki Kurihara) spun out on the hairpin turn and came to a stop on the track. Unable to avoid it, No. 38 crashed into No. 66. Immediately after that, the No. 24 WOODONE ADVAN Clarion Z (Joao Paulo Lima De Oliveira) and the No. 12 CALSONIC IMPUL Z (Benoit Treluyer) also collided with it in the midst of their hard chase. All four of these machines would have to retire from the race at this point. The original spin by No. 66 was caused by trouble in its drive train, and because it was a blind corner, the other machines were unable to avoid colliding with it. It was truly a frustrating crash for the leader, No. 38, considering the strong lead it had maintained until that point in the race.
This accident put car No. 8 in the lead and it stayed there after making its pit stop two laps later and changing drivers to Daisuke Ito. Running in 2nd position at this point was No. 100. Following in 3rd position was No. 23, but since it had not yet made its pit stop to change drivers and, on top of that, it was given a drive-through penalty for passing another car while the yellow flag was out, causing it to drop far back in position. After changing drivers to Satoshi Motoyama, the machine developed a drive train problem that forced him to return to the pit and eventually drop out of the race at that point. At this point in the race, the 4th position runner, No. 6 made a second pit stop to change tires. This moved No. 39 (Andre Couto > Katsuyuki Hiranaka) back into 3rd position.
With this, the leading order was No. 8 in 1st followed by No. 100 and No. 39. At one point the gap between No. 8 and No. 100 was down to less than one second, but since No. 100 had made its pit stop earlier, its tires began to wear down before those of No. 8 and that stopped it from catching up any more. With this advantage, No. 8 began to stretch out its lead and run on unchallenged to the checkered at the end of lap 65.
This gave the No. 8 ARTA NSX and its drivers Daisuke Ito and Ralph Firman their third win of the season. With the season ranking's 2nd position team, the No. 18 TAKATA DOME NSX (Ryo Michigami/Takashi Kogure) finishing 5th in this race and the 3rd ranked No. 22 MOTUL AUTECH Z (Michael Krumm/Tsugio Matsuda) finishing 4th, this win clinched the Drivers Title for Ito and Firman. [Text Autobacs Super GT]

#6 Forum Eng Lexus SC430 UZZ40 

#8 Arta Honda NSX NA2

#12 Calsonic Impul Nissan Fairlady 350Z-R Z33

#17 Rollingstone Real Honda NSX NA2

#18 Takata Dome Honda NSX NA2

#22 Motul Autech Nissan Fairlady 350Z-R Z33

#23 Xanavi Nismo Nissan Fairlady 350Z-R Z33

#24 Woodone Advan Nissan Fairlady 350Z-R Z33

#25 Eclipse Advan Lexus SC430 UZZ40

#32 Epson Honda NSX NA2

#35 Bandai Dunlop Lexus SC430 UZZ40

#38 Zent Cerumo Lexus SC430 UZZ40

#39 Denso SARD Lexus SC430 UZZ40

#100 Raybrig Honda NSX NA2

WAKISAKA/LOTTERER WIN BY 1 POINT - The Super GT ended in a real suspense. Before the start of the last round at Fuji still three teams could win the GT500 ranking: the #36 Lexus SC430, the #22 Nismo Z and the #100 Honda NSX. None of those three cars qualified well: the #36 was only 7th on the grid, the #22 only 9th and the #100 only 13th. Things were quite different for the drivers's ranking. Here still five duos could win the 2006 Super GT Series, also those of the #18 (Ryo Michigami/Takashi Kogure) and of  the #1 (Yuji Tachikawa/Toranosuke Takagi). Of them only the #1 Lexus (5th on the grid) started ahead of the four other cars. Unfortunately, shortly after the start at 2pm, Takagi collided with the #8 Arta Honda NSX, and had to retire the #1 Zent Lexus SC430 at the real first lap. Meanwhile the #36 Lexus SC, with André Lotterer at the wheel, moved up from rank 7 to rank 5 (good for 5 points) during the first laps. Lotterer started with 7 points short to Sébastien Philippe in the #100 Raybrig Honda NSX. All that meant that Lotterer (and his team mate Wakisaka) were now only one point down to Philippe (and his team mate Hosokawa), since the Raybrig was still not in the top-10. Another candidate-winner of the driver's championship was Ryo Michigami, having started also 7 points short to Lotterer. His #18 Takata Honda NSX was after 10 laps just behind the Raybrig (good for 4 points). That meant that after those 10 laps Lotterer/Wakisawa were 1 point down to Philippe/Hosokawa and that Michigami/Kogure were 3 points down.  Michal Krumm in the #22 Nissan Nismo started with a 9 points handicap on Lotterer/Wakisaka, but since he was now 6th (good for 5 points), he was 4 points behind in the virtual standings after 10 laps. That meant that, with still 56 laps to go, we had still seven poten-tial winners, only 4 points apart. Then the Raybrig Honda entered the top-10 enough to win its first virtual point and to be 2 points ahead over the drivers of the #36 Lexus. But then, on trying to pass the #23 Nismo of Matsuda, Sébastien Philippe collided. He received a stop and go penalty and resumed the track in 13th position, wat brought the diffe-rence down to again one small point.
After 33 laps, when all cars had already made their regular pit stop, the #36 could move from 5 to 4, what meant 2 bonus points, so that up from now its drivers (Lotterer/Wakisaka) were the virtual leaders of the drivers's championship, one point ahead over Philippe/Hosokawa.

Since they could not undo their one lap arrears, due to the stop and go penalty, Philippe/Hosokawa finished 13th, out of the points with their #100 Raibrig Honda NSX. On ranks 4 and 5 we found the #36 Open Interface Lexus of Lotterer/Wakisaka and the #6 Mobil 1 Lexus of Iida/Kataoka nose to tail. All Philippe/Hosokawa could do was praying that the #36 Lexus should loose its4th place, then the difference should be one point in favour of the Raybrig drivers. Otherwise the title should go to the #36 Lexus drivers for one small point. However things changed no more, so that Lotterer/Wakisaka won the driver's championship. For Wakisaka it was already his second Super GT Series victory.
Overall win of the last round was for the #32 Epson Honda NSX. So we found nine different GT500 winners over nine rounds. Honda collected four wins (one by each of its cars), Lexus three wins (#36, #35 and #1 - the #6 didn't win but was runner-up at round #3). Nissan won only twice (with the #12 and the #23 - the #22, finishing as runner-up of the Series collected four podiums; best place of the #3 was one fourth at round #2)The two Toyotas Supra, made their last racing year and will be substitu-ted by two Lexus cars in 2007.
In GT300 we noted a simular situation as in GT500: the nine victories went to nine different cars. Winner of the Team Championship was the Amemiya Mazda RX-7. Their drivers, Tetsua Yamano and Hiroyuki Iiri finished with equal points (86) as Kazuko Takahashi/Hiroki Katoh on the Shiden protype, but since the Mazda collected more team points than the Shiden, the first two named racers won the GT300 driver's championship.

QUID NEXT YEAR?
In 2007 number of GT500 cars at the start of the Super GT will increase from 14 to 15. There will be 5 Lexus SC430, 5 Nissan Nismo Z and 5 Hondas. That means that Honda will enter one car more than in 2006. At the Hasemi #3 Nismo Z Sébastien Philippe (F) will replace J.P. Lima de Oliveira (BR). At the #6 Lexus SC430 Björn Wirdheim (S) will replace Akira Iida. Dominik Schwager (D) comes back and will replace Philippe in the Raybrig Honda. Eric Comas (F) stops his long JGTC career and will be replaced by Seiji Ara (J) with Lima de Oliveira as team mate. Richard Lyons (GB) will replace Matsuda at the wheel of the #23 Nismo Z.

SITUATION AFTER 7 ROUNDS - In GT500 we note 7 different winning cars out of 7 rounds, with 3 victories for the new Lexus 430SC and 3 victories for the Honda NSX. Of the 5 Nissans Z only the #12 Calsonic Impul won one round, the longest: 1,000 kilometres.  Only one car in GT500 finished 7 times on 7 among the top-1à, the #24 Woodona Advan Nissan Z of Erik Comas and Masaka Yanagida. Since 4 of those finishes were at the 10th place, tis very consistent and regular car, is only ranked in 13th position on 15 cars. The #22 Motul Autotech Nissan Nismo Z of Michael Krumm and Sakon Yamamoto collected most podium places: four. Nevertheless the car failed to win one single round up to now. In the ranking it is headed by the #36 Open Interface Lexus SC430 having collected 3 points more. In the individual standings 4 racers are leading with 68 points: Juichi Wakisaka, André Lotterer, Sebastien Philippe and Shinya Hosokawa. There are still 2 rounds to go.

In GT300 we note also 7 different winning cars after 7 rounds. Of them the Vemac won 2 rounds (one with the RD320R and one with the 308R). The Nissan Z, Mazda RX7 and Toyota Celica won each one round. New is that both the Lambortgini Murcielago RG-1 and the Ferrari 360 Modena won this year already one round. The Shiden MC RT-16 - already 2 pole positions this year -  is well classified but did not win already. Same for the Toyota MR-S and the Porsche Boxter. The Porsches 996 GT3-RSR all disappointed this year. The #27 direvix Vemac RD320R of Shogo Mitsuyama and Nobuteru Taniguchi not only leads the ranking of the cars in GT300, it collected with its 2 second places and its victory most podium places. Two other pole positions went to the #46 Kiccko irezza Nissan Z of Kota Sasaki and Taku Banba. In the individual standings, with 2 rounds to go, Shogo Mitsuyama and Nobuteru Taniguchi have already 12 points more than Tetsuya Yamano and Hiroyuki Iiri on rank 2.

SEASON PREVIEW
The 2006 JGTC season offers the enthusiast lots of new surprises. In GT500 - the class with works cars, all around 500 bhp strong - we note that 4 former Toyotas Supra have been replaced by the new 4.8 Lexus 430SC. It are the #1 Zent Cerumo, the #6 Mobil 1, the #35 Bandai and the #36 Tom's. Only 2 Toyotas Supra are left, the #25 Eclipse and the #66 Sard. Honda is present with their traditional 4 cars: the #8 Arta, #18 Takata, the #32 Epson and the #100 Raybrig. The 5 remaining cars are the Nissans Z: the #3 Hasemi Yellow Hat, the #12 Calsonic Impul, the #22 Motul Autotech, the #23 Xanavi and new the #24 Woodone Condo. That brings total entries in GT500 on 15 cars instead of 19 last year. No longer there are the #20 McLaren F1-GTR, the #21 Ferrari F550 Maranel-lo, the former #35 Kraft Yellow Hat Toyota Supra, the #37 Dynacity Tom's Toyota and the #88 JLOC Lambo (now raced in GT300). Of those cars the McLaren, the F550 and the Lambo could score last year not the smallest point.
At the Suzuka tests of March 2-3 there was still hope that Team Goh, winner of the 2004 Le Mans 24 hours, should allign a reworked Maserati MC12 as seen at the FIA GT series of 2005. However the aerodynamics of the car were not performant enough - in GT500 areodynamics are extremely important! - so that the team wished to report its entry until next year.

In the GT300 class - private entries and cars having between 300 and 400 bhp - we note the spectacular new #2 Shiden MC RT-16, a real proto-type. But the biggest surprise is perhaps the #55 Ford GT40: indeed, 42 years after its maiden race a GT40 is still raced in competition, be it with a carbon body and a 3.5 V8 DHG engine. Apart from the traditional Toyotas MS-R, Toyotas Celica, Nissans Fairlady Z, the rotor engined Mazda RX-7 and one Honda NSX (9 cars in total), we find this year 4 Vemac prototypes, 1 Mosler MT900R, and 5 Porsches (2 GT3 Cup, 1 GT3-RSR, 1 GT3-RS and 1 Porsche 968 Boxter). Interesting are the 2 Ferraris F360 Modena (#10 and #11) entered by Jim Grainer and the 2 Lamborghinis Murcielago (#87 and #88) entered by JLOC.

ROUND 1: SUZUKA 300 KMS
The season's curtainraiser saw the #8 Arta Honda NSX qualifying as fastest, ahead of the #18 Takata NSX and the #22 Motul Nissan Z, but it was the #36 Cerumo Lexus 430CS which won its maiden race, ahead of the #23 Xanavi Nissan and #8 Arta NSX. In GT300 the #46 Direzza Nissan Z qualified first, ahead over the two Lambos, but here the #87 Lamborghini Murcielago RG-1 was the fastest, ahead over the #7 Mazda RX-7 and the #110 Porsche Boxter. For the Murcielago RG-1 it was the first win of the make in an official international race.

ROUND #2: OKAYAMA 300 KMS
At round #2 the 4 Hondas qualified as 1-2-5-6 with the #18 Takata NSX preceeding the #100 Raybrig NSX and the #1 Zent Lexus 430SC. The 2 top qualifiers finished their race at the 2 first ranks, in the same order, followed by the #12 Calsonic and #22 Motul Nissan Z. First Lexus was the #1 Zent finishing 5th. In GT300 the #46 Direzza Nissan Z was again the fastest qualifier, followed by the #13 Endless Nissan Z and the #27 Vemac. Here the race was won by the #27 Direvix Vemac RD320R ahead of the #11 Ferrari F360 Modena and the #110 Porsche Boxter.

ROUND #3: FUJI SPEEDWEEK 500 KMS
Fastest qualifier was the #1 Zent Lexus, followed by the #35 Bandai Lexus and the #66 Sard Toyota Supra. The race, however, was won by the #35 Bandai Lexus 430SC, ahead over the #6 Mobil 1 Lexus 430 SC and the #23 Xanavi Nissan Z. For Lexus it was already the second win of the season, proving that the new cars are fully competitive.
In GT300 the brand new #2 Shiden MC RT-16 qualified as first, followed by the #11 Ferrari F360 Modena and the #110 Porsche Boxter. The race was won by the #62 Willcom Vemac 408R, with the #101 Toy Store Toyota MS-R as second and the #14 Endless Porsche as third. The Shiden finished on rank 4, ahead over the #87 Lambo. In that race the #55 DHG Ford GT40 finished as 10th and won its first championship point.

THE GT500 CARS AT THE 2006 AUTOBACS SUPERGT (ex-JGTC)

#1 Zent Cerumo Lexus 430SC [4,480cc, 1,100kg, 480 bhp]

#3 Yellow Hat Nissan Nismo Z [2,970 cc turbo, 1,100 kg, 500 bhp]

#6 Mobil 1 Lexus 430SC [4,480cc, 1,100kg, 480 bhp]

#8 Arta Honda NSX [3,494cc, 1,100kg, 500 bhp]

THE GT300 CARS AT THE 2006 AUTOBACS SUPER GT (JGTC)

THE GT300 CARS AT THE 2006 AUTOBACS SUPERGT (ex-JGTC)

2005 AUTOBACS SUPER GT (ex-JGTC)

THE GT500 CARS AT THE 2005 JGTC

THE GT300 CARS AT THE 2005 JGTC

1999 AUTOBACS JGTC

RESULTS JGTC 2000

RESULTS JGTC 2004