1999 All Japan Grand Touring Car Championship

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]

1999 All Japan Grand Touring Car Championship

GT500 Drivers' Champion:
Erik Comas
GT500 Teams' Champion:
Toyota Team Tom's
GT300 Drivers' Champion:
Morio Nitta
GT300 Teams' Champion:
Momo Corse Racing Team with Tsuchiya

Previous

1998

Next

2000

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

Team	Make	Car	Engine	No.	Drivers	Tyre	Rounds
Pennzoil Nismo GT-R	Nissan	Nissan Skyline GT-R (R34)	Nissan RB26DETT 2.7 L Twin Turbo I6	1	Érik Comas	B	All
					Satoshi Motoyama		1, 3–7, NC
					Anders Olofsson		2
ARTA Zexel Skyline/Nismo	Nissan	Nissan Skyline GT-R (R34)	Nissan RB26DETT 2.7 L Twin Turbo I6	2	Aguri Suzuki		All
					Michael Krumm		1, 3–7, NC
					Armin Hahne		2
Hasemi Motorsport	Nissan	Nissan Skyline GT-R (R33)	Nissan RB26DETT 2.7 L Twin Turbo I6	3	Masahiro Hasemi	B	All
					Tetsuya Tanaka		All
Esso Toyota Team LeMans	Toyota	Toyota Supra	Toyota 3S-GT 2.0 L Turbo I4	6	Wayne Gardner	B	2–7, NC
					Hideki Noda		2–7, NC
Endless Sports	Nissan	Nissan Skyline GT-R (R33)	Nissan RB26DETT 2.7 L Twin Turbo I6	11	Takao Wada	B	1–3, 5
					Mitsuhiro Kinoshita		1–3, 5
Calsonic Team Impul	Nissan	Nissan Skyline GT-R (R34)	Nissan RB26DETT 2.7 L Twin Turbo I6	12	Kazuyoshi Hoshino	B	All
					Masami Kageyama		All
Castrol Mugen NSX/Mugen x Dome Project	Honda	Honda NSX	Honda C32B 3.5 L V6	16	Ryo Michigami	B	All
					Osamu Nakako		All
Takata Dome NSX/Mugen x Dome Project	Honda	Honda NSX	Honda C32B 3.5 L V6	18	Katsutomo Kaneishi		All
					Juichi Wakisaka		All
Team Take One	McLaren	McLaren F1 GTR	BMW S70/2 6.0 L V12	30	Hideki Okada	B	All
					Yoji Yamada		All
Toyota Team Cerumo	Toyota	Toyota Supra	Toyota 3S-GT 2.0 L Turbo I4	32	Masahiko Kondo	B	All
					Takayuki Kinoshita		All
				38	Yuji Tachikawa		All
					Hironori Takeuchi		All
Toyota Team TOM'S	Toyota	Toyota Supra	Toyota 3S-GT 2.0 L Turbo I4	35	Shinichi Yamaji	M	All
					Pierre-Henri Raphanel		All
				36	Masanori Sekiya		All
					Takuya Kurosawa		All
				37	Toshio Suzuki		All
					Ukyo Katayama		1, 3–7, NC
					Darren Manning		2
Denso Toyota Team SARD	Toyota	Toyota Supra	Toyota 3S-GT 2.0 L Turbo I4	39	Keiichi Tsuchiya	Y	All
					Masahiko Kageyama		All
Team Taisan Advan	Dodge	Dodge Viper GTS-R	Chrysler Viper 8.0 L V10	55	Eiichi Tajima	Y	1–2, 4, NC
					Hideshi Matsuda		1–2, 4
					Dominik Schwager		3
					Yasuyuki Honjo		NC
Mobil 1 Nakajima Racing	Honda	Honda NSX	Honda C32B 3.5 L V6	64	Tom Coronel	B	All
					Koji Yamanishi		1–4
					Hidetoshi Mitsusada		5–7, NC
JLOC	Lamborghini	Lamborghini Diablo GT-1	Lamborghini L532 6.0 L V12	88	Naohiro Furuya	T	All
					Hisashi Wada		All
Raybrig Team Kunimitsu with Mooncraft	Honda	Honda NSX	Honda C32B 3.5 L V6	100	Kunimitsu Takahashi	B	All
					Akira Iida		All

GT300

Team	Make	Car	Engine	No.	Drivers	Tyre	Rounds
RE Amemiya Racing	Mazda	Mazda RX-7	Mazda RE20B 2.0 L 3-rotor	7	Tetsuya Yamano	Y	All
					Haruhiko Matsumoto		All
Team Daikokuya	Porsche	Porsche 993 RSR	Porsche M64/80 3.8 L F6	9	Teruyuki Tokada	D	1, 3, 5
					Yukihiro Hane		1, 3, 5
				99	Akira Yoshitomi		All
					Tsunefumi Hioki		1–2, 4–7
					Kiichi Takahashi		3
Ability Motorsport	Porsche	Porsche 993 GT2	Porsche M64/82 3.6 L Turbo F6	10	Yasutaka Hinoi	Y	All
					Hidehiko Aso		All
Alta Racing Team	Nissan	Nissan Silvia (S14)	Nissan SR20DET 2.1 L Turbo I4	14	Tetsuo Kozai	Y	1–3, 5, 7
					Nobuo Komiya		1–3, 5, 7
Nismo	Nissan	Nissan Silvia (S15)	Nissan SR20DET 2.1 L Turbo I4	15	Takeshi Tsuchiya	Y	All
					Yuji Ide		All
Racing Project Bandoh	Toyota	Toyota Celica	Toyota 3S-GE 2.0 L I4	19	Manabu Orido	Y	All
					Takahiro Hara		All
TOM'S Spirit	Toyota	Toyota Celica	Toyota 3S-GTE 2.0 L Turbo I4	20	Masahiro Matsunaga	Y	2, 4–7
					Yasuhisa Fujiwara		2, 4
					Kumi Sato		5–7
Hitotsuyama Racing	BMW	BMW M3 (E36)	BMW S14 2.2 L Turbo I4	21	Daisuke Itō	T	All
					Yasushi Hitotsuyama		1–3, 5
					Mikio Hitotsuyama		4, 6–7
Hirano Motorsport	Nissan	Nissan Skyline GTS-i (R32)	Nissan RB20DETT 2.0 L Twin Turbo I6	24	Toshiyuki Hirano	Y	2, 5
					Teruhiko Someba		2, 5
Momo Corse Racing Team with Tsuchiya	Toyota	Toyota MR2	Toyota 3S-GTE 2.0 L Turbo I4	25	Morio Nitta	Y	All
					Yasushi Kikuchi		1
					Shinichi Takagi		2–7, NC
Team Taisan	Porsche	Porsche 993 GT3-R (Rd. 1–4) Porsche 996 GT3-R (Rd. 5–7)	Porsche M96/77 3.6 L F6	26	Hiroaki Suga	Y	1–4
					Dilantha Malagamuwa		2–3
					Dominik Schwager		4–7, NC
					Hideshi Matsuda		5–7, NC
					Tomohiko Sunako		1
		Porsche 993 GT3-R	Porsche M64/75 3.6 L F6	55	Hiroaki Suga		5–7
					Eiichi Tajima		5–7
Team Taeivon Ralliart	Mitsubishi	Mitsubishi FTO	Mitsubishi 4G63 2.0 L Turbo I4	61	Ralph Firman	T	All
					Akihiko Nakaya		1, 3–7
					Rubén Derfler		2
Team Gaikokuya	Porsche	Porsche 993 GT2	Porsche M64/82 3.6 L Turbo F6	70	Yoshimi Ishibashi	Y	All
					Patrick van Schoote		1, 5, 7
					Kaoru Hoshino		2, 6
					Hiroshi Sakai		3–4
SigmaTec Racing Team	Porsche	Porsche 993 GT2	Porsche M64/82 3.6 L Turbo F6	71	Masaki Jyonai	Y	All
					Naohiro Kawano		All
Okura Rotary Racing	Mazda	Mazda RX-7	Mazda RE20B 2.0 L 3-rotor	72	Akira Ishikawa	Y	All
					Koh Hirano		All
Cusco Racing	Subaru	Subaru Impreza WRX STI	Subaru EJ20 2.0 L Turbo F4	77	Katsuo Kobayashi	Y	All
					Tatsuya Tanigawa		All
Team Daishin	Nissan	Nissan Silvia (S15)	Nissan SR20DET 2.0 L Turbo I4	81	Hideo Fukuyama	Y	All
					Nobuyuki Ohyagi		All
I.A. Tec Racing Team	Nissan	Nissan Silvia (S14)	Nissan SR20DET 2.0 L Turbo I4	84	Seiichi Sodeyama	Y	2, 5–7
					Yoshikuni Nakamura		2, 5–7
KRAFT	Toyota	Toyota Corolla Sprinter Trueno (AE86)	Toyota 3S-GTE 2.0 L Turbo I4	86	Minoru Tanaka	T	2–7
					Eiki Amemiya		2–7
Team Gainer	Ferrari	Ferrari F355 GT	Ferrari F129B 3.5 L V8	111	Junichi Ikura	Y	2, 5–7
					Yusei Maki		2, 5–7
Club: Yellow Magic	Ferrari	Ferrari F355 GT	Ferrari F129B 3.6 L V8	355	Taki Inoue	Y	2–3, 5, 7
					Tsuyoshi Takahashi		2–3, 5, 7
910 Racing	Porsche	Porsche 993 RSR	Porsche M64/80 3.8 L F6	910	Atsushi Yogo	Y	1–3, 5–7
					Hideyuki Tamamoto		1–3
					Dilantha Malagamuwa		5–6
					Tomohiko Sunako		7
				911	Masamitsu Ishihara		5
					Hiroyuki Noji		5

Schedule

Round	Race	Circuit	Date
1	Suzuka GT 300	Suzuka Circuit	March 21
2	All Japan Fuji GT Race	Fuji Speedway	May 2
3	SUGO GT Championship	Sportsland SUGO	May 30
4	CP Mine GT Race	Mine Circuit	July 11
5	JPN Special GT Cup	Fuji Speedway	August 8
6	GT Championship in TI	TI Circuit	September 26
7	Motegi GT Championship Race	Twin Ring Motegi	October 24
NC	Nicos Cup GT AllStar	Autopolis	November 28

Season results

Round	Circuit	GT500 Winning Team	GT300 Winning Team
		GT500 Winning Drivers	GT300 Winning Drivers
1	Suzuka	#18 Takata Honda NSX	#19 Racing Project Bandoh Toyota Celica
		Juichi Wakisaka Katsutomo Kaneishi	Takahiko Hara Manabu Orido
2	Mt. Fuji	#100 Raybrig Honda NSX	#25 MOMOCORSE A'PEX Toyota MR2
		Kunimitsu Takahashi Akira Iida	Shinichi Takagi Morio Nitta
3	Sportsland SUGO	#36 Castrol TOM'S Toyota Supra	#15 Xanavi ARTA Nissan Silvia
		Takuya Kurosawa Masanori Sekiya	Yuji Ide Takeshi Tsuchiya
4	Mine Circuit	#1 Pennzoil Nissan Skyline GT-R	#15 Xanavi ARTA Nissan Silvia
		Satoshi Motoyama Érik Comas	Yuji Ide Takeshi Tsuchiya
5	Mt. Fuji	#6 ESSO Team LeMans Toyota Supra	#26 STP Advan Taisan Porsche 911 GT3 R
		Hideki Noda Wayne Gardner	Hideshi Matsuda Dominik Schwager
6	TI Circuit	#64 Mobil 1 Honda NSX	#15 Xanavi ARTA Nissan Silvia
		Hidetoshi Mitsusada Tom Coronel	Yuji Ide Takeshi Tsuchiya
7	Twin Ring Motegi	#36 Castrol TOM'S Toyota Supra	#26 STP Advan Taisan Porsche 911 GT3 R
		Takuya Kurosawa Masanori Sekiya	Hideshi Matsuda Dominik Schwager
NC	Autopolis	#64 Mobil 1 Honda NSX	#77 Cusco Subaru Impreza
		Hidetoshi Mitsusada Tom Coronel	Tatsuya Tanigawa Katsuo Kobayashi

Point Ranking

GT500

Drivers

Rank	No.	Driver	SUZ	FUJ	SUG	MIN	FUJ	TAI	MOT	AUT	Points
1	1	Érik Comas	2	5	6	1	3	7	3	4	77
2	36	Takuya Kurosawa Masanori Sekiya	4	9	1	10	4	4	1	6	73
3	1	Satoshi Motoyama	2		6	1	3	7	3	4	69
4	18	Juichi Wakisaka Katsutomo Kaneishi	1	19Ret	18Ret	11	2	3	16Ret	Ret	47
5	64	Tom Coronel	11	14	4	16Ret	8	1	5	1	41
6	2	Aguri Suzuki	5	11	9	12	12	2	2	3	40
6	2	Michael Krumm	5		9	12	12	2	2	3	40
8	12	Kazuyoshi Hoshino Masami Kageyama	10	3	5	6	5	10	7	11	40
9	37	Toshio Suzuki	3	4	11	2	15	15	10	Ret	38
10	16	Osamu Nakako Ryo Michigami	14	12	3	3	9	16	4	5	36
11	100	Kunimitsu Takahashi Akira Iida	18Ret	1	13	15	7	5	9	2	34
12	6	Hideki Noda Wayne Gardner		8	16	5	1	9	13	15	33
13	64	Hidetoshi Mitsusada					8	1	5	1	31
14	38	Hironori Takeuchi Yuji Tachikawa	7	2	17Ret	8	6	8	12	7	31
15	37	Ukyo Katayama	3		11	2	15	15	10	Ret	28
16	35	Pierre-Henri Raphanel Shinichi Yamaji	13	16Ret	2	14	13	6	6		27
17	3	Masahiro Hasemi Tetsuya Tanaka	6	7	7	4	11	12	8	9	27
18	32	Takayuki Kinoshita Masahiko Kondo	8	6	8	17Ret	18Ret	11	15	8	12
19	64	Koji Yamanishi	11	14	4	16Ret					10
19	37	Darren Manning		4							10
21	1	Anders Olofsson		5							8
22	39	Keiichi Tsuchiya Masahiko Kageyama	16	15	19Ret	7	10	13	17Ret	13	5
23	30	Yoji Yamada Hideki Okada	17	18Ret	12	9	14	14	11	14	2
23	55	Eiichi Tajima	9	13	15	13				10	2
23	55	Hideshi Matsuda	9	13		13					2
27	11	Takao Wada Mitsuhiro Kinoshita	12	10	10		16				2
28	2	Armin Hahne		11							0
29	88	Hisashi Wada Naohiro Furuya	15	17Ret	14	18Ret	17	17Ret	14	12	0
30	55	Dominik Schwager			15						0
31	55	Motoyuki Yasuyuki								10	0

Teams' standings

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

Rank	Team	No.	SUZ	FUJ	SUG	MIN	FUJ	TAI	MOT	AUT	PTS
1	Toyota Castrol Team TOM'S	36	4	9	1	10	4	4	1	6	97
		37	3	4	11	2	15	15	10	Ret
2	Nismo	1	2	5	6	1	3	7	3	4	91
		2	5	11	9	12	12	2	2	3
3	Mugen x Dome Project	16	14	12	3	3	9	16	4	5	81
		18	1	Ret	Ret	11	2	3	Ret	Ret
4	Mobil 1 Nakajima Racing	64	11	14	4	Ret	8	1	5	1	41
5	Team Impul	12	10	3	5	6	5	10	7	11	40
6	Team Kunimitsu with Mooncraft	100	Ret	1	13	15	7	5	9	2	34
7	Esso Ultron Toyota Team LeMans	6	DNP	8	16	5	1	9	13	15	33
8	Toyota Team Cerumo	38	7	2	Ret	8	6	8	12	7	31
9	MatsumotoKiyoshi Team TOM'S	35	13	Ret	2	14	13	6	6		27
10	Hasemi Motorsports	3	6	7	7	4	11	12	8	9	27
11	cdma One Toyota Team Cerumo with Key's	32	8	6	8	Ret	Ret	11	15	8	12
12	Toyota Team SARD	39	16	15	Ret	7	10	13	Ret	13	5
13	Team Taisan Advan	55	9	13	15	13				10	2
14	Team Take One	30	17	Ret	12	9	14	14	11	14	2
15	Endless Sports	11	12	10	10		16				2
-	JLOC	88	15	Ret	14	Ret	17	Ret	14	12	0
Rank	Team	No.	SUZ	FUJ	SUG	MIN	FUJ	TAI	MOT	AUT	PTS

GT300 Class (Top 5)

Drivers

Rank	Drivers	Number/Team	Points	Wins
1	Morio Nitta	#25 MOMOCORSE A'PEX Toyota MR2	73	1
2	Yuji Ide Takeshi Tsuchiya	#15 Xanavi ARTA Nissan Silvia	72	3
3	Takahiko Hara Manabu Orido	#19 Racing Project Bandoh Toyota Celica	70	1
4	Shinichi Takagi	#25 MOMOCORSE A'PEX Toyota MR2	70	1
5	Tetsuya Yamano Haruhiko Matsumoto	#7 RE Amemiya Mazda RX-7	58	0

References

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

External links

• Super GT/JGTC official race archive (in Japanese)