The Japanese Touring Car Championship (abbr: JTCC, officially known as All Japan Touring Car Championship, Japanese name: 全日本ツーリングカー選手権), is a former touring car racing

Touring car racing

Touring car racing is a general term for a number of distinct auto racing competitions in heavily-modified street cars. It is notably popular in Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Germany, Japan, Scandinavia and Britain.-Characteristics of a touring car:...

 series held in Japan

Japan

Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...

. The series will be relaunched in 2012.

History

The series had a history going back to the late 1960s and was widely dominated by the C10 Skyline GT-Rs until the Mazda Savanna RX-3

Mazda RX-3

The Mazda RX-3 is an automobile sold in the 1970s. It was intended to be smaller and sportier than its brother, the RX-2/Capella Rotary. In 1972 all rotary engines had their die-cast rotor housing coated with a new process: The new Transplant Coating Process featured sprayed-on steel which is...

 broke its dominance pattern. With by the emergence of Group 5

Group 5 (racing)

Group 5 was an FIA motor racing classification which was applied to four distinct categories during the years 1966 to 1982. Initially Group 5 regulations defined a Special Touring Car category and from 1970 to 1971 the classification was applied to limited production Sports Cars restricted to 5...

 cars in the later half of the 1970s, the series was replaced in 1979 by the Formula Silhouette which was always held as a support race to the Grand Championship. As the series was incorporated and then later dissolved in 1984 by the All Japan Sports Prototype Championship

All Japan Sports Prototype Championship

The , abbreviated as JSPC, formed by the Japanese Automobile Federation, was a domestic championship which took place in Japan for Group C and IMSA GTP prototype cars and also featured cars that were eligible for touring car racing in its earlier years...

, the series saw a revival in 1985 for Group A

Group A

In relation to motorsport governed by the FIA, Group A referred to a set of regulations providing production-derived vehicles for outright competition. In contrast to the short-lived Group B and Group C, the Group A referred to production-derived vehicles limited in terms of power, weight, allowed...

 cars, like all other championships in other countries, there was three divisions, by the late 1980s division 3 would be a closely fought competitions between Toyota Supra

Toyota Supra

The Toyota Supra is a sports car/grand tourer that was produced by Toyota Motor Company from 1979 to 2002. The styling of the Toyota Supra was derived from the Toyota Celica, but it was both longer and wider. Starting in mid-1986, the Supra became its own model and was no longer based on the Celica...

s and Nissan Skyline

Nissan Skyline

The first Skyline was introduced in April 1957, by the Prince Motor Company, and was marketed as a luxury car. It featured a 1.5 L GA-30 engine producing 44 kW @ 4400 rpm. It used a de Dion tube rear suspension and was capable of 140 km/h . The car weighed around 1300 kg...

s, whilst division 2 was mainly BMW M3

BMW M3

The BMW M3 is a high-performance version of the BMW 3 Series, developed by BMW's in-house motorsport division, BMW M. M3 models have been derived from the E30, E36, E46 and E90/E92/E93 3-series, and sold with coupé, sedan and convertible body styles...

s and division 1 was between Honda Civic

Honda Civic

The Honda Civic is a line of subcompact and subsequently compact cars made and manufactured by Honda. The Civic, along with the Accord and Prelude, comprised Honda's vehicles sold in North America until the 1990s, when the model lineup was expanded...

 and Toyota Corolla

Toyota Corolla

The Toyota Corolla is a line of subcompact and compact cars manufactured by the Japanese automaker Toyota, which has become very popular throughout the world since the nameplate was first introduced in 1966. In 1997, the Corolla became the best selling nameplate in the world, with over 35 million...

. Their biggest race of the season was the InterTEC (インターTEC) which took place in Fuji Speedway

Fuji Speedway

is a race track standing in the foothills of Mount Fuji, in Oyama, Suntō District, Shizuoka Prefecture, Japan. It was built in the early 1960s and hosted the first Formula One race in Japan in 1976. In the 1980s, Fuji Speedway was used for the FIA World Sportscar Championship and national racing...

.

By 1993, like many other Group A series, the series had ended up becoming a one make affair with just the GT-R only appearing on the top category, followed by the M3s on the other, whereas in Div. 3 only consists of Corollas and Civics. For the following year the series would switch to the Supertouring

Supertouring

Super Touring, Class 2 or Class II was a motor racing Touring Cars category defined by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile for national touring car racing in 1993. It was based on the "2 litre Touring Car Formula" created for the British Touring Car Championship in 1990...

 formula. By 1997 as the class 2 formula cars became more expensive and complicated and due to heavy competitions from JGTC, organisers would make change to the rules to suit crowd demands. Rule changes includes increases to body width and exhaust noise decibels, also keeping the front aerodynamic devices basic and in 1998 with the withdrawal of Nissan Motors due to financial problems and Honda

Honda

is a Japanese public multinational corporation primarily known as a manufacturer of automobiles and motorcycles.Honda has been the world's largest motorcycle manufacturer since 1959, as well as the world's largest manufacturer of internal combustion engines measured by volume, producing more than...

, to concentrate on its Formula One

Formula One

Formula One, also known as Formula 1 or F1 and referred to officially as the FIA Formula One World Championship, is the highest class of single seater auto racing sanctioned by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile . The "formula" designation in the name refers to a set of rules with which...

 program and also realising it would be less expensive for them to race their NSX

Honda NSX

The Honda NSX, or Acura NSX, is a sports car that was produced between 1990 and 2005 by the Japanese automaker Honda. It is equipped with a mid-engine, rear-wheel drive layout, powered by an all-aluminium V6 gasoline engine featuring Honda's Variable Valve Timing and Lift Electronic Control ...

 in the Japanese Grand Touring Championship series, leaving Toyota as the sole factory manufacturer to have cars competing using their Corona EXIVs

Toyota Corona EXiV

The Corona EXiV was an automobile by Toyota Motor Company. Released in 1989, it was the sporty Toyota Corona and a sister car to Toyota Carina ED. EXiV stood for EXtra impressiVe....

 and Chasers

Toyota Chaser

The Toyota Chaser is a mid-size car produced by the Toyota Motor Company, Japan. Most were 4-door sedans, with the 2-door coupe discontinued after the first generation...

. Occasionally, an independently run Opel Vectra

Opel Vectra

The Opel Vectra is a large family car that was engineered and produced by Opel. In the United Kingdom, the car was sold under the Vauxhall marque as the Vauxhall Cavalier and later as the Vauxhall Vectra, from 1995 onwards...

 and a pair of Subaru Impreza

Subaru Impreza

Introduced in November 1993, the Impreza was offered in either front-wheel drive or all-wheel drive versions and as a four-door sedan/saloon or five-door station wagon/estate. According to a Motor Trend article written March 1992 on page 26, the name of Subaru's new compact was, initially, to be...

 wagons did race against the factory Toyotas. In 1999, a new formula using spaceframe cars, now renamed Super Silhouette Car Championship came to nothing and the series was abandoned altogether as by then, the Japan's big three had all got work entries in JGTC to this day, now known as Super GT

Super GT

The Super GT series, formerly known as the All-Japan Grand Touring Car Championship or JGTC , is a grand touring car race series promoted by the GT-Association...

.

The JTCC will be resurrected in 2012, with five races in Japan and one in China, in partnership with the Chinese Touring Car Championship. The series will run to Super 2000

Super 2000

Super 2000, also known as S2000, is an FIA specification and classification for production based race cars. The specification is split to cover both rally and touring car racing. Super 2000 rally cars are also permitted to compete in Super 2000 World Rally Championship events...

 regulations.

Championship winners

Year	Winner	Team	Car
Group A Group A In relation to motorsport governed by the FIA, Group A referred to a set of regulations providing production-derived vehicles for outright competition. In contrast to the short-lived Group B and Group C, the Group A referred to production-derived vehicles limited in terms of power, weight, allowed...
1985	Naoki Nagasaka	Beaurex	BMW 635CSi BMW E24 The BMW E24 series was the first BMW 6 Series coupé, produced by the German automaker BMW between the 1976 and 1989 model years. The 6 Series name reappeared with the BMW E63 chassis beginning in the 2004 model year. The E24 borrowed heavily from contemporary 5-series cars .- Model history :The...
1986	Aguri Suzuki Aguri Suzuki is a former racing driver from Japan. He participated in 88 Formula One Grands Prix, and his most notable achievement in racing was 3rd place at the 1990 Japanese Grand Prix. Suzuki then became involved in team ownership, with interests firstly in the Japanese Formula Nippon Championship and the...	NISMO Nismo Nismo is the motorsports and performance division of Nissan Motor Company. Formed in 1984 as a result of a merger of two motorsport departments, Nismo cars have participated in JSPC, Formula Nippon, JTCC, 24 Hours of Le Mans and 24 Hours of Daytona...	Nissan Skyline RS
1987	Naoki Nagasaka	Object T	Ford Sierra RS Cosworth Ford Sierra RS Cosworth The Ford Sierra RS Cosworth was a high-performance version of the Ford Sierra. It was the result of a Ford Motorsport project with the purpose of producing an outright winner for Group A racing in Europe.- Development :... , Ford Sierra RS500
1988	Hisashi Yokoshima	Object T	Ford Sierra RS Cosworth Ford Sierra RS Cosworth The Ford Sierra RS Cosworth was a high-performance version of the Ford Sierra. It was the result of a Ford Motorsport project with the purpose of producing an outright winner for Group A racing in Europe.- Development :... , Ford Sierra RS500
1989	Masahiro Hasemi Masahiro Hasemi is a former racing driver and team owner from Japan. He started racing motocross when he was 15 years old. In 1964 he signed to drive for Nissan. After establishing himself in saloon car and GT races in Japan, he participated in his only Formula One race at the 1976 Japanese Grand Prix for Kojima...	Hasemi	Nissan HR31 Skyline GTS-R
1990 1990 Japanese Touring Car Championship season The 1990 Japanese Touring Car Championship season was the 6th edition of the series. It began at Nishi Nippon on March 18 and finished after six events at Fuji Speedway on November 11...	Kazuyoshi Hoshino Kazuyoshi Hoshino is a former racing driver and businessman from Japan.Hoshino's nickname was . He won the Japanese motocross national championships in the 90cc and 125cc classes for Kawasaki in 1968 before switching to cars as a Nissan factory driver in 1969....	IMPUL	Nissan BNR32 Skyline GT-R
1991 1991 Japanese Touring Car Championship season The 1991 Japanese Touring Car Championship season was the 7th edition of the series. It began at Sportsland SUGO on May 19 and finished after six events at Fuji Speedway on November 10...	Masahiro Hasemi Masahiro Hasemi is a former racing driver and team owner from Japan. He started racing motocross when he was 15 years old. In 1964 he signed to drive for Nissan. After establishing himself in saloon car and GT races in Japan, he participated in his only Formula One race at the 1976 Japanese Grand Prix for Kojima...	Hasemi	Nissan BNR32 Skyline GT-R
1992 1992 Japanese Touring Car Championship season The 1992 Japanese Touring Car Championship season was the 8th edition of the series. It began at TI Circuit Aida on March 15 and finished after eight events at Fuji Speedway on November 8...	Masahiro Hasemi Masahiro Hasemi is a former racing driver and team owner from Japan. He started racing motocross when he was 15 years old. In 1964 he signed to drive for Nissan. After establishing himself in saloon car and GT races in Japan, he participated in his only Formula One race at the 1976 Japanese Grand Prix for Kojima...	Hasemi	Nissan BNR32 Skyline GT-R
1993 1993 Japanese Touring Car Championship season The 1993 Japanese Touring Car Championship season was the 9th edition of the series and the last to be run under Group A regulations. It began at Mine Central Circuit on March 14 and finished after nine events at Fuji Speedway on October 31...	Masahiko Kageyama	Hoshino	Nissan BNR32 Skyline GT-R
Supertouring Supertouring Super Touring, Class 2 or Class II was a motor racing Touring Cars category defined by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile for national touring car racing in 1993. It was based on the "2 litre Touring Car Formula" created for the British Touring Car Championship in 1990...
1994 1994 Japanese Touring Car Championship season The 1994 Japanese Touring Car Championship season was the 10th edition of the series and the first to be run under Class II regulations. It began at Autopolis on April 24 and finished after nine events at Fuji Speedway on October 30...	Masanori Sekiya Masanori Sekiya is a racing car driver from Shizuoka Prefecture, Japan, most famous for being the first Japanese driver to win the 24 Hours of Le Mans, in 1995.Sekiya drove in single-seaters in his early career, contesting the Japanese Formula 3000 Championship and Formula Nippon from 1987 to 1993, mostly for the...	TOM'S TOM'S is a factory supported racing team and tuner of Toyota and Lexus vehicles. The name stands for Tachi Oiwa Motor Sport. Their head office is located in Tokyo, Japan. They are currently heavily involved with Super GT racing and Formula 3 racing...	Toyota Corona E Toyota Corona T190 The Toyota Corona T190 was launched in March 1992. The exterior dimensions and engine sizes remained in compliance with Japanese size regulations so as to continue to offer a product for Japanese buyers wanting to reduce their annual tax liability...
1995 1995 Japanese Touring Car Championship season The 1995 Japanese Touring Car Championship season was the 11th edition of the series. It began at Fuji Speedway on March 12 and finished after eight events, also at Fuji Speedway on November 5. The championship was won by Steve Soper, driving for BMW Team Schnitzer...	Steve Soper Steve Soper Steve Soper is a retired racing driver from Surrey, England, born in 1951. He raced in sports cars and touring cars at the top level for over 20 years. In 1983 he almost won the British Touring Car Championship before his Rover was deemed illegal. He finished as runner-up in the series in 1988 in a...	Schnitzer Schnitzer Motorsport Schnitzer Motorsport is a motorsport team based in Freilassing near Munich, Germany. From the early days of its establishment, the team has operated an automobile racing squad for BMW, and has remarkable results in touring car and sports car racing scenes....	BMW 318i BMW E36 The BMW E36 is the third generation of the 3 Series compact executive cars produced by BMW. It was introduced in late 1990 for Europe and in late 1991 for US and Canada. It was the successor to the E30 3 Series and was eventually replaced by the E90 3 Series in 2005, though E36 coupes were still...
1996 1996 Japanese Touring Car Championship season The 1996 Japanese Touring Car Championship season was the 12th edition of the series. It began at Fuji Speedway on April 7 and finished after seven events, also at Fuji Speedway on November 3...	Naoki Hattori Naoki Hattori is a motoring journalist and racing driver from Japan. After being Japanese Formula 3 champion in 1990, he failed to pre-qualify for two Formula One grands prix with Coloni in 1991 as a late-season replacement for Pedro Chaves...	Mooncraft	Honda Accord Honda Accord The Honda Accord is a series of compact, mid-size and full-size automobiles manufactured by Honda since 1976, and sold in a majority of automotive markets throughout the world....
1997 1997 Japanese Touring Car Championship season The 1997 Japanese Touring Car Championship season was the 13th edition of the series. It began at Fuji Speedway on April 6 and finished after eight events, also at Fuji Speedway on November 2...	Osamu Nakako	Mugen Mugen Motorsports Mugen Motorsports is a Japanese company formed in 1973 by Hirotoshi Honda, the son of Honda Motor Company founder Soichiro Honda, and Masao Kimura. Mugen, meaning "Without Limit", or "Unlimited", is an engine tuner and parts manufacturer closely associated with the Honda Motor Company...	Honda Accord Honda Accord The Honda Accord is a series of compact, mid-size and full-size automobiles manufactured by Honda since 1976, and sold in a majority of automotive markets throughout the world....
1998 1998 Japanese Touring Car Championship season The 1998 Japanese Touring Car Championship season was the 14th edition of the series. It began at Fuji Speedway on April 5 and finished after seven events, also at Fuji Speedway on November 8. The championship was won for the second time by Masanori Sekiya, driving for Toyota Team TOM's.-Teams &...	Masanori Sekiya Masanori Sekiya is a racing car driver from Shizuoka Prefecture, Japan, most famous for being the first Japanese driver to win the 24 Hours of Le Mans, in 1995.Sekiya drove in single-seaters in his early career, contesting the Japanese Formula 3000 Championship and Formula Nippon from 1987 to 1993, mostly for the...	TOM'S TOM'S is a factory supported racing team and tuner of Toyota and Lexus vehicles. The name stands for Tachi Oiwa Motor Sport. Their head office is located in Tokyo, Japan. They are currently heavily involved with Super GT racing and Formula 3 racing...	Toyota Chaser Toyota Chaser The Toyota Chaser is a mid-size car produced by the Toyota Motor Company, Japan. Most were 4-door sedans, with the 2-door coupe discontinued after the first generation...

External links

• Japan Automobile Federation results