36: The Car That Killed Godzilla
Let's face it, A good rivalry is the basis for most of the world's best tales. France versus England. Spartans versus the Persians. Rocky versus Creed.
Tesla versus Edison. Alien versus predator. Seinfeld versus... Newman.
You get the point. The bloody clash between two powerful figures is what gives us greatness. And in 1966, one of automotive history's greatest rivalries began at the third annual Japanese Grand Prix. Japan's most prestigious race for its third running. It would take place at the newly opened Fuji Speedway.
There, Nissan and Toyota would fire the first shots in a war that would span decades. On the grid among Porsches, Jaguars, Abarths and Daihatsus, was set one of Toyota's most important sports cars. The Toyota 2000 GT. On that day, it was poised to make motoring history And cement Toyota as Japan's premier automaker.
Sadly though, the Prince Nissan R380 had something to say about that. After 60 grueling laps around Fuji, Nissan's Brabham based racecar would make a mockery of Toyota's newest halo car. Jiro Kawano, lead engineer on Toyota's 2000GT project, Was furious. Their very, very good Passenger car had just lost to a proper racing car.
And so Jiro set about building a real race car for Toyota. machine that would become Toyota's most deadly creation. The Toyota 7 A car that Toyota would rather you forget they made. But more about that in another video. Like the 2000 GT before it. The seven was a product of the Toyota Yamaha partnership, powered by their new Toyota designed V8 and inspired by Ford's Gt40.
It would debut against Nissan's new R 381 racing car in 1968. At the fifth Japanese Grand Prix To Jiro, Nissan's new R381 was a disgrace and a machine, a sort of Frankenstein's monster of East and West, a Japanese car powered by an American Chevrolet V8. A desperate act by Nissan's team to stay on top of the podium. Now American powered or not, The R381s were piloted some of Japan's greatest, among them Kunimitsu Takahashi or Rider Kunimitsu.
Yes, every video we make has a connection to another video, and we do it on purpose. Kuni-san would shatter Toyota's hopes before the race even began. He would set a pole position with the R381 that was over five seconds faster than the fastest Toyota 7 Sadly, the 7 had proven it was overweight and underpowered. Jiro and Toyota could only watch with sadness as Nissan stood atop the podium once again. in the heart of Jiro, and likely back home at Aichi at Toyota HQ This rivalry had truly begun. Every win by Nissan made Toyota write bigger checks and pour more resources into winning.
The following year, Toyota unveiled the New 7 using technology inspired from Nissan's R381 and even tested using the distasteful Chevy V8. The New 7 had a blank check written for its development, A machine made to defeat Nissan at any cost. As Toyota rolled their trucks into the garages of Fuji Speedway for the 69 Japanese Grand Prix, they stood next to the New 7 with pride, proud that they had created a machine so powerful and so well-engineered that it could carry Toyota to the top.
It was powered by a massive Cosworth derived V-8 and shaped by Yamaha in a wind tunnel. Nothing could stop the New 7. Nothing except Nissan, of course. Those clever bastards pulled the sheets off their answer to the New 7, a V12 powered colossus known as the R382. it would shout into the hills around Fuji with the roar of over 600 horsepower. It shared almost nothing with the R381 that Toyota had just based their new race car on.
And so Toyota would once again be one step behind Nissan. Nissans R382 would conquer Toyota's New 7 without so much as batting an eye. And once again, Toyota would stare from below the podium with fire in their eyes. They would vow to defeat Nissan by any means necessary. Revenge, though, is a dish best served cold, and Toyota's revenge would spend decades in the freezer. As the 1970s progressed and touring cars rose to the spotlight, Honda, Mazda and Toyota would spend year after year staring at the bright red taillights of Nissan's KPGC10 race car.
49 consecutive wins over four years. Nissan had a knack for ruining racing for everyone else involved. Team Nissan would conquer Group five racing with a bitter silence from Toyota.
Group C would see the return of Toyota to the fight, but their efforts were downright embarrassing. Regularly failing to complete a race without disaster. Podium finishes were all but a dream to the Toyota teams in Group B. Nissan and Toyota would trade blows, but neither would really claim a victory and then Group A, you know the story.
Nissan cements itself as the king of Japanese racing as their Godzilla conquers every single race. By 1993, Japanese racing had become almost boring. Nissan had become the de facto fast car from Japan, but thankfully things were about to change.
By the early 90s, organizers could see the boredom on the faces of racing fans around Japan, with foreigners dominating Group C and Nissan basically having ruined the Group A. A change was needed. And so in 1993, Japanese Auto Federation, or JAF, Created the All-Japan Grand Touring Car Championship.
Otherwise known to You and Me as the JGTC. This new series would be a return to Japanese focused racing taking place on Japanese tracks with a field of mostly Japanese cars and podiums full of Japanese drivers. This new series would be competitive, exciting, and wouldn't be dominated by Nissan, or at least they hope so. The class of vehicles to be raced were known as Super Touring, a type of regulation loosely built around the FIA class two rules meant to replace Group A. Super Touring regulations
meant that cars were closer to their production counterparts. This would keep costs for teams lower and inspire manufacturers to make better street cars, so that racing fans would go home and buy them and build racing cars of their own. Weary from the years of Nissan GT-R dominating Group A manufacturers were timid to approach the JGTC at first. And so to keep those manufacturers interested in participating. Stringent rules were put in place. Horsepower of the competitors would be limited and strictly enforced.
On top of that, to keep another Godzilla from dominating the entire series, winners of each race would have weight added to their cars in subsequent competitions to slow them down. These were rules that were meant to keep the racing tight, keep fans glued to the action because, of course, racing is always at its best when anyone can win a race on any given day. Even with those regulations in place, only a few Mazda teams bothered to show up to challenge Nissan's R32 GT-R in 1993. Those brave teams were ready to take a shot at the podium, Knowing that the JAF had done everything they could do to stop Nissan from dominating.
But Nissan did it anyway. All the rules and regulations could not stop the R32. Every race in 1993, the podium would be filled with GT-R drivers. The star among them was Masahiko Kageyama, driving his Calsonic Blue GT-R, winning a majority of the races in the series and rarely ever missing a spot in the top three. Despite the predictable outcome of the 93 season in 1994, a few scattered competitors timidly joined the fray.
Among them a Porsche 962C Mazda's RX-7’s, a Carrera RS, Exotics like Ferrari's F40 and Lamborghini’s Countach and more curiously, a pair of the new Mark IV Supras... Introducing the revolutionary new Toyota Supra. It's taken everything sports cars were before and crossed the line. The Mark IV Supra was Toyota's biggest weapon yet in the arms race of horsepower that had been fought for over a decade in Japan. It was, to many, their greatest creation yet. And so it was pretty weird that for the 94 season of the JGTC, Toyota was nowhere to be found.
It was probably because they had seen the writing on the wall, and that writing was painted in bright red letters GT-R Toyota knew they couldn't take down Nissan's Mega monster, so they stayed home and watched from a distance. And so those two supra that had come to challenge Nissan in 1994 were actually privateers and also kind of pioneers, as they would field the only 2JZ-GTE powered competitors in JGTC history. They had been competing in Pro-Am series before. and thought to themselves, what the hell, let's step up to the big leagues. Adorned in brilliant yellow was the shift point.
Supra. It would arrive relatively unmodified. and, The other entry, though, was far more committed. The Blitz Mark IV Supra with a widened body and aggressive aero. Blitz’s car would go on to become the inspiration for the extremely limited and incredible TRD 3000 GT.
but their dedication and their grit were just not enough. Nissan had gotten far too good at this. the opening race would see only Nissan on the podium, and worse yet, neither supra would even finish.
And the results would not get much better for them throughout the season. The shift point team got the message and bowed out after the first race, but the blitz team would carry on. Sadly though, it would be a wasted effort because the twin turbo 2JZ was far too heavy.
Far too thirsty, in the and never quite strong enough to overcome Godzilla's terrible breath. Luckily, the sight of two new Toyotas duking it out with Nissan's best caught the attention of someone at Toyota as mid-season, a new competitor would appear. A third Mark IV Supra this one sporting a wider body and an American driver team Sard, would field the first factory back Toyota in JGTC history. But unlike the privateers, this supra was different.
Sard’s supra was wider than Blitz’s It was lower and this one had a bunch of holes drilled into it. Its body was clad in simple test car glossy white paint, its vents and fenders hastily cut into the body. This was clearly a race car made in days, not months. It would seem that Toyota was up to something. Perhaps thanks to the Blitz and Gre-co Supra, Toyota had actually seen what was possible.
And so they had created their own supra race car. But unlike the supers that started the season, this one would sing a different song. So how do you spend your weekend at home? We spend hours at the racetrack testing new innovations, developing new technology to make the Toyota you buy perform as well as it possibly can. After all, we wouldn't want you to lose any sleep over it.
I love what you do for me, Toyota This is the Toyota 503E. A puny little power plant coming in at just 2.1 liters That is perhaps one of the greatest racing engines ever created. Period. Don't believe me? Ask Dan Gurney The inventor of spraying champagne at podiums and perhaps one of American racing's most important names in the late 80s and early 90s. Gurney needed an engine for his new IMSa prototype, so he teamed up with Toyota's TRD team in America, who had just gotten their hands on the new Toyota 3S engine, One of the most reliable and fun power plants in the entire Toyota history.
but it was minuscule and wasn't very competitive. What it lacked in might, though, it made up for in being able to take abuse. and so TRD America and Gurney set about abusing it. They would redesign almost every inch of the block, bolt two angry turbos to it and push its limits so hard that it would break dynos.
Together they created the 503E, one of the nastiest, sharpest little daggers of fuel, fire and ferocity ever created. Gurney's 503E powered Eagle MK III took home 21 of 27 trophies in its short GTP run. Their domination made every other competitor drop out and Say It with Me ruined the series forever. Boy, I repeat myself a lot. Need more proof? Ask Rod Millen. If you don't know the name.
You should listen up because Rod is a Kiwi rally racing God. And in 1994, he took a machine that sorta looked like a Toyota Celica to a mountain road in Colorado. There, he turned the key in his ignition Revved the mighty 503E Wrestled it up 156 turns breathed its turbos at over 14,000ft, and shattered the record of the climb up Pikes Peak by 40 seconds Rod Millen. That Celica and the 503 E held the record for 13 Hecking years. Hell, they had to pave the road for anyone to even come close.
The racing prepped 503E would make upwards of 250 horsepower per liter without even breaking a sweat, and oftentimes a lot more. The engines that powered Rod Millen's and Dan Gurney's race cars were putting down between 600 and 1000 horsepower on the track, and reportedly around to above 1000ft pounds of torque. Now, yes, it's a race engine.
It doesn't have to survive daily driving like a production car does. But the 503 E was reportedly one of the most reliable race engines a team could ask for, happily sucking down nearly endless amounts of boost through its two turbos, revving up to 8500 rpm for hours and hours in endurance racing. And Rod Millen and the other team owners report they never had to do much more than change the oil. Over its lifespan, the 503E would power a number of cars without issue. It would win endurance races, sprint races, dirt races, tarmac races.
The 503E would just win. And if you ask me, the humble little two liter 503E is the Toyota engine that deserves all of the love that the 2JZ gets. But sadly, maybe because of its American DNA, it never gets the respect it deserves. Either way, it was the peak of Toyota's golden age of engineering an unlimited budget, had created an engine with all of the power unfathomable reliability. And of course, none of the fat. in an era where Toyota themselves were black and blue from the punches Nissan had thrown at them, the 503E, was their secret weapon.
It was their savior. when Toyota finally mustered the courage to stand up to Nissan's Godzilla and step into the world of JGTC. There, in the GT1 class. Nissan's GT-R cast a large and heavy shadow. Toyota wanted in, and they wanted to slit that lizard's throat. So in 1994, they had a decision to make.
Sure, they could leave the 2JZ’s in their Supras and go toe to toe with Nissan's RB. I mean, with only slight modifications That 2JZ would make plenty of power. But the 2JZ was unproven.
It was thirsty and it was massive. It was akin to using a broadsword to open a beer can. heavy. Unwieldy. And my god, you might spill beer Mmmm, beer. Meanwhile, back in the States, the 503 E was winning races.
It was doing it while being minuscule, economical, reliable and with power outputs twice what the JGTC would allow. So the decision was simple Rip out the 2JZ, swap in the 503E Strip down and widen a Supra chassis and set it on top of the suspension and brakes of their successful, but now retired, TS010 Group C car. What they created then was the first true JGTC supra, its suspension, proven in Group C racing, and its claws sharpened on American racetracks. Now, the results in the 94 season weren't immediately lucrative, but they were promising. Nissan, of course, would continue to steamroll Toyota and everyone else throughout the year, and it was annoying as hell. and so for the 95 season, they committed to taking the GT-R down.
And to do so they would need help from a friend named Tom. Way, way back in 1964, at the second Japanese Grand Prix. A young man watched Datsun Fairladys and Porsche's battle for position around Tsukuba’s winding blacktop. And the sight of it all, the smell of the oil, the sound of the engines.
Inspired a young man named Nobuhide Tachi It also made him sick. As a kid, Tachi hated cars and riding in them made him nauseous. but watching Japan's finest racers competing for podium spots flipped a switch in young Tachi Shortly after that race, he would get his driver's license and be behind the wheel of a car for the first time. There, in control of the machine himself, managing its momentum and directing it through corners. He was no longer carsick. In fact, he was in heaven.
[It's a miracle!] Only a year later, he would see his first automotive competition, and a few short years after that, he would begin a lifelong relationship with Toyota as he signed on as a factory driver. In 1971. And then say it with me. The oil crisis.
Yuck. By 1973, racing cars that burned expensive gasoline was getting harder and harder to justify. But Tachi wasn't ready to give up his new passion.
Rather than relying on being picked from one of the few racing teams left to drive for, he just started one of his own. teaming up with a Toyota dealership engineer, Kiyoshi Oiwa. They formed Tachi Oiwa Motorsports or, Tom’s. Tom's would stay competitive while resources were sparse. Their team would push small output engines to their very fullest, and right out of the gate would be winning races in their KP 47 starlet.
The Tom's Starlet would dominate for three seasons in Japanese touring car racing. At the time, a struggling Toyota had all but withdrawn from racing competition. But Tachi and Oiwa rubbing Nissan's face in the sand and their diminutive starlet convinced them to make Tom's a factory racing effort.
Having a new business daddy meant that the Tom's team could really ramp up their efforts. And together, Tom's and Toyota would bring the fight to Nissan and the world. Throughout the 80s and 90s.
From winning Group C races to getting on the podium in Le Mans their partnership was pivotal to Toyota's motorsports efforts. From then on. So it was that when Toyota wanted to go full force for the 95 season of JGTC, they called on their best partners and Tom's was at the top.
GET FUNKY! GET FUNKY! For the 95 season. Toyota fully committed to JGTC. To do so, they would back four factory teams. Number eight.
Team FET Power Craft Number 38 Team Cerumo Number 39 Team Sard And number 36 team Tom’s. all four vying to be the first to bring Toyota to the JGTC podium. The teams had spent the offseason testing and measuring themselves against Nissans R32. Ready to come to JGTC and take Godzilla head on. But their hearts must have sank as they arrived at Suzuka for the first race of the 95 season. There, parked on the grid was a new monster, a bigger monster, the R33 GT-R.
with its predecessor being such a dominant force. Expectations were sky high for the next generation of GT-R. Nissan knew how to build champions, and this was no different. On the streets, the new production model GT-R was sleeker, with less drag and less lift. It was stiffer, reinforced with rigidity, nearly doubled.
This, along with a number of other updates to the R 32, meant that the R 33 GT-R was a full 20 seconds faster around Nurburgring than its older brother. And there it was at Suzuka. Stripped down, widened and unchained, staring the Toyota teams in the face with bloody teeth and fiery confidence. The JOMO R33, clad in green and white, was the car to beat, but it wouldn't be alone.
There would be a total of seven GT-Rs at that debut race. Most of them, though, were the R32 from the previous year's JGTC. All of them were unbeatable monsters driven by unbeatable men. The standout among them was the iconic Unisia Jecs R32 This was the team that dominated group A with their GT-R, and they had come to the JGTC to do the same. The car was piloted by none other than Masahiro Hasemi, Nissan’s factory driver since 1964 and two time champion of JTTC in the R 32 GT-R.
He was a Japanese racing demon and his blood bled for Nissan. Hasemi would take the pole position that day, slightly edging ahead of Nissan's new R 33 car, an embarrassing the best Supra lap by nearly a full second. The best Toyota teams could muster was a fifth place start.
Jeff Krosnoff would start the race with a familiar view. Staring at the tail lights of three GT-Rs, It mattered not, Krosnoff, his team at SARD and the folks back at Toyota were still optimistic as race day came about. Also optimistic was Team Toms, who were vital in the development of every supra on the grid and whose driver, Masanori Sekiya had been driving for Team Toms in Le Mans for a decade.
As the race got underway, things didn't look good for the Toyota's Sekiya’s Supra failed to start for the parade lap. and as the race began, Hasemi and his GT-R took a commanding lead, followed by two more GT-Rs, all confident that they would dominate the day's podium. Krosnoff’s Supra would duke it out with the Calsonic R32.
But Kageyama’s JGTC experience would have him putting the supra far behind him. Kageyama would even overtake the new R33 and chase down Hasemi. by the end of the race. By the end of the race, It was a dramatic battle that would get all of the attention. Two champions battling for the top spot was exciting, but more interesting was the battle for third.
There, Krosnoff and his supra had gone toe to toe with Nissan. and emerged victorious. Third place for the first time in JGTC history, a Toyota driver would taste champagne. the other supra, weren't far behind either Team Toms and Team Cerumo We're just a couple of seconds behind the R33 GT-R at the end of the two hour race. The mood around the JGTC had changed. Toyota had come to fight Godzilla and they had come correct.
Round two at Fuji would see supras starting the race with three of the top four positions, and mostly Porsche's, not GT-R in the pack around them. In one of the most, crash filled the flame splitting rounds of JGTC history, nothing went as planned for Toyota. And by race's end, Porsche's were now duking it out with GT-R as the supra fell far behind. So far, the season was full of surprises.
R33s losing to R32s. Supras nipping at their heels and Porsches threatening to beat everyone. As the JGTC Carnival came to Sendai Circuit for round three, no one knew what to expect. After a contentious qualifying round where mere tenths of a second separated pole position from the top five in the pack. It was Porsche GT-R and supra ready to tear at each other's throats as the green flag dropped at Sendai. Erik Comas in the Cerumo Supra sprinted ahead of the pack as the Porsche suffered a bad start.
But all eyes quickly turned to another Toyota. the Toms team may have started back in the pack. as the race went on, they were hunting down GT-Rs and 911s. None were spared in their angry hunt for the top spot. Not even teammate Erik Comas and his older supra, who would be shunted and ultimately robbed of glory as the Toms Supra crossed the finish line first. As the dust settled and the cameras turned towards the podium celebration for the first time, Toyota's drivers would be towering above the Nissan teams.
Finally, Toyota had seen Nissan's Beast bleed. And then, in a flash, it was back to business as usual, with few upsets for the rest of the season. Nissan would resume podium dominance. Sure, Toyota had won a battle, but Nissan would predictably win the war and take home championship bragging rights once again. Still, a crack had formed in the armor of Nissan, and Toyota's team saw the light of a JGTC win as they looked ahead to the 96 season. A newfound optimism might have started to blossom, but it was quickly tempered they saw the competition they'd be facing for the new year Nissan would bring back.
Their R33 GT-R in full force on every team. But now, with a year of racing under their belts, it would be faster, it would be more reliable, and it would be deadlier. the familiar faces of rider Kunimitsu and Keiichi Tsuchiya would be stepping out of Germany's mighty sports car, the 911, into Japan's newest supercar, the Honda NSX, a perfectly balanced, mid-engine fighter jet that likely struck fear into every GT-R and Supra team in the pit lane. Sure, the first two years of JGTC had gotten off to a rocky start, with Nissan continuing to ruin the fun the same way it had been doing for decades.
But 1996 was shaping up to be the greatest year of Japanese racing yet. All eyes on the big three NSX, GT-R, supra. Three Japanese titans that were prepared to fight and scratch and claw each other's throats for the title of King of Japanese Racing. Nothing could stand in their way. Nothing. Except perhaps the greatest car ever made.
Every year, the competition in JGTC increased exponentially. Teams would keep trying to step up to the level of Nissans dominant GT-R And the JAF kept changing the rules to try to keep things competitive and, you know, keep everything fun. What had remained consistent was the stringent horsepower limits of the two classes, which for 1996 had been renamed from GT1 and GT2 to the much cooler sounding GT 300 and GT 500. Toyota, who had started seeing victories the previous season, weren't about to rest on their laurels And so they updated the 503E this new model. Was the 171F. An evolution of the 503E battered and abused in some of the most demanding racing on the planet.
The WRC. 171F was the 503 E, but just a tad bit smaller. But it was 20 kilos lighter.
It had proven itself worthy in the WRC Corolla, and it would power the new lineup of JGTC Supras The only thing missing was the sketchy cheat turbo system. Back in Yokohama, Nissan wasn't sitting still either. Every team in their lineup would be updated to the R 33 platform, and seeing the fire in Toyota's eyes, they also revamped and reinforced the designs to stay ahead of the field. Team Kunimitsu, with their signature red and black Porsche nine elevens, For had been competing in the 24 Hours of Lamar in between JGTC rounds, and they'd been doing it in Honda's new NSX. Kuni San and Keiichi decided that they were ready to ditch the boring old Porsche and bring the NSX to the JGTC battleground. The stage was set for a fantastic year of racing.
Everyone in Japan was ready to watch an incredible show, but unfortunately, a few pompous racing legends decided to rewrite the entire script thousands of miles away. Three men with a boatload of cash and carbon fiber had just changed the entire automotive landscape. McLaren F1 had been breaking the mold of the world's most expensive supercars, and one of its creators, Ron Dennis, was writing blank checks to have it break the rules of the world's fastest race cars to.
And unfortunately for everyone in Japan, he had set his tired, droopy eyes on the JGTC. Ron Dennis's blank check would be handed to Kazumichi Goh a Japanese man who'd been involved in Formula One since the 70s. With his pasty friends financial backing, he would open Team Go, and its first job was to show everyone in Japan that they had no idea what they were doing when it came to racing. They would do it with Gordon Murray's magnificent mid-engined masterpiece, the McLaren F1. Now in racing spec, known as the F1 GTR, It was a V12 powered god had been transported in time from ten years in the automotive future to kill all 90s race cars. It had just took home the trophy at the world's most difficult and prestigious race, the 24 Hours of Le Mans.
so taking down a couple of Nissans and Toyotas in short little races would be a cakewalk. the rule makers of the JGTC, were no idiots, though. They saw what the F1 was as it rolled into tech inspection, and they threw every disadvantage at it they could to try and slow it down. First, its V12 engine that breathes out over 600 naturally aspirated horses would be choked nearly to death, its roar restricted to just 450 horsepower, far below the 500 horsepower limit that the Gt500 class required.
Additionally, at the time, there were no factory backed mid-engined cars. Sure, there was the Taisan NSX, but it wasn't built completely out of carbon fiber and Kevlar. So the JAF would burden Team Goh with adding nearly a quarter of a ton of weight to their F1, just to make it nearly as bloated and lazy around a corner as the GT-R’s and Supras they would race against. Those limitations might have convinced any team in the JGTC to just say forget it and drop out altogether.
But Team Goh had something none of the other teams had. They had Ron Dennis and Ron Dennis had money and connections that could overpower even the most stringent of rules. That meant that Team Goh would show up to test sessions with a fleet of engineers and mechanics who had sharpened their skills in Formula One. It meant that their two F1 GTRs would be piloted not by just very good drivers, but racing royalty. Michael Schumacher's little brother Ralf would be driving the number 60 McLaren F1, and he was out to prove that his heart beat to the same rhythm as his older brother opposite Ralf in the number 61 McLaren F1 sat David Brabham, the youngest heir to Aussie Formula One racing royalty sir Jack Brabham. In both of their veins was race winning blood and in their hands was possibly the greatest sports car ever made.
almost ironically, just to really paint them as the evil Empire in this tale, they would be the only JGTC team ever to be sponsored by tobacco. Their cars were shrouded in black and red livery to represent Lark Cigarets, an American cancer brand that absolutely dominated the chain smoking landscape of 90s Japan. It's kind of crazy to picture what must have been going through Masonori Sekiya’s mind as he gridded up for the opening race in 1996, his hands gripping the wheel of the number 36 supra, which was a magnificent machine.
It was the combined effort of TRD, Toms and Cerumo its power plant, now more capable than ever. And its suspension and chassis honed over hard fought battles in JGTC. only a year earlier, Sekiya had been the first Japanese driver to win Le Mans And he did it in that very same McLaren F1 that was now lined up against him. He knew how light it was. He knew how fast it was.
He knew how deep the pockets of McLaren were. No restrictor plates or added weight were going to matter that F1 was too funky fast. Sekiya and the rest of the drivers on the grid would do their best to beat it, but the results were just predictable. were six races in JGTC that year from Suzuka to MINE Every single one of them Would start with a McLaren leading the pack. Nissan's R33’s were still unbalanced.
the new NSX, despite being the world's most reliable supercar, was proving to be pretty unreliable on a racetrack. And even though the Supras were in top form, fast, nimble and fiercely capable, none of Toyota's best could stop the British tidal wave that was McLaren. That's not to say it wasn't a fantastic year of racing. Hard battles were fought. They were just always fought for third place.
When the dust settled, Godzilla had finally been struck down, but its reign had ended in the worst way. Billionaires from Britain took home the biggest trophy in Japanese racing. The best Japan could muster was the Castrol team and third place. But everyone knew that it was only because there wasn't a third McLaren.
As the champagne dried, McLaren teams polished the shiny trophies, packed up the race cars and left. Depending on who you ask, Ron Dennis either thought we do what we came here to do. Let's go home. Or JAF Officials slapped So many disadvantages on the dominating F1 GTR for the upcoming season that they got the message. This is a Japanese racing series for Japanese racing cars.
We don't want you here. So far. The entire reason the JAF had started JGTC to bring back a level playing field to racing in Japan had kind of failed miserably. If it wasn't Nissan dominating, it was some foreigner.
No matter what, someone was ruining everyone's day at the playground. But maybe, just maybe, McLaren shakeup was just what the series needed to wake everyone up. Lessons learned from watching formula one teams wipe the floor with them would make Nissan, Toyota and Honda sharpen their weapons and step up to the task of proper competitive racing. I mean, if you just ignore that the F1 was there at all. Nissan and Toyota had duked it out, and Toyota had actually beaten their rival for the first time. It was just for second place.
And second place doesn't mean sheep You're just the fastest loser. So thankfully, in 1997, with the McLarens out of the way, it was finally going to be Japan versus Japan. GT-R, NSX, supra. and well, some Porsches. But who really cares about them? Lessons had been learned and hurdles had been pushed out of the way.
It was time for the greatest year of Japanese racing ever. In the late 90s, Japan was a nation in turmoil. Stuck in the middle of the Lost Decade strangled by debt, failing wages and stagnant economic growth. in 1997, if you walk down the pit lane of the JGTC, you'd never know it. There in those garages were Japan's finest car brands Toyota, Nissan, Honda, all with their best engineers working on some of the most expensive racing machines Japan had ever created. Legendary drivers stood ready to fight tooth and nail to take home the most coveted title of Japan JGTC champion.
The spirit of competition was alive in Japan and everyone brought their A-game. Likely because they had sort of technically lost to Toyota in the previous season. Nissan put their full weight behind the Zexel and KURE teams. And had given them the R33 GT-R chassis tuned to near perfection. Nissan's new iteration of the RB26DETT was so powerful It would push the competition GT-R to 60mph in just a hair over two seconds, meaning that even if someone else got the pole position, it likely be in second place by turn one. they not only just perfected their machines, they'd revise their driver lineup in a nefarious way.
Erik Comas, French Formula One driver and the Supra driver that took the third place spot in the previous year's championship, had defected from Toyota and was now piloting the Zexel GT-R. The bastard Not to be outdone, Toyota had stolen one of theirs as well. Among the three Castrol Supra competing in 1997. Masonori Sekiya’s new copilot would be Toshio Suzuki, who last year was piloting KURE’s GT-R. For 1996, a total of six supra would compete in Gt500.
Team 5Zigen, Driven by Eiichi Tajima and Marc Goossens Team Sard in the hands of Olivier Grouillard and Masami Kageyama. Team power craft driven by, well, a bunch of drivers. And of course, Team Castrol who had three cars, two feel the by Toms and one by Cerumo The Cerumo Supra, who had been the fastest supra in 1996, Had, of course, lost Erik Comas and would now be driven by his teammate. Hironori Takeuchi and Katsutomo Kaneishi Their number would also change from number 37 to 38. The new number 37 would be the Tom Supra of Sekiya and Suzuki and Michael Krumm and Pedro de la Rosa would handle number 36. Honda would now officially enter the JGTC with the new Mugen Dome NSX race car, but sadly it failed to make it to the opening race and would suffer bad luck throughout the season and never really compete.
rest of the grid in 1997 was pretty wildly diverse and sorta worth mentioning. From the JLOC Diablo, A v8 powered Le Mans Winning 300ZX GTS A Chevy Camaro would make an attempt, and even Keiichi Tsuchiya would pilot a Dodge Viper. Wild. None of them mattered, though, because all eyes were on the rivalry between Toyota and Nissan.
as the green flag dropped in Suzuka. It was a dramatic opening competition. Nissans bounced off each other, black flags waved, unfortunately, supra number 36 would suffer mechanical trouble and drop out of the race, leaving a wide open lane for the traitorous Erik Comas to take the top spot in his Zexel GT-R. It was the 100th win for a GT-R and signaled that perhaps this season too would be a Nissan blowout. But as the championship carried on, rivalry heated up and not between Nissan and Toyota. No. It was to be a war between the Supras In round two at Fuji, the Nissan drivers would have a new experience.
They would start the race looking at tail lights. A lot of tail lights. Five Supras took the top qualifying spots ahead of any GT-R. The battle for the top was fierce, with GT-R catching up in wet conditions and falling behind as the track dried after 66 hard fought laps. It would be Sard Toyota at the top.
Zexel’s GT-R and the number 36 supra were close behind. Toyota's drivers had started to outnumber Nissans on the podium, and they liked it. By the third race, it became clear that the terms of JGTC had changed. Nissan was now taking punches and they didn't know how to fight back. The race in Sendai was a nail biter, with supra off to a good start, but Comas and Suzuki in the Zexel GT-R hot on their heels. The Zexel team were proving to be incredibly consistent.
Sekiya in number 37, would get cut from the inside and fall far behind. It would seem that the Zexel team were going to run away with race number three, But as the Zexel team came into the pits for a tire change, Castrol's number 36 car had come screaming up from the back of the pack and was now planted inches behind the GT-R for the final laps. In some of the closest racing in JGTC history, Krumm would deftly dance around the Zexel GT-R and eventually emerge as the winner of round three. When the JGTC returned to Fuji for round four. There was a new energy in the air. No longer were Nissans ruining everything, and Toyota's drivers were having a race of their own.
This time it was team Sard who would take the checkered flag, with Krumm and De la Rosa close behind in second. Their championship points now separated by razor thin margins. The Zexels team's consistency finally came to an end. as they suffered a huge loss, finishing in 10th.
The team at Nissan saw their grasp on the championship slipping away, and we can probably assume Erik Comas started to regret his decision to join the dark side. By the middle of the season, Godzilla had been tamed and now Mothra and King Ghidorah were fighting for control of Japan. This was now not a fight to be better than Nissan, but to be the best Toyota tuner. Team Sard was a poetic rival to the Toms crew, as they had a nearly identical upbringing. A small team started in the oil crisis and eventually taken under the wing of Big Toyota in order to beat Nissan.
For round five at MINE circuit, the Zexel would get in a rumble with a Porsche and never recover. The Cerumo Supra would go for an overtake and take out the KURE GT-R, and the Sard supra would get taken out by Keiichi and his silly STP Viper. With every heavy hitter out of the race, the path to victory for number 36 was clear, and with that win, Sard, supra and the number 36 Castrol Supra went into the final round. Neck and neck. do have complete confidence to be a winner.
As difficult in this condition to say what's going to happen. But, I think we have a chance. But we try to finish the race and we see where we are. And thank you very much. Almost as if the racing gods wanted me to tell this story.
Decades later. did everything in their power to turn the drama knob up to 11. For the final round. scores between number 36 and number 39 were nearly even in points, though the Castrol team had a slight lead. final round would be a tie breaker. And on race day would be covered in water as rain poured from the sky.
Mechanics checked every nut and bolt twice. Toyota's drivers prepared for the race of their lives. And Nissan probably watched with clenched fists This was going to be Toyota's year, and there was little they could do to stop it. The green flag drops, and it's the Raybrig NSX that shot out to the lead and then immediately spun. Among the top three spots are two Supras But the two in contention for the title sit way back in seventh and eighth place. Kageyama in the number 39, Sard, Supra know and Krumm in the Castrol number 36.
Duke it out in the opening laps. It doesn't matter what happens on the track. The television cameras rarely cut away from the battle. Perhaps because of the wet conditions or perhaps because they were just bitter. Zexel’s GT-R gives Kageyama a slight bump early in the race. Nearly sending him into a spin, but thankfully Kageyama was able to save it.
His lead, though ahead of Krumm, had all but disappeared. Later in the race, karma would have its day as the Zexel GT-R is taken out by their Calsonic teammate. Both championship contention Supras actually kind of drove pretty slow at the start. Neither one wanting to make a mistake in the rain that would cost them the coveted title. But then the sun came out and disaster would strike. as the track dried out, Krumm’s Supra pitched sideways into a spin as he struggled to predict traction.
He recovered quickly, but Krumm had now fallen back to 12th position with a third of the race behind him. Gone now were any conservative driving tactics. Krumm would hunt down anyone in front of him as quickly as he could, and was soon within striking distance of the Sard Supra again.
as the two cars flew nose to tail down the back straight, Kageyama tried to defend his position from Krumm, But Krumm was on the inside as they screamed towards turn one. Kageyama decides to cut him off at the pass, but instead hits Krumm, sending number 36 off the track and heavily damaging the suspension. The Castrol team, fearing the worst but never giving up, worked fast to replace the damaged wheel and tire.
as the pitstop went on and on. The mood around the Toms pit was bleak. A few laps later, Sard supra would pit in as well.
A quick stop and a driver change in the Sard team were about to cruise into the championship lead. But those racing gods had decided that this race was not over. As the Sard team pitted in, their teams struggled to remove the wheel that had contacted Krumm.
the time lost in the pit cost them valuable positions, and the damage suffered in the crash seems to have taken its toll. The Sard supra now piloted by Tatsuya Tanigawa, can't seem to catch up to the pack and to become the champion they need sixth place or better. Meanwhile, the damage on number 36 proves not to be fatal. And De La Rosa pilots it back onto the track.
Team Tom’s just needs to finish, and Sard needs to get seventh place or worse. And they will be crowned champion that day. Team Sard continues to struggle to put down solid laps with their damaged supra and even suffers a spin late in the race, which drops them further from the winning spot. as the race goes on, the weather like team Sard’s spirits, begins to darken.
the track gets wet and Tanigawa falls further and further down the standings. Until eventually he goes off the track and never returns. with no one left within points position, a broken, battered, taped together number 36 crosses the finish line. A winner. 15th place in a race, but number one in the War of the 1997 season. Toyota and Team Toms had just won the JGTC.
I really thought we lost because of the the incident. So I'm. When I cross the line, I saw 97 P1 and I thought it was uh, it was for our teammates But actually it was for us so I am really really happy Really today we got lucky.
But on the first round we were very unlucky. So I think it balanced out. It had been 30 years since the rivalry between Toyota and Nissan began. And it had been three bitter decades of Toyota treading water in a sea of defeat.
But in 1997, team Tom’s Pedro de la Rosa and Michael Krumm had done it. They had gotten in the ring with Japan's heaviest hitter, fought them for years, edged out wins and suffered brutal losses, Learned their lessons. Rose up from the bloody pavement and finally knocked out Nissan. Fair and square. As the battle worn, 36 supra skidded across the finish line. It breathed its last breath to give Toyota what they had been wishing for for decades.
A shining JGTC trophy to display back home in Aichi. This victory was likely the catalyst that brought Toyota back into competitive racing. Throughout the late 90s and early 2000s with that championship title.
team at Tom's had proven to those in charge. that. Winning wasn't easy, but it was possible. quickly, though life would carry on and crews would set about preparing the racetracks for the next year of competition.
Toyota's rivals geared up for war, and as the 1998 season loomed, The air in Japan grew dense with exhaust fumes and rage. Because, you see, despite the absurd length of this video, this is only the beginning of a much, much grander tale. All The story of the JGTC itself.
When we started working on this story, thought we were just going to tell you the origin of one of the most important racing Supras ever made. But as we dove into the magazine articles, ancient forum posts and old VHS tapes, what we found was the heart of what made Japanese racing in the late 90s so powerful, so awe inspiring, so important. Yes, the JGTC machines were fantastic and their drivers were legendary. I above all, what made the JGTC magic was that it was really funky competitive.
Every lap, the driver behind you could soon be ahead. Every race, the checkered flag was never a promise. And every year, the title spot was anyone's claim. the JGTC was the culmination of Japan's golden era of automotive industry. A championship fielded by the greatest names in Japanese racing history.
Kageyama Sekiya Tsuchiya Kunimitsu and so many others all driving the most important machines in Japanese history. GT-R, NSX, RX-7 And of course, supra. This was a magic age of racing. we’re not likely to see repeated in our lifetimes. And Toyota's battle against Nissan was at the heart of it.
Unlike most of the racing stories we've told, the rise of the Toyota to the top of the JGTC is uniquely different because it is the story of real, proper racing. Because a real victory isn't dominating every race. It's about losing just enough of them to learn how to win. Most of them. Toyota's 1997 victory wasn't about just one machine. It was the shared effort of many.
It wasn't just the Tom’ Supra that won that year, was every racing car Toyota built before it. machines built out of pride for Japan. Created out of spite for the rivals and even those built for just proving a point. Every cylinder fired before powering the mighty 503E to overcome the insurmountable. This championship title wasn't about just one engineers perfect design, one driver's skilled edge, or one man's grand vision. No, it took hundreds of beating hearts, brave spirits and skilled hands to hold up that trophy.
In 1997. Powercraft 5Zigen Cerumo Sard Tom's. Each team fighting like hell to take home that title. Every driver pushing their car and their bodies to the absolute limit.
Mechanics. Engineers. Coaches. Every person in the pits. Giving whatever it takes to see their team succeed.
And of course, each and every car out there fighting tooth and nail for lap after lap. Shining examples of the humble but fierce ingenuity of Japanese racing. The story of number 36 is the story of real racing. And unlike the other tales told here on my little corner of the internet, this one didn't end with complete domination. Toyota's title didn't ruin the series. In fact, from 1998 onward, Nissan would come back with a vengeance.
Honda and their NSX would stake their claim, and the JGTC got better and better year after year. There is no end to the amount of stories to be told about that era of racing in Japan. the story of that red, white and green Toyota well, it's a pretty good start.
2024-08-16 18:09
