The 2003 All Japan Grand Touring Car Championship was the eleventh season of Japan Automobile Federation GT premiere racing. It was marked as well as the twenty-first season of a JAF-sanctioned sports car racing championship dating back to the All Japan Sports Prototype Championship. The GT500 class champions of 2003 were the #23 Xanavi NISMO Nissan Skyline GT-R team driven by Satoshi Motoyama and Michael Krumm and the GT300 class champions were the #3 Hasemi Motorsports Nissan Fairlady Z driven by Masataka Yanagida and Mitsuhiro Kinoshita, neither of which had won a single race during the course of the season.

The 2003 season saw the introduction of a comprehensive overhaul of the series' vehicle regulations.[1][2] Manufacturers could now cut away the production vehicle's mainframe and replace the front and rear structures with pipe frame structures, which had also allowed for further suspension development.[2] The engine could now be mounted freely in any position or any orientation, and the transmission could now be mounted freely in any position, allowing for the introduction of transaxle units.[2] The size of the rear diffuser was reduced, and the underbody of the car had to be fitted with a flat bottom floor.[2]

Toyota had fitted their GT500 Supra with a 5.2 litre version of the naturally-aspirated 3UZ-FE V8 engine to replace the four-cylinder 3S-GTE. Honda retained the 3.5 litre C32B V6 engine, which was now mounted longitudinally behind the cockpit.[2] Nissan changed from the RB26DETT inline-six cylinder engine to the VQ30DETT V6 engine in the middle of 2002, and retained the lighter aluminium-block engine into 2003.

Drivers and teams

GT500

Team Make Car Engine No. Drivers Tyre Rounds
Esso Toyota Team LeMans Toyota Toyota Supra Toyota 3UZ-FE 5.2 L V8 1 Japan Akira Iida B All
Japan Juichi Wakisaka All
Autobacs Racing Team Aguri Honda Honda NSX Honda C32B 3.5 L V6 8 Japan Keiichi Tsuchiya B All
Japan Toshihiro Kaneishi 1–3, 5–8
Japan Katsutomo Kaneishi 4
Calsonic Team Impul Nissan Nissan Skyline GT-R Nissan VQ30DETT 3.0 L Twin Turbo V6 12 Japan Yuji Ide B All
France Benoît Tréluyer All
G'Zox Mugen
G'Zox Dome Racing Team 		Honda Honda NSX Honda C32B 3.5 L V6 16 Netherlands Tom Coronel B All
Japan Daisuke Ito All
Takata Dome Racing Team Honda Honda NSX Honda C32B 3.5 L V6 18 Japan Ryo Michigami B All
France Sébastien Philippe 1–6, 8
Italy Paolo Montin 7
Nismo Nissan Nissan Skyline GT-R Nissan VQ30DETT 3.0 L Twin Turbo V6 22 Japan Masami Kageyama B All
United Kingdom Richard Lyons All
23 Germany Michael Krumm All
Japan Satoshi Motoyama All
Team Advan Tsuchiya Toyota Toyota Supra Toyota 3UZ-FE 5.2 L V8 25 France Jérémie Dufour Y All
Japan Seiji Ara 1, 3–8
Japan Hideki Noda 2
Project Mu Kraft Toyota Toyota Supra Toyota 3UZ-FE 5.2 L V8 35 Japan Naoki Hattori D All
Japan Shigekazu Wakisaka All
Toyota Team TOM'S Toyota Toyota Supra Toyota 3UZ-FE 5.2 L V8 36 France Érik Comas M All
Japan Takeshi Tsuchiya All
37 Italy Marco Apicella All
Japan Takuya Kurosawa All
au Toyota Team Cerumo Toyota Toyota Supra Toyota 3UZ-FE 5.2 L V8 38 Japan Yuji Tachikawa B All
Japan Hironori Takeuchi All
Denso Toyota Team SARD Toyota Toyota Supra Toyota 3UZ-FE 5.2 L V8 39 Japan Manabu Orido Y All
Germany Dominik Schwager All
R&D Sport Vemac Vemac RD350R Zytek ZV348 3.4 L V8 62 Japan Shogo Mitsuyama D 2–6, 8
Japan Shinsuke Shibahara 2–6, 8
Mobil 1 Nakajima Racing Honda Honda NSX Honda C32B 3.5 L V6 64 Japan Tsugio Matsuda B All
Japan Takashi Kogure 1–3
Germany André Lotterer 4–8
Hitotsuyama Racing McLaren McLaren F1 GTR BMW S70/2 6.0 L V12 76 Japan Eiichi Tajima D All
Japan Yudai Igarashi 1–3
Japan Haruki Kurosawa 4–5
Japan Go Shimizu 6–8
JLOC Lamborghini Lamborghini Diablo Lamborghini L532 6.0 L V12 88 Japan Hisashi Wada D All
Japan Naohiro Furuya 1–3
Japan Koji Yamanishi 4–8
Raybrig Team Kunimitsu with Mooncraft Honda Honda NSX Honda C32B 3.5 L V6 100 Japan Hiroki Katoh B All
Japan Hidetoshi Mitsusada All

GT300

Team Make Car Engine No. Drivers Tyre Rounds
Verno Tokai Dream28 Honda Honda NSX Honda C32B 3.4 L V6 2 Japan Kazuho Takahashi Y All
Japan Akira Watanabe All
Hasemi Motorsport Nissan Nissan Fairlady Z Nissan VQ35DE 3.5 L V6 3 Japan Mitsuhiro Kinoshita Y All
Japan Masataka Yanagida All
Team B-1 Vemac Vemac RD320R Honda C32B 3.4 L V6 5 Japan Tetsuji Tamanaka Y All
Japan "Gō Mifune" All
RE Amemiya Racing Mazda Mazda RX-7 Mazda RE20B 2.0 L 3-rotor 7 Japan Nobuteru Taniguchi Y All
Japan Takayuki Ohi All
A&S Racing Mosler Mosler MT900R Chevrolet LS1 6.2 L V8 9 Japan Katsuhiko Tsutsui Y All
Japan Ichijo Suga 1–5, 7–8
Japan Naohiro Furuya 6
Team LeyJun RGS RGS Mirage GT-1 Chevrolet LS1 5.7 L V8 10 Japan "OSAMU" D 1–6
Japan Shinichi Kurashima 1–3
Japan Tatsuya Mizutani 4
Japan Naohiro Furuya 5–6
Vemac Vemac RD320R Honda C32B 3.4 L V6 63 Japan "OSAMU" 8
Japan Takamasa Nakagawa 8
Jim Gainer Racing Ferrari Ferrari 360 Ferrari F131B 3.6 L V8 11 Japan Hideshi Matsuda Y All
Japan Tetsuya Tanaka All
Amprex Motorsports Mazda Mazda RX-7 Mazda RE20B 2.0 L 3-rotor 14 Malaysia Tengku Djan Ley BF 5
Japan Tetsuya Yamano 5
BMW BMW M3 (E46) BMW M52 3.2 L I6 15 Japan Genji Hashimoto BF All
Hong Kong Charles Kwan 1–6
Japan Tetsuya Yamano 7–8
TOM'S Spirit Toyota Toyota MR-S (Rd. 1–6)
Toyota Celica (Rd. 8) 		Toyota 3S-GTE 2.0 L Turbo I4 17 Japan Masahiro Matsunaga Y 1–6, 8
Japan Masaoki Nagashima 1–6, 8
Racing Project Bandoh Toyota Toyota MR-S (Rd. 1–2)
Toyota Celica (Rd. 3–8) 		Toyota 3S-GTE 2.0 L Turbo I4 19 Japan Takayuki Aoki Y All
Japan Minoru Tanaka All
Hitotsuyama Racing BMW BMW M3 CSL BMW S50B32 3.2 L I6 21 Japan Mikio Hitotsuyama D 1
Japan Takeshi Namekawa 1–2
Japan Yasushi Hitotsuyama 2–5
Japan Haruhiko Matsumoto 3–5
Team Taisan Porsche Porsche 911 GT3-R Porsche M96/77 3.6 L F6 24 Japan Akihiro Asai Y All
Japan Atsushi Yogo 1, 3–8
United Kingdom Adam Wilcox 2
26 Japan Shinichi Yamaji All
Japan Kazuyushi Nishizawa All
Dodge Dodge Viper Competition Coupe Dodge 356-T6 8.0 L V10 55 Japan Eiji Yamada All
Japan Takayuki Kinoshita All
Team Reckless Toyota Toyota MR-S Toyota 3S-GTE 2.0 L Turbo I4 31 Japan Kota Sasaki BF All
Japan Satoshi Goto All
Dentaire ProJet Racing with apr Toyota Toyota MR-S Toyota 3S-GTE 2.0 L Turbo I4 34 Japan Seigo Nishizawa BF All
Japan Koji Matsuda All
Autobacs Racing Team Aguri ASL ASL ARTA Garaiya Nissan SR20DET 2.0 L Turbo I4 43 Japan Morio Nitta BF All
Japan Shinichi Takagi All
Auto Staff Racing Nissan Nissan Silvia (S15) Nissan SR20DET 2.0 L Turbo I4 51 Japan Naofumi Omoto Y 1–6, 8
Japan Masanobu Kato 2–8
United Kingdom Adam Wilcox 1
Japan Tsuyoshi Shirai 7
R&D Sport Porsche Porsche 911 GT3-R Porsche M96/77 3.6 L F6 61 Japan Atsushi Katsumata D 2–3, 5–6
Japan Takeyuki Kishi 2–3
Japan Keiko Ihara 5–6
Team Gaikokuya Porsche Porsche 996 GT3-RS Porsche M96/77 3.6 L F6 69 Japan Yutaka Yamagishi Y All
Japan Kei Idaka All
70 Japan Yoshimi Ishibashi D All
Japan Go Shimizu 1–4
Japan Hiroshi Wada 5, 8
Japan Isao Isashi 6–7
SigmaTec Racing Team Toyota Toyota MR-S (Rd. 1–4)
Toyota Celica (Rd. 5–8) 		Toyota 3S-GTE 2.0 L Turbo I4 71 Japan Keita Sawa D All
Japan Guts Jyonai 1–5
Japan Tatsuya Kataoka 6–7
Japan Haruki Kurosawa 8
Cusco Racing Subaru Subaru Impreza WRX STI Subaru EJ20 2.0 L Turbo F4 77 Japan Katsuo Kobayashi Y All
Japan Tatsuya Tanigawa All
Team Daishin Nissan Nissan Silvia (S15) Nissan SR20DET 2.0 L Turbo I4 81 Japan Kazuki Hoshino Y All
Japan Tadao Uematsu All
Arktech Motorsports Porsche Porsche 996 GT3 Porsche M96/77 3.6 L F6 111 Japan Hiroya Iijima D 2–6, 8
Japan Shigemitsu Haga 2–6, 8
910 Racing Porsche Porsche 996 GT3 RS Porsche M96/77 3.6 L F6 910 Japan Akira Hirakawa Y All
Japan Yasuo Miyagawa All
911 Japan Kazuyoshi Takamizawa 2, 4–6, 8
Japan Jukuchou Sunako 2, 4–6, 8

Schedule

Round Race Circuit Date
1 GT Championship in TI Japan TI Circuit March 30
2 All Japan GT Fuji 500 Japan Fuji Speedway May 4
3 SUGO GT Championship Japan Sportsland SUGO May 25
4 Malaysian JGTC in Fuji Speedway Japan Fuji Speedway July 13
5 Japan Special GT Cup Japan Fuji Speedway August 3
6 Motegi GT Championship Race Japan Twin Ring Motegi September 14
7 Japan GT in Kyushu 300 km Japan Autopolis October 26
8 Suzuka GT 300 km Japan Suzuka Circuit November 16

Season results

Round Circuit GT500 Winning Team GT300 Winning Team
GT500 Winning Drivers GT300 Winning Drivers
1 TI Circuit #1 ESSO Team LeMans Toyota Supra #24 Advan Team Taisan Porsche 996
Japan Juichi Wakisaka
Japan Akira Iida 		Japan Atsushi Yogo
Japan Akihiro Asai
2 Mt. Fuji #22 Motul NISMO Nissan Skyline GT-R #26 Advan Team Taisan Porsche 996
United Kingdom Richard Lyons
Japan Masami Kageyama 		Japan Shinichi Yamaji
Japan Kazuyuki Nishizawa
3 Sportsland SUGO #1 ESSO Team LeMans Toyota Supra #31 Team Reckless Toyota MR-S
Japan Juichi Wakisaka
Japan Akira Iida 		Japan Kota Sasaki
Japan Satoshi Goto
4 Mt. Fuji Heat 1:
#12 Calsonic Impul Nissan Skyline GT-R 		Heat 1:
#3 Hasemi Motorsports Nissan Fairlady Z
Japan Yuji Ide Japan Masataka Yanagida
Heat 2:
#12 Calsonic Impul Nissan Skyline GT-R 		Heat 2:
#11 Team Gainer Ferrari F360
France Benoît Tréluyer Japan Tetsuya Tanaka
Overall:
#12 Calsonic Impul Nissan Skyline GT-R 		Overall:
#55 Eclipse Taisan Advan Dodge Viper
Japan Yuji Ide
France Benoît Tréluyer 		Japan Eiji Yamada
Japan Takayuki Kinoshita
5 Mt. Fuji #18 Takata Dome Honda NSX #19 WedsSport Toyota Celica
Japan Ryo Michigami
France Sebastien Philippe 		Japan Takayuki Aoki
Japan Minoru Tanaka
6 Twin Ring Motegi #16 G-ZOX Dome Honda NSX #71 Sigmatech Toyota Celica
Netherlands Tom Coronel
Japan Daisuke Ito 		Japan Tatsuya Kataoka
Japan Keita Sawa
7 Autopolis #39 Denso Team SARD Toyota Supra #71 Sigmatech Toyota Celica
Japan Manabu Orido
Germany Dominik Schwager 		Japan Tatsuya Kataoka
Japan Keita Sawa
8 Suzuka Circuit #12 Calsonic Impul Nissan Skyline GT-R #19 WedsSport Toyota Celica
Japan Yuji Ide
France Benoît Tréluyer 		Japan Takayuki Aoki
Japan Minoru Tanaka

Standings

GT500 class

Drivers' standings

Scoring system
Position 1st 2nd 3rd 4th 5th 6th 7th 8th 9th 10th
Points 20 15 12 10 8 6 4 3 2 1
Qualifying 1 1 1
Fastest Lap 1 1 1
Rank Driver TAI
Japan 		FUJ
Japan 		SUG
Japan 		FUJ
Japan 		FUJ
Japan 		MOT
Japan 		AUT
Japan 		SUZ
Japan 		PTS
1 Japan Satoshi Motoyama
Germany Michael Krumm 		2 4 3 5 2 11 5 3 86
2 Japan Akira Iida
Japan Juichi Wakisaka 		1 12 1 6 4 4 4 7 83
3 Japan Masami Kageyama
United Kingdom Richard Lyons 		8 1 5 2 11 13 6 4 65
4 France Benoît Tréluyer
Japan Yuji Ide 		12 2 Ret 1 16 6 11 1 64
5 France Érik Comas
Japan Takeshi Tsuchiya 		6 10 2 7 5 2 8 8 61
6 Japan Manabu Orido
Germany Dominik Schwager 		14 3 14 3 7 7 1 9 57
7 Japan Ryo Michigami 3 Ret 7 8 1 14 Ret 2 55
France Sébastien Philippe
9 Japan Hironori Takeuchi
Japan Yuji Tachikawa 		Ret DSQ 10 4 3 9 3 13 46
10 Netherlands Tom Coronel
Japan Daisuke Ito 		4 Ret 9 12 8 1 10 11 38
11 Japan Tsugio Matsuda 5 6 8 13 9 Ret 2 12 36
12 Japan Hiroki Katoh
Japan Hidetoshi Mitsusada 		7 7 16 17 13 5 9 5 27
13 France Jérémie Dufour 10 Ret 4 14 17 3 12 Ret 35
Japan Seiji Ara
15 Japan Naoki Hattori
Japan Shigekazu Wakisaka 		9 5 6 10 10 12 7 10 24
16 Germany André Lotterer 13 9 Ret 2 12 19
17 Japan Takashi Kogure 5 6 8 17
18 Italy Marco Apicella
Japan Takuya Kurosawa 		Ret 8 13 15 6 10 13 14 15
19 Japan Keiichi Tsuchiya 11 Ret 11 11 12 8 Ret 6 9
Japan Toshihiro Kaneishi
20 Japan Eiichi Tajima 13 9 12 18 14 Ret DNP 15 2
Japan Yudai Igarashi
20 Japan Shogo Mitsuyama
Japan Shinsuke Shibahara 		11 15 9 Ret Ret 16 2
Japan Katsutomo Kaneishi 11 0
Japan Haruki Kurosawa 18 14 0
Japan Hisashi Wada 15 Ret Ret 16 15 15 Ret Ret 0
Japan Koji Yamanishi 16 15 15 Ret Ret 0
Japan Naohiro Furuya 15 Ret Ret 0
Japan Go Shimizu Ret DNP 15 0
Japan Hideki Noda Ret 0
Italy Paolo Montin Ret 0
Rank Driver TAI
Japan 		FUJ
Japan 		SUG
Japan 		FUJ
Japan 		FUJ
Japan 		MOT
Japan 		AUT
Japan 		SUZ
Japan 		PTS
Colour Result
Gold Winner
Silver Second place
Bronze Third place
Green Points finish
Blue Non-points finish
Non-classified finish (NC)
Purple Retired (Ret)
Red Did not qualify (DNQ)
Did not pre-qualify (DNPQ)
Black Disqualified (DSQ)
White Did not start (DNS)
Withdrew (WD)
Race cancelled (C)
Blank Did not practice (DNP)
Did not arrive (DNA)
Excluded (EX)

Teams' standings

For teams that entered multiple cars, only the best result from each round counted towards the teams' championship.[5]

Rank Team No. TAI
Japan 		FUJ
Japan 		SUG
Japan 		FUJ
Japan 		FUJ
Japan 		MOT
Japan 		AUT
Japan 		SUZ
Japan 		PTS
1 Nismo 22 8 1 5 2 11 13 6 4 106
23 2 4 3 5 2 11 5 3
2 Esso Toyota Team LeMans 1 1 12 1 6 4 4 4 7 83
3 Dome Racing Team 16 8 1 10 11 77
18 3 14Ret 7 8 1 14 14Ret 2
4 Toyota Team TOM'S 36 6 10 2 7 5 2 8 8 66
37 16Ret 8 13 15 6 10 13 14
5 Team Impul 12 12 2 17Ret 1 16 6 11 1 64
6 Toyota Team SARD 39 14 3 14 3 7 7 1 9 57
7 Toyota Team Cerumo 38 17DNS 18DSQ 10 4 3 9 3 13 46
8 Mobil 1 Nakajima Racing 64 5 6 8 13 9 16Ret 2 12 36
9 Team Kunimitsu with Mooncraft 100 7 7 16 17 13 5 9 5 27
10 Team Advan Tsuchiya 25 10 13Ret 4 14 17 3 12 17Ret 35
11 Kraft 35 9 5 6 10 10 12 7 10 24
12 Mugen 16 4 15Ret 9 12 13
13 Autobacs Racing Team Aguri 8 11 16Ret 11 11 12 8 15Ret 6 9
14 Hitotsuyama Racing 76 13 9 12 18 14 18Ret 15 2
14 R&D Sports 62 11 15 9 18Ret 17Ret 16 2
- JLOC 88 15 17Ret 18Ret 16 15 15 16Ret 18Ret 0
Rank Team No. TAI
Japan 		FUJ
Japan 		SUG
Japan 		FUJ
Japan 		FUJ
Japan 		MOT
Japan 		AUT
Japan 		SUZ
Japan 		PTS

GT300 class (Top 5)

Drivers

Rank Drivers Number/Team Points Wins
1 Japan Masataka Yanagida
Japan Mitsuhiro Kinoshita 		#3 Hasemi Motorsports Nissan Fairlady Z 77 0
2 Japan Keita Sawa #71 Sigmatech Toyota Celica 72 2
3 Japan Shinichi Yamaji
Japan Kazuyuki Nishizawa 		#26 Advan Team Taisan Porsche 996 72 1
4 Japan Takayuki Aoki
Japan Minoru Tanaka 		#19 WedsSport Toyota Celica 63 2
5 Japan Kota Sasaki
Japan Satoshi Goto 		#31 Team Reckless Toyota MR-S 61 1

References

  1. ^ "JGTC.net - 2001 GT INSIDE REPORT". supergt.net. Retrieved 2020-12-04.
  2. ^ a b c d e "JGTC.net | SPECIAL REPORT 2003 Vol.1". supergt.net. Retrieved 2020-12-04.
  3. ^ "2003 AUTOBACS JGTC Round 4 cancelled". Archived from the original on 10 February 2004.
  4. ^ "ハーフウェットの第1は井出が、ウェットの第2はトレルイエ！ No.12 カルソニックスカイラインが富士を完全制覇！" [Ide Takes the First Half-Wet Race, Treluyer Takes the Second Wet Race! No.12 Calsonic Skyline Completely Conquers Fuji!]. supergt.net (in Japanese). 13 July 2003. Retrieved 14 September 2022.
  5. ^ "JGTC.net | 2003 Series Ranking". supergt.net. Retrieved 2021-10-16.

External links

Japanese Sportscar Championship seasons
Categories