# 1997 Japanese Touring Car Championship

The 1997 Japanese Touring Car Championship season was the 13th edition of the series. It began at Fuji Speedway on 6 April and finished after eight events, also at Fuji Speedway on 2 November. The championship was won by Osamu Nakako, driving for Mugen Honda.

## Teams & Drivers

| Team | Car | No. | Drivers | Rounds |
| Mugen Honda | Honda Accord | 1 | Naoki Hattori | 8 |
| Object T | Toyota Corona EXiV | 11 | Takahiko Hara | All |
| Nismo | Nissan Primera GT | 12 | Kazuyoshi Hoshino | All |
| Asano Racing Service | BMW 318i | 13 | Takeo Asano | 8 |
| Mooncraft Mugen Honda | Honda Accord | 14 | Ryo Michigami | All |
| Mugen Honda | Honda Accord | 15 | Takuya Kurosawa | All |
| Mugen Honda | Honda Accord | 16 | Osamu Nakako | All |
| Endless Sport | BMW 318i | 18 | Mitsuhiro Kinoshita | 1, 8 |
| Racing Project Bandoh | Toyota Corona EXiV | 19 | Katsutomo Kaneishi | All |
| Hitotsuyama Racing | BMW 318i | 21 | Yasushi Hitotsuyama | 1, 3-5, 8 |
| Hitotsuyama Racing | BMW 318i | 21 | Mikio Hitotsuyama | 2, 6-7 |
| Object T | Toyota Corona EXiV | 22 | Hidetoshi Mitsusada | 8 |
| Nismo | Nissan Primera GT | 23 | Satoshi Motoyama | All |
| Tsuchiya Engineering | Toyota Chaser | 24 | Keiichi Tsuchiya | 8 |
| Tsuchiya Engineering | Toyota Corona EXiV | 25 | Masami Kageyama | All |
| Mooncraft Mugen Honda | Honda Accord | 33 | Hideki Okada | All |
| Auto Tech Racing | BMW 318i | 35 | Akihiko Nakaya | 5-6 |
| Toyota Team TOM's | Toyota Chaser | 36 | Masanori Sekiya | All |
| Toyota Team TOM's | Toyota Corona EXiV | 37 | Michael Krumm | 1-4 |
| Toyota Team TOM's | Toyota Chaser | 37 | Michael Krumm | 5-8 |
| Toyota Team Cerumo | Toyota Chaser | 38 | Hironori Takeuchi | All |
| Toyota Team Cerumo | Toyota Corona EXiV | 39 | Juan Manuel Silva | 1-6 |
| Toyota Team Cerumo | Toyota Chaser | 39 | Juan Manuel Silva | 7-8 |
| Dandelion Racing | Toyota Corona EXiV | 68 | Tetsuya Tanaka | All |
| Team Something | Toyota Corolla AE110 | 72 | Masahiro Matsunaga | 1-6, 8 |
| Team Something | Toyota Corolla AE110 | 72 | Minoru Tanaka | 7 |
| HKS Opel Team Japan | Opel Vectra | 87 | Akira Iida | All |

## Calendar

| Round | Round | Circuit | Date | Pole Position | Fastest Lap | Winning driver | Winning team |
| 1 | R1 | Fuji Speedway, Shizuoka | 6 April | Satoshi Motoyama | Races cancelled due to adverse weather conditions. | Races cancelled due to adverse weather conditions. | Races cancelled due to adverse weather conditions. |
| 1 | R2 | Fuji Speedway, Shizuoka | 6 April | Ryo Michigami | Races cancelled due to adverse weather conditions. | Races cancelled due to adverse weather conditions. | Races cancelled due to adverse weather conditions. |
| 2 | R3 | TI Circuit Aida, Okayama | 11 May | Osamu Nakako | Satoshi Motoyama | Takuya Kurosawa | Mugen Honda |
| 2 | R4 | TI Circuit Aida, Okayama | 11 May | Osamu Nakako | Osamu Nakako | Osamu Nakako | Mugen Honda |
| 3 | R5 | Sportsland SUGO, Miyagi | 25 May | Michael Krumm | Kazuyoshi Hoshino | Michael Krumm | Toyota Team TOM's |
| 3 | R6 | Sportsland SUGO, Miyagi | 25 May | Michael Krumm | Hideki Okada | Kazuyoshi Hoshino | Nismo |
| 4 | R7 | Suzuka Circuit, Mie | 8 June | Takuya Kurosawa | Takuya Kurosawa | Takuya Kurosawa | Mugen Honda |
| 4 | R8 | Suzuka Circuit, Mie | 8 June | Takuya Kurosawa | Satoshi Motoyama | Satoshi Motoyama | Nismo |
| 5 | R9 | Mine Central Circuit, Yamaguchi | 13 July | Satoshi Motoyama | Osamu Nakako | Osamu Nakako | Mugen Honda |
| 5 | R10 | Mine Central Circuit, Yamaguchi | 13 July | Satoshi Motoyama | Ryo Michigami | Osamu Nakako | Mugen Honda |
| 6 | R11 | Sendai Hi-Land Raceway, Miyagi | 7 September | Akira Iida | Kazuyoshi Hoshino | Satoshi Motoyama | Nismo |
| 6 | R12 | Sendai Hi-Land Raceway, Miyagi | 7 September | Akira Iida | Kazuyoshi Hoshino | Akira Iida | HKS Opel Team Japan |
| 7 | R13 | Tokachi International Speedway, Hokkaidō | 21 September | Satoshi Motoyama | Michael Krumm | Takuya Kurosawa | Mugen Honda |
| 7 | R14 | Tokachi International Speedway, Hokkaidō | 21 September | Takuya Kurosawa | Ryo Michigami | Takuya Kurosawa | Mugen Honda |
| 8 | R15 | Fuji Speedway, Shizuoka | 2 November | Naoki Hattori | Osamu Nakako | Osamu Nakako | Mugen Honda |
| 8 | R16 | Fuji Speedway, Shizuoka | 2 November | Naoki Hattori | Naoki Hattori | Kazuyoshi Hoshino | Nismo |

## Championship Standings

Points were awarded 15, 12, 9, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1 to the top 10 finishers in each race, with no bonus points for pole positions or fastest laps. Drivers would have counted their best 12 scores, but with the cancellation of the first two races of the season, only the ten best were counted.
| Pos | Driver | FUJ | FUJ | AID | AID | SUG | SUG | SUZ | SUZ | MIN | MIN | SEN | SEN | TOK | TOK | FUJ | FUJ | Pts |
| 1 | Osamu Nakako | C | C | 2 | 1 | 8 | Ret | 4 | 5 | 1 | 1 | 4 | 10 | Ret | 2 | 1 | Ret | 107 |
| 2 | Takuya Kurosawa | C | C | 1 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 1 | 2 | Ret | 6 | 7 | 6 | 1 | 1 | 10 | 4 | 102 |
| 3 | Satoshi Motoyama | C | C | 4 | 2 | 3 | 3 | Ret | 1 | DSQ | 3 | 1 | Ret | 2 | 4 | 6 | DSQ | 100 |
| 4 | Kazuyoshi Hoshino | C | C | 6 | 14 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 6 | 4 | 11 | 2 | Ret | 3 | Ret | 8 | 1 | 95 |
| 5 | Ryo Michigami | C | C | 3 | 3 | Ret | Ret | 5 | 4 | 2 | 2 | 13 | 2 | 5 | 3 | 5 | 12 | 88 |
| 6 | Masami Kageyama | C | C | 5 | 6 | 9 | 8 | 3 | 3 | 5 | 7 | 5 | 7 | 6 | 11 | 4 | 13 | 61 |
| 7 | Katsutomo Kaneishi | C | C | Ret | 10 | Ret | 7 | 11 | 10 | 3 | 14 | Ret | 5 | 4 | 5 | 3 | 3 | 52 |
| 8 | Akira Iida | C | C | 10 | Ret | 4 | 5 | 6 | Ret | Ret | DNS | 3 | 1 | 12 | DNS | 13 | Ret | 43 |
| 9 | Hironori Takeuchi | C | C | 9 | 5 | 6 | 9 | 7 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 8 | 4 | 8 | 8 | 11 | 6 | 43 |
| 10 | Michael Krumm | C | C | 7 | 9 | 1 | Ret | 10 | Ret | 6 | 4 | Ret | DNS | Ret | 10 | 12 | Ret | 35 |
| 11 | Juan Manuel Silva | C | C | 8 | 13 | 7 | 2 | 13 | 8 | Ret | 12 | 6 | Ret | Ret | 7 | 16 | Ret | 31 |
| 12 | Hideki Okada | C | C | 12 | Ret | Ret | 4 | 8 | Ret | Ret | 5 | 9 | Ret | 11 | 9 | 7 | 5 | 30 |
| 13 | Masanori Sekiya | C | C | 13 | 7 | 11 | Ret | 12 | 9 | Ret | DNS | Ret | 3 | 9 | 6 | 18 | 8 | 25 |
| 14 | Naoki Hattori | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | 2 | 2 | 24 |
| 15 | Tetsuya Tanaka | C | C | 11 | 8 | 10 | 10 | 16 | 11 | 7 | Ret | Ret | 8 | Ret | DNS | 9 | Ret | 14 |
| 16 | Takahiko Hara | C | C | 15 | 11 | Ret | 13 | 9 | Ret | Ret | 10 | 11 | DNS | 7 | 12 | 15 | 7 | 11 |
| 17 | Akihiko Nakaya | | | | | | | | | Ret | 8 | Ret | DNS | | | | | 3 |
| 18 | Masahiro Matsunaga | C | C | 14 | 12 | 12 | 11 | 14 | 12 | 9 | 15 | 10 | Ret | | | NC | Ret | 3 |
| 19 | Mikio Hitotsuyama | | | 16 | Ret | | | | | | | 12 | 9 | 13 | 14 | | | 2 |
| 20 | Mitsuhiro Kinoshita | C | C | | | | | | | | | | | | | Ret | 9 | 2 |
| 21 | Yasushi Hitotsuyama | C | C | | | 13 | 12 | 15 | 13 | 10 | 13 | | | | | DNS | 11 | 1 |
| 22 | Minoru Tanaka | | | | | | | | | | | | | 10 | 13 | | | 1 |
| 23 | Keiichi Tsuchiya | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | 14 | 10 | 1 |
| 24 | Takeo Asano | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | 17 | Ret | 0 |
| NC | Hidetoshi Mitsusada | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | Ret | DNS | 0 |
| Pos | Driver | FUJ | FUJ | AID | AID | SUG | SUG | SUZ | SUZ | MIN | MIN | SEN | SEN | TOK | TOK | FUJ | FUJ | Pts |
| Colour | Result |
| Gold | Winner |
| Silver | Second place |
| Bronze | Third place |
| Green | Points finish |
| Blue | Non-points finish |
| Blue | Non-classified finish (NC) |
| Purple | Retired (Ret) |
| Red | Did not qualify (DNQ) |
| Red | Did not pre-qualify (DNPQ) |
| Black | Disqualified (DSQ) |
| White | Did not start (DNS) |
| White | Withdrew (WD) |
| White | Race cancelled (C) |
| Blank | Did not practice (DNP) |
| Blank | Did not arrive (DNA) |
| Blank | Excluded (EX) |