# 1996 Japanese Touring Car Championship

The 1996 Japanese Touring Car Championship season was the 12th edition of the series. It began at Fuji Speedway on 7 April and finished after seven events, also at Fuji Speedway on 3 November. The championship was won by Naoki Hattori, driving for Mooncraft.

## Teams & Drivers

| Team | Car | No. | Drivers | Rounds |
| HKS Opel Team Japan | Opel Vectra | 3 | Masahiro Hasemi | All |
| YTR Mazdaspeed | Mazda Lantis | 6 | Yojiro Terada | 1-2 |
| YTR Mazdaspeed | Mazda Familia | 6 | Yojiro Terada | 5-7 |
| Toyota Team FET | Toyota Corolla AE110 | 8 | Tatsuya Tanigawa | 1-4 |
| Toyota Team FET | Toyota Corolla AE110 | 8 | Morio Nitta | 5-7 |
| Mazdaspeed | Mazda Familia | 9 | Franck Fréon | All |
| Team Advan with MOGG | BMW 318i | 10 | Kazuo Mogi | 1 |
| Object T | Toyota Corona EXiV | 11 | Takahiko Hara | All |
| Team Impul | Nissan Primera P11 | 12 | Kazuyoshi Hoshino | All |
| Asano Racing Service | BMW 318i | 13 | Takeo Asano | 5, 7 |
| Mooncraft | Honda Accord | 14 | Naoki Hattori | 1-3, 5-7 |
| Nakajima Planning | Honda Accord | 15 | Takuya Kurosawa | 1-3, 5-7 |
| Castrol Mugen Honda | Honda Accord | 16 | Osamu Nakako | 1-3, 5-7 |
| Castrol Mugen Honda | Honda Accord | 33 | Ryo Michigami | 7 |
| Suzuki Bankin | Opel Vectra | 17 | Tatsuhiko Kaneumi | All |
| Endless Sport | BMW 318i | 18 | Mitsuhiro Kinoshita | All |
| Racing Project Bandoh | Toyota Corona EXiV | 19 | Katsutomo Kaneishi | All |
| Hitotsuyama Racing | BMW 318i | 20 | Takayuki Kinoshita | 7 |
| Hitotsuyama Racing | BMW 318i | 21 | Yasushi Hitotsuyama | 1-3, 7 |
| Hitotsuyama Racing | BMW 318i | 21 | Mikio Hitotsuyama | 4-6 |
| Nismo | Nissan Primera Camino P11 | 23 | Masahiko Kageyama | All |
| Nismo | Nissan Sunny | 32 | Satoshi Motoyama | 1-4 |
| Nismo | Nissan Primera Camino P11 | 32 | Satoshi Motoyama | 5-7 |
| BMS Scuderia Italia | Nissan Primera GTe | 24 | Anthony Reid | 7 |
| Tsuchiya Engineering | Toyota Corona EXiV | 25 | Masami Kageyama | All |
| Auto Tech Racing | BMW 318i | 35 | Akihiko Nakaya | All |
| Toyota Team TOM's | Toyota Corona EXiV | 36 | Masanori Sekiya | All |
| Toyota Team TOM's | Toyota Corona EXiV | 37 | Michael Krumm | All |
| Toyota Team Cerumo | Toyota Corona EXiV | 38 | Hironori Takeuchi | All |
| Toyota Team Cerumo | Toyota Corona EXiV | 39 | Érik Comas | All |
| SYMS Racing | Subaru Impreza Sport Wagon | 66 | Shunji Kasuya | 1-4, 6-7 |
| Dandelion Racing | Toyota Corona EXiV | 68 | Tetsuya Tanaka | All |
| Team Something | Toyota Corolla AE110 | 72 | Masahiro Matsunaga | 4, 7 |
| Kosei J.P. Team Pures | Ford Mondeo | 88 | Hisashi Wada | 3-7 |

## Calendar

| Round | Round | Circuit | Date | Pole Position | Fastest Lap | Winning driver | Winning team |
| 1 | R1 | Fuji Speedway, Shizuoka | 7 April | Naoki Hattori | Naoki Hattori | Naoki Hattori | Mooncraft |
| 1 | R2 | Fuji Speedway, Shizuoka | 7 April | Naoki Hattori | Naoki Hattori | Naoki Hattori | Mooncraft |
| 2 | R3 | Sportsland SUGO, Miyagi | 19 May | Naoki Hattori | Naoki Hattori | Naoki Hattori | Mooncraft |
| 2 | R4 | Sportsland SUGO, Miyagi | 19 May | Michael Krumm | Michael Krumm | Michael Krumm | Toyota Team TOM's |
| 3 | R5 | Suzuka Circuit, Mie | 2 June | Takuya Kurosawa | Takuya Kurosawa | Osamu Nakako | Castrol Mugen Honda |
| 3 | R6 | Suzuka Circuit, Mie | 2 June | Naoki Hattori | Satoshi Motoyama | Naoki Hattori | Mooncraft |
| 4 | R7 | Mine Central Circuit, Yamaguchi | 14 July | Satoshi Motoyama | Michael Krumm | Kazuyoshi Hoshino | Team Impul |
| 4 | R8 | Mine Central Circuit, Yamaguchi | 14 July | Masahiko Kageyama | Kazuyoshi Hoshino | Masahiko Kageyama | Nismo |
| 5 | R9 | Sendai Hi-Land Raceway, Miyagi | 8 September | Takuya Kurosawa | Naoki Hattori | Akihiko Nakaya | Auto Tech Racing |
| 5 | R10 | Sendai Hi-Land Raceway, Miyagi | 8 September | Takuya Kurosawa | Naoki Hattori | Takuya Kurosawa | Nakajima Planning |
| 6 | R11 | Tokachi International Speedway, Hokkaidō | 22 September | Takuya Kurosawa | Osamu Nakako | Naoki Hattori | Mooncraft |
| 6 | R12 | Tokachi International Speedway, Hokkaidō | 22 September | Naoki Hattori | Osamu Nakako | Osamu Nakako | Castrol Mugen Honda |
| 7 | R13 | Fuji Speedway, Shizuoka | 3 November | Kazuyoshi Hoshino | Anthony Reid | Érik Comas | Toyota Team Cerumo |
| 7 | R14 | Fuji Speedway, Shizuoka | 3 November | Takuya Kurosawa | Anthony Reid | Anthony Reid | BMS Scuderia Italia |

## 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 counted their ten best scores.
| Pos | Driver | FUJ | FUJ | SUG | SUG | SUZ | SUZ | MIN | MIN | SEN | SEN | TOK | TOK | FUJ | FUJ | Pts |
| 1 | Naoki Hattori | 1 | 1 | 1 | 4 | 2 | 1 | WD | WD | 4 | 2 | 1 | 2 | DSQ | DSQ | 125 |
| 2 | Osamu Nakako | 2 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 1 | 4 | WD | WD | 2 | 3 | 2 | 1 | DSQ | DSQ | 115 |
| 3 | Michael Krumm | 4 | 7 | 4 | 1 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 6 | 3 | 9 | 4 | 4 | 7 | 10 | 87 |
| 4 | Takuya Kurosawa | 3 | 4 | 10 | 7 | 5 | 2 | WD | WD | Ret | 1 | 3 | 3 | Ret | DNS | 72 |
| 5 | Masahiko Kageyama | 7 | Ret | 8 | 9 | 4 | 6 | 4 | 1 | 6 | 7 | Ret | 18 | 3 | 7 | 63 |
| 6 | Kazuyoshi Hoshino | Ret | Ret | 5 | 16 | 9 | 17 | 1 | 2 | Ret | 4 | 10 | Ret | 5 | 2 | 61 |
| 7 | Masanori Sekiya | 5 | 3 | 3 | 2 | Ret | 15 | 20 | 3 | 7 | Ret | 7 | 14 | NC | 9 | 55 |
| 8 | Érik Comas | 18 | 6 | 6 | 10 | Ret | Ret | 13 | 8 | 5 | 6 | Ret | 8 | 1 | 3 | 52 |
| 9 | Satoshi Motoyama | Ret | 8 | Ret | DNS | 8 | 7 | 8 | 9 | Ret | 5 | 6 | 5 | 4 | 4 | 46 |
| 10 | Akihiko Nakaya | 13 | 13 | 7 | Ret | Ret | Ret | 17 | 5 | 1 | 19 | 5 | 7 | 9 | 8 | 40 |
| 11 | Masami Kageyama | 9 | 9 | 9 | 6 | 16 | 5 | 3 | 7 | 9 | 14 | 9 | 6 | Ret | DNS | 39 |
| 12 | Katsutomo Kaneishi | 6 | 5 | 14 | Ret | 6 | 8 | 10 | 12 | 13 | Ret | NC | 9 | 6 | 5 | 33 |
| 13 | Anthony Reid | | | | | | | | | | | | | 2 | 1 | 27 |
| 14 | Masahiro Hasemi | 8 | 12 | Ret | 8 | 10 | 9 | 12 | 15 | Ret | 8 | 8 | 10 | 8 | 6 | 24 |
| 15 | Mitsuhiro Kinoshita | 11 | 16 | Ret | 5 | 7 | 10 | 5 | 10 | 8 | 10 | 11 | 11 | 11 | 11 | 22 |
| 16 | Hironori Takeuchi | 10 | 10 | Ret | 11 | 12 | 11 | 7 | 4 | 11 | 18 | Ret | 20 | Ret | DNS | 13 |
| 17 | Takahiko Hara | 14 | 14 | Ret | 14 | 14 | 13 | 6 | 14 | 10 | 11 | NC | 12 | 12 | 12 | 6 |
| 18 | Hisashi Wada | | | | | Ret | 16 | 9 | 19 | DNS | Ret | DNS | DNS | DNS | DNS | 2 |
| 19 | Tetsuya Tanaka | 12 | 11 | Ret | 15 | 11 | 12 | 11 | 11 | Ret | 16 | 12 | 13 | 10 | Ret | 1 |
| 20 | Tatsuhiko Kaneumi | Ret | DNS | 11 | Ret | 13 | 14 | 14 | 16 | 14 | 15 | DNS | DNS | 15 | 13 | 0 |
| 21 | Morio Nitta | | | | | | | | | 12 | 13 | 13 | 15 | 13 | DNS | 0 |
| 22 | Franck Fréon | 17 | 15 | 12 | 13 | Ret | DNS | 19 | Ret | Ret | Ret | 14 | 16 | Ret | DNS | 0 |
| 23 | Yasushi Hitotsuyama | 15 | Ret | Ret | 12 | 17 | Ret | | | | | | | Ret | 15 | 0 |
| 24 | Mikio Hitotsuyama | | | | | | | 15 | 17 | Ret | 12 | Ret | 17 | | | 0 |
| 25 | Yojiro Terada | Ret | Ret | 13 | Ret | | | | | 16 | 17 | NC | 19 | 14 | Ret | 0 |
| 26 | Tatsuya Tanigawa | 16 | Ret | Ret | Ret | 15 | Ret | Ret | 13 | | | | | | | 0 |
| 27 | Takayuki Kinoshita | | | | | | | | | | | | | NC | 14 | 0 |
| 28 | Takeo Asano | | | | | | | | | 15 | DNS | | | 16 | 16 | 0 |
| 29 | Shunji Kasuya | DNS | DNS | Ret | DNS | DNS | DNS | 16 | 18 | | | Ret | Ret | 17 | NC | 0 |
| 30 | Masahiro Matsunaga | | | | | | | 18 | Ret | | | | | Ret | DNS | 0 |
| NC | Kazuo Mogi | DNS | DNS | | | | | | | | | | | | | 0 |
| NC | Ryo Michigami | | | | | | | | | | | | | DNS | DNS | 0 |
| Pos | Driver | FUJ | FUJ | 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) |