# 1998 Japanese Touring Car Championship

The 1998 Japanese Touring Car Championship was the 14th and final edition of the series. It began at Fuji Speedway on 5 April and finished after seven events, also at Fuji Speedway on 8 November. Masanori Sekiya won the championship for the second time, driving for Toyota Team TOM's.

## Teams & Drivers

| Team | Car | No. | Drivers | Rounds |
| Object T | Toyota Corona EXiV | 11 | Tatsuya Tanigawa | 1 |
| Object T | Toyota Corona EXiV | 11 | Akihiko Nakaya | 3-7 |
| Racing Project Bandoh | Toyota Corona EXiV | 19 | Katsutomo Kaneishi | All |
| Tsuchiya Engineering | Toyota Corona EXiV | 24 | Takeshi Tsuchiya | All |
| Tsuchiya Engineering | Toyota Chaser | 25 | Keiichi Tsuchiya | All |
| Toyota Team TOM's | Toyota Chaser | 36 | Kelvin Burt | All |
| Toyota Team TOM's | Toyota Chaser | 37 | Masanori Sekiya | All |
| Toyota Team Cerumo | Toyota Chaser | 38 | Yuji Tachikawa | All |
| Toyota Team Cerumo | Toyota Chaser | 39 | Hironori Takeuchi | All |
| SYMS Racing | Subaru Impreza Sport Wagon | 66 | Hideshi Matsuda | 1 |
| SYMS Racing | Subaru Impreza Sport Wagon | 66 | Sebastián Martino | 2-3 |
| Dandelion Racing | Toyota Corona EXiV | 68 | Rubén Derfler | All |

## Calendar

| Round | Round | Circuit | Date | Pole Position | Fastest Lap | Winning driver | Winning team |
| 1 | R1 | Fuji Speedway, Shizuoka | 5 April | Katsutomo Kaneishi | Masanori Sekiya | Hironori Takeuchi | Toyota Team Cerumo |
| 1 | R2 | Fuji Speedway, Shizuoka | 5 April | | Katsutomo Kaneishi | Katsutomo Kaneishi | Racing Project Bandoh |
| 2 | R3 | Twin Ring Motegi, Tochigi | 10 May | Masanori Sekiya | Hironori Takeuchi | Masanori Sekiya | Toyota Team TOM's |
| 3 | R4 | Sportsland SUGO, Miyagi | 24 May | Masanori Sekiya | Masanori Sekiya | Masanori Sekiya | Toyota Team TOM's |
| 3 | R5 | Sportsland SUGO, Miyagi | 24 May | | Kelvin Burt | Kelvin Burt | Toyota Team TOM's |
| 4 | R6 | Suzuka Circuit, Mie | 21 June | Hironori Takeuchi | Masanori Sekiya | Katsutomo Kaneishi | Racing Project Bandoh |
| 4 | R7 | Suzuka Circuit, Mie | 21 June | | Kelvin Burt | Masanori Sekiya | Toyota Team TOM's |
| 5 | R8 | Mine Central Circuit, Yamaguchi | 26 July | Masanori Sekiya | Masanori Sekiya | Masanori Sekiya | Toyota Team TOM's |
| 5 | R9 | Mine Central Circuit, Yamaguchi | 26 July | | Yuji Tachikawa | Masanori Sekiya | Toyota Team TOM's |
| 6 | R10 | TI Circuit Aida, Okayama | 16 August | Masanori Sekiya | Katsutomo Kaneishi | Masanori Sekiya | Toyota Team TOM's |
| 7 | R11 | Fuji Speedway, Shizuoka | 8 November | Katsutomo Kaneishi | Katsutomo Kaneishi | Katsutomo Kaneishi | Racing Project Bandoh |

## Championship Standings

| Pos | Driver | FUJ | FUJ | MOT | SUG | SUG | SUZ | SUZ | MIN | MIN | AID | FUJ | Pts |
| 1 | Masanori Sekiya | 8 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 7 | 128 |
| 2 | Katsutomo Kaneishi | Ret | 1 | 6 | 3 | Ret | 1 | 2 | 3 | 2 | Ret | 1 | 108 |
| 3 | Hironori Takeuchi | 1 | 6 | 4 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 3 | 2 | Ret | 7 | 5 | 100 |
| 4 | Yuji Tachikawa | 7 | 3 | 2 | 6 | 4 | 2 | Ret | 5 | 3 | 3 | 4 | 100 |
| 5 | Kelvin Burt | 6 | 4 | 5 | 4 | 1 | Ret | Ret | 9 | 4 | 2 | Ret | 86 |
| 6 | Takeshi Tsuchiya | 2 | 5 | 3 | Ret | 7 | 5 | 5 | 4 | Ret | 5 | Ret | 78 |
| 7 | Keiichi Tsuchiya | 3 | 8 | 7 | 5 | 6 | Ret | 4 | 8 | 5 | 4 | 3 | 63 |
| 8 | Rubén Derfler | 4 | Ret | 8 | Ret | 5 | 6 | Ret | 6 | 6 | 5 | 2 | 62 |
| 9 | Akihiko Nakaya | | | | Ret | Ret | Ret | 6 | 7 | Ret | 8 | 6 | 32 |
| 10 | Tatsuya Tanigawa | 5 | 7 | | | | | | | | | | 14 |
| 11 | Hideshi Matsuda | 9 | 9 | | | | | | | | | | 5 |
| 12 | Sebastián Martino | | | 9 | DNS | DNS | | | | | | | 4 |
| Pos | Driver | FUJ | FUJ | MOT | SUG | SUG | SUZ | SUZ | MIN | MIN | AID | 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) |