Thursday 3rd August 2017

Japanese Super GT 1996: Time For Coffee?

Lark McLarens, Calsonic GT-Rs, Castrol Supras, 911 GT2s and more - this is an hour well wasted!

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Hands up, we’ve not watched every minute of this 81-minute video. So there may be a dull period in here somewhere but, from what we’ve already seen, there’s little reason to think there would be, it’s fantastic.

This video is a season review of the 1996 Japanese Super GT championship, something of a golden year if this footage is anything to go by. Not only are there Lark-liveried McLaren F1s out front - see here for some fabulous Fuji downshifting, but also all the Japanese mid-90s icons in race form: Skylines, Supras, NSXs and more. Heck, there’s even an MR2 there. These are joined by some 993 GT2s and the odd random racer too. They are, in case you hadn’t guessed, fine grids of GT cars.

More than that, the racing is fantastic. There are still some manual gearboxes in use, the top cars seem evenly matched and nobody is prepared to concede an inch. There are side-by-side duels, spins, smashes and suspect overtakes throughout. In these cars!

So take some time out of your Thursday or perhaps extend it over a few working days, else people will suspect something and enjoy some classic sportscar racing from Japan. What would you race?

Watch the video here.
 

 

[Streetrod]

This is cool to watch. The Lark McLaren F1, number 60 is now owned and street driven by Andy78b on here if i am not mistaken

[hondansx]

Such cool cars and great racing.

[Titan2]

Streetrod said:

This is cool to watch. The Lark McLaren F1, number 60 is now owned and street driven by Andy78b on here if i am not mistaken

Lucky fella...

[gaz132]

Streetrod said:

This is cool to watch. The Lark McLaren F1, number 60 is now owned and street driven by Andy78b on here if i am not mistaken

From FoS 2016. His P1 GTR as well. Stunning

[binnerboy]

someone has to say it

gran turismo gasm

toms supra
calsonic skyline
jecs skyline

in real life ........


I feel faint and need a lie down and a cup of tea, I only watch 2 mins :-)

[anonymous-user]

That was fantastic

[Lordbenny]

59mins 3 seconds is not comfortable viewing!

[andy74b]

Lordbenny said:

59mins 3 seconds is not comfortable viewing!

Think that is the crash that ended 14R's racing (Car 61). It was then replaced with 4R for rest of season.

Seen this before but was enjoyable to watch again. Amazing to think that both 13R and 14R are now road legal and used regularly.

[johnxjsc1985]

I cant believe it is 20 years since I had my Supra it is a Car once owned never forgotten and they still look so good on the road today

[Evolved]

A sight a spectacle never to be repeated. The 90's truly was the pinnacle for Petrolheads.

Japan led the way too, loved the JGTC back in the day.

[anonymous-user]

Sadly JGTC is now 4 cylinder turbo.

Foreign marques do not compete anymore either

[Neith]

The mid-late 90s were the golden age of JGTC, but I would still really recommend watching Super GT.

The GT500 is still great racing but where it really shines is the GT300. Seeing AMG Mercs dicing with GT86s and even a Prius (albeit not much original Prius left!) is amazing.

I think the Unisia Jecs livery is still one of my all time favourites, shame it doesn't exist in the current series.

[BricktopST205]

sleepera6 said:

Sadly JGTC is now 4 cylinder turbo.

Foreign marques do not compete anymore either

The castrol supra in that video was a 4 cylinder turbo.

[leexj220]

Puma GTO - Seen videos of this beating the Skylines and Supras - just losing out to a 911

[Hoofy]

binnerboy said:

someone has to say it

gran turismo gasm

toms supra
calsonic skyline
jecs skyline

in real life ........


I feel faint and need a lie down and a cup of tea, I only watch 2 mins :-)

Had this in my head while watching the race: https://youtu.be/asjkm-uzh80

[dapprman]

Where can you now watch Super GT/JGTC ?

I was a regular viewer until Motors TV decided they could no longer afford it (at the time it was far better than any other motor racing I saw on TV including DTM, BTCC, and ETCC). Every so often i check the official website but never see an English language afiliate any more.

[binnerboy]

Hoofy said:

binnerboy said:

someone has to say it

gran turismo gasm

toms supra
calsonic skyline
jecs skyline

in real life ........


I feel faint and need a lie down and a cup of tea, I only watch 2 mins :-)

Had this in my head while watching the race: https://youtu.be/asjkm-uzh80

That fired loads of memories , went to bed lapping trial mountain in my head

Have a virtual pint sir

[Neith]

dapprman said:

Where can you now watch Super GT/JGTC ?

I was a regular viewer until Motors TV decided they could no longer afford it (at the time it was far better than any other motor racing I saw on TV including DTM, BTCC, and ETCC). Every so often i check the official website but never see an English language afiliate any more.

Search for NISMO TV on YouTube; they live stream every race with the videos available after. They dont just focus on the Nissans either, it's the official track video with english language commentators.

Fuji Speedway is on tomorrow!

[F1GTRUeno]

Neith said:

The mid-late 90s were the golden age of JGTC, but I would still really recommend watching Super GT.

The GT500 is still great racing but where it really shines is the GT300. Seeing AMG Mercs dicing with GT86s and even a Prius (albeit not much original Prius left!) is amazing.

I think the Unisia Jecs livery is still one of my all time favourites, shame it doesn't exist in the current series.

Honestly in terms of the cars/bikes and the liveries the 90's were the golden age for everything IMO.

F1, F3000, F3, WRC, British Rally, BTCC + STW + all the other national Super Touring series , DTM, BPR GT, FIA GT, JGTC, Le Mans, British GT, CART, WSBK, BSB, 500 GP's all factory supported, cigarette and alcohol liveried, superstar driven/ridden with packed grids and masses of fans. Add in all the one-make series like the Ferrari Challenge, Carrera Cup in both national and international form, Diablo SVR challenge, Venturis and so on.

Rothmans, Marlboro, Mild Seven, Benson and Hedges, 555, Harrods, Gulf, Martini, Repsol, Castrol, LARK, Warsteiner, Jagermeister, FINA plus memorable liveries like the yellow and blue Renault Lagunas, silver and red Audis, Malcolm Wilsons Escort Cosworth and so on. Absolutely glorious looking cars and bikes in nearly every series.

I'm biased because I'm a 90's child so I grew up with it all but bloody hell everywhere you looked it was motorsport heaven.

[thiscocks]

Looks like Eric Comas in the Supra at Suzuka? Interesting to see Ralph Schumacher @8:20 driving the McLaren. Surprising amount of pre and post F1 drivers that drive in Super GT. Think Kovalainen currently drives in GT500 among others.

Edited by thiscocks on Saturday 5th August 20:02