The 1998 All Japan Grand Touring Car Championship was the sixth season of Japan Automobile Federation GT premiere racing. It was marked as well as the sixteenth season of a JAF-sanctioned sports car racing championship dating back to the All Japan Sports Prototype Championship. The GT500 class champion was the #23 Pennzoil NISMO Nissan Skyline GT-R driven by Érik Comas and Masami Kageyama, and the GT300 class champion was the #25 Team Taisan Jr with Tsuchiya MR2 driven by Keiichi Suzuki and Shingo Tachi, who won a record five championship races, plus the post-season all-star race, giving them a total of six wins in 1998.

The season was marred by a horrific crash at the All Japan Fuji GT Race on May 3, 1998, when Ferrari Club of Japan driver Tetsuya Ota lost control of his Ferrari F355 in heavy rain and fog, and crashed into the stationary Porsche 911 of Tomohiko Sunako. Ota's car erupted into flames upon impact, and fellow racer Shinichi Yamaji rushed to extinguish the fire. Ota suffered severe burns and nerve damage that would force him to retire from full-time racing. Sunako suffered a broken leg, but would continue to race in the series later on.

1998 also saw the first GT500 class victory for Honda, at the Japan Special GT Cup at Fuji Speedway.

Drivers and teams GT500 Team Make Car Engine Drivers Tyre Rounds Nismo Nissan Nissan Skyline GT-R Nissan RB26DETT 2.7 L Twin Turbo I6 2 Masahiko Kageyama All Aguri Suzuki 1, 3–7, NC Pedro de la Rosa 2 23 Masami Kageyama All Érik Comas 1, 3–7, NC Ralph Firman 2 Hasemi Motorsport Nissan Nissan Skyline GT-R Nissan RB26DETT 2.7 L Twin Turbo I6 3 Masahiro Hasemi All Tetsuya Tanaka All Team 5ZIGEN Toyota Toyota Supra Toyota 3S-GT 2.0 L Turbo I4 5 Marc Goossens All Yasutaka Hinoi 1–3 Eiichi Tajima 4–7 INGING Toyota Toyota Supra Toyota 3S-GT 2.0 L Turbo I4 6 Shinichi Takagi All Pierre-Henri Raphanel 1, 3–7 Anders Olofsson 2 Team Power Craft Toyota Toyota Supra Toyota 3S-GT 2.0 L Turbo I4 8 Wayne Gardner 1–4, 6–7 Minoru Tanaka 1–4, 6–7 Calsonic Team Impul Nissan Nissan Skyline GT-R Nissan RB26DETT 2.7 L Twin Turbo I6 12 Takuya Kurosawa All Kazuyoshi Hoshino 1, 3–7, NC Michael Krumm 2 Endless Sports Nissan Nissan Skyline GT-R Nissan RB26DETT 2.7 L Twin Turbo I6 13 Mitsuhiro Kinoshita All Mitsuo Fujimura All Castrol Mugen Honda Honda NSX Honda C32B 3.5 L V6 16 Ryō Michigami All Osamu Nakako All Dome Racing Team Honda Honda NSX Honda C32B 3.5 L V6 18 Katsutomo Kaneishi All Katsumi Yamamoto 1–5 Juichi Wakisaka 6–7, NC Team Take One Porsche Porsche 993 GT2 Porsche M64/81 3.6 L Twin Turbo F6 30 Hideki Okada All Yoji Yamada All Toyota Team TOM'S Toyota Toyota Supra Toyota 3S-GT 2.0 L Turbo I4 36 Masanori Sekiya All Norberto Fontana All 37 Toshio Suzuki All Kelvin Burt All Toyota Team Cerumo Toyota Toyota Supra Toyota 3S-GT 2.0 L Turbo I4 38 Hironori Takeuchi All Hideki Noda All Denso Toyota Team SARD Toyota Toyota Supra Toyota 3S-GT 2.0 L Turbo I4 39 Keiichi Tsuchiya All Tatsuya Tanigawa All Autobacs Racing Team Aguri Nissan Nissan Skyline GT-R Nissan RB26DETT 2.7 L Twin Turbo I6 50 Takeshi Tsuchiya All Satoshi Motoyama 1, 3–7, NC Hiroki Katoh 2 Team Taisan Advan Chrysler Chrysler Viper GTS-R Chrysler EWB 8.0 L V10 55 Hideshi Matsuda 1–2, 4, 7, NC Eiichi Tajima 1–2 4 Anthony Reid 7 Mitsuhiro Kinoshita NC Mobil 1 Nakajima Racing Honda Honda NSX Honda C32B 3.5 L V6 64 Tom Coronel All Koji Yamanishi 1–2, 4–7, NC 3 JLOC Corsa Lamborghini Lamborghini Diablo GT-1 Lamborghini L532 6.0 L V12 88 Naohiro Furuya All Hisashi Wada All Lamborghini Diablo Jota 777 Takao Wada 2, 4–5, 7 Masami Sugiyama 2, 4–5, 7 Kenji Kawagoe Porsche Porsche 993 GT2 Porsche M64/81 3.6 L Twin Turbo F6 89 Kenji Kawagoe 2 Toshikazu Kanamori 2 Raybrig Team Kunimitsu with Mooncraft Honda Honda NSX Honda C32B 3.5 L V6 100 Kunimitsu Takahashi All Akira Iida All

GT300 Team Make Car Engine Drivers Tyre Rounds RE Amemiya Racing Mazda Mazda RX-7 Mazda RE20B 2.0 L 3-rotor 7 Shinichi Yamaji All All Team Daikokuya Porsche Porsche 993 RSR Porsche M64/80 3.8 L F6 9 1–2 Tsunefumi Hioki 1, 3 Yukihiro Hane 3–5, 7 Naohiro Kawano 4–5, 7 Hideaki Ichimura 2 99 Tsunefumi Hioki 5–6 Kiichi Takahashi 5 Akira Yoshitomi 6 Ability Motorsport Porsche Porsche 993 GT2 Porsche M64/82 3.6 L Turbo F6 10 Hidehiko Aso All All M Factory Racing Club Nissan Nissan Skyline GTS-R (HR31) Nissan SR20DET 2.0 L Turbo I4 11 Hiromoto Ishimori 2, 4 Kazuo Miura 2, 4 Xanavi Racing with Nismo Jr. Nissan Nissan Silvia (S14) Nissan SR20DET 2.0 L Turbo I4 15 Masahiko Kondo All Takayuki Aoki All Kageisen Racing Team Mazda Mazda Roadster (NA) Mazda RE13B 1.3 L 2-rotor 17 1–2, 4–5, 7 Tomoyuki Hosono 1, 4 Masaaki Nagashima 2, 5, 7 Racing Project Bandoh Toyota Toyota Celica Toyota 3S-GE 2.0 L I4 19 Manabu Orido 4–7 Max Angelelli 4–6 Katsumi Yamamoto 7 Hitotsuyama Racing BMW BMW M3 (E36) BMW S14 2.2 L Turbo I4 21 Hiroki Katoh 1, 3–7 1–2, 4, 7 3, 5–6 Takayuki Kinoshita 2 Hirano Motorsport Nissan Nissan Skyline GTS-i (R32) Nissan RB20DET 2.0 L Turbo I6 24 Toshiyuki Hirano 2, 4 Teruhiko Someba 2, 4 Team Taisan Jr. with Tsuchiya Toyota Toyota MR2 Toyota 3S-GTE 2.0 L Turbo I4 25 Keiichi Suzuki All Shingo Tachi All Team Ferrari Club of Japan Ferrari Ferrari F355 GT Ferrari F129B 3.5 L V8 27 Tetsuya Ota 1–2 Anders Olofsson 1 Steven Andskär 2 28 Masahiro Yamazaki 2–3 Hiroaki Suga 5 A'PEX Toyota Toyota MR2 Toyota 3S-GTE 2.0 L Turbo I4 44 Morio Nitta All Shota Mizuno 1–3 Peter Dumbreck 4–7 Cobra Racing Team Porsche Porsche 993 RSR Porsche M64/80 3.8 L F6 51 Katsunori Iketani All Seiichi Sodeyama 1 Masamitsu Ishihara 2–5, 7 "OSAMU" 6 KRAFT Toyota Toyota Cavalier Toyota 3S-GE 2.0 L I4 60 All 1 Junko Mihara 2 Akira Watanabe 3–7 Team Taeivon Ralliart Mitsubishi Mitsubishi FTO Mitsubishi 4G63 2.0 L Turbo I4 61 Akihiko Nakaya All Takahiko Hara All Team Gaikokuya Porsche Porsche 993 GT2 Porsche M64/81 3.6 L Turbo F6 70 Yoshimi Ishibashi All Patrick van Schoote All SigmaTec Racing Team Porsche Porsche 993 GT2 Porsche M64/81 3.6 L Turbo F6 71 Kaoru Hoshino All Masaki Jyonai All Okura Rotary Racing Mazda Mazda RX-7 Mazda RE20B 2.0 L 3-rotor 72 Mark Porter 3–7 Yoshimi Katayama 3–4 Isao Hirano 5–7 Cusco Racing Subaru Subaru Impreza WRX STI Subaru EJ20 2.0 L Turbo F4 77 Katsuo Kobayashi All Hideyuki Tamamoto All NAC West Nissan Nissan Silvia (S13) Nissan FJ20DET 2.0 L Turbo I4 79 Masanori Sugiyama 2, 4 Hiroyasu Aoyagi 2, 4 Team Daishin Nissan Nissan Silvia (S14) Nissan SR20DET 2.0 L Turbo I4 81 Hideo Fukuyama All All First Racing Team Toyota Toyota MR2 Toyota 3S-GTE 2.0 L Turbo I4 91 Masahiro Matsunaga 1–3 Yasuhisa Fujiwara 1–3 Toyota Celica Masahiro Matsunaga 4–7 Yasuhisa Fujiwara 4–7 Alta Racing Team Mazda Mazda RX-7 Mazda RE20B 2.0 L 3-rotor 117 Toshihiro Fukazawa 2, 4–5, 7 Tetsuo Kozai 2, 4–5, 7 NSX Dream28 Competition Honda Honda NSX Honda C32B 3.5 L V6 280 Hajime Oshiro 4 Mamoru Suzuki 4 Yellow Magic Ferrari Ferrari F355 Ferrari F129B 3.6 L V8 355 Hiroaki Suga 4–5, 7 4 Tatsuyuki Fujiwara 5 Seiichi Sodeyama 7 910 Racing Porsche Porsche 993 RSR Porsche M64/80 3.8 L F6 910 All Tomohiko Sunako 1–2 3–4 Takayuki Kinoshita 5–7 911 Kiichi Takahashi 1–4, 7 Shogo Kobayashi 1 Kazushige Saito 2–3, 7 Hirotaka Nakajima 4

Schedule Round Race Circuit Date 1 Suzuka GT 300 Suzuka Circuit March 22 2 All Japan Fuji GT Race Fuji Speedway May 3 3 HiLand GT Championship Sendai Hi-Land Raceway June 28 4 Japan Special GT-Cup Fuji Speedway August 9 5 Motegi GT Championship Race Twin Ring Motegi September 13 6 CP Mine GT Race Mine Circuit October 11 7 SUGO GT Championship Sportsland SUGO October 25 NC Nicos Cup GT Allstar Race TI Circuit November 15

Season results

Round Circuit GT500 Winning Team GT300 Winning Team GT500 Winning Drivers GT300 Winning Drivers 1 Suzuka Circuit #23 Pennzoil NISMO GT-R #25 Team Taisan Jr with Tsuchiya MR-2 Masami Kageyama Érik Comas Keiichi Suzuki Shingo Tachi - Mt. Fuji Race abandoned because of crash at start and subsequent fog. 2 Sendai #23 Pennzoil NISMO GT-R #25 Team Taisan Jr with Tsuchiya MR-2 Masami Kageyama Érik Comas Keiichi Suzuki Shingo Tachi 3 Mt. Fuji #64 Mobil 1 Nakajima Racing Honda NSX #25 Team Taisan Jr with Tsuchiya MR-2 Tom Coronel Koji Yamanishi Keiichi Suzuki Shingo Tachi 4 Twin Ring Motegi #16 Castrol Mugen Honda NSX #77 Cusco Subaru Impreza Ryō Michigami Osamu Nakako Katsuo Kobayashi Hideyuki Tamamoto 5 Mine Circuit #100 Team Kunimitsu Honda NSX #25 Team Taisan Jr with Tsuchiya MR-2 Kunimitsu Takahashi Akira Iida Keiichi Suzuki Shingo Tachi 6 Sportsland SUGO #16 Castrol Mugen Honda NSX #25 Team Taisan Jr with Tsuchiya MR-2 Ryō Michigami Osamu Nakako Keiichi Suzuki Shingo Tachi NC TI Circuit #64 Mobil 1 Nakajima Racing Honda NSX #25 Team Taisan Jr with Tsuchiya MR-2 Tom Coronel Koji Yamanishi Keiichi Suzuki Shingo Tachi

Point Ranking GT500 Drivers Rank No. Driver SUZ FUJ SEN FUJ MOT MIN SUG TAI Pts. 1 23 Masami Kageyama 16C 1 10 4 4 6 10 67 1 23 Érik Comas 1 1 10 4 4 6 10 67 2 64 Koji Yamanishi 21C 116Ret 219DNS1 50 2 64 Tom Coronel 21C19Ret 116Ret 219DNS1 50 3 12 Kazuyoshi Hoshino 11 5 3 2 7 4 5 49 3 12 Takuya Kurosawa 1110C 5 3 2 7 4 5 49 4 16 Osamu Nakako Ryō Michigami17Ret9C18Ret 5 1 11 17 48 5 3 Masahiro Hasemi Tetsuya Tanaka 511C14Ret 2 8 8 5 4 37 6 39 Keiichi Tsuchiya Tatsuya Tanigawa 315C 4 914Ret 314Ret 3 36 7 36 Masanori Sekiya Norberto Fontana 63C 3 8 3 1615Ret13Ret 33 8 2 Aguri Suzuki18Ret 2 7 11 5 912Ret 29 8 2 Masahiko Kageyama18Ret5C 2 7 11 5 912Ret 29 9 37 Toshio Suzuki Kelvin Burt 77C 6 1118Ret 10 2 6 26 10 100 Kunimitsu Takahashi Akira Iida 104C 1219Ret 7 113Ret 2 25 11 38 Hironori Takeuchi Hideki Noda 912C16Ret21Ret 5 12 311Ret 22 12 50 Satoshi Motoyama 13 11 6 6 9 815Ret 17 12 50 Takeshi Tsuchiya 138C 11 6 6 9 815Ret 17 13 5 Marc Goossens 414C 720Ret19Ret18Ret16Ret 14 14 5 Yasutaka Hinoi 414C 7 14 15 18 Katsutomo Kaneishi20Ret2C17Ret 415Ret 1521DSQ14Ret 10 16 18 Katsumi Yamamoto20Ret2C17Ret 415Ret 10 17 8 Wayne Gardner Minoru Tanaka 820C 10 1219Ret 7 8 18 6 Pierre-Henri Raphanel21Ret13Ret 1313Ret 620DNQ 6 18 6 Shinichi Takagi21Ret18C13Ret 1313Ret 620DNQ 6 19 30 Yoji Yamada Hideki Okada 1213C 8 15 9 1417Ret 9 5 20 88 Hisashi Wada Naohiro Furuya19Ret19C 9 18 10 13 11 3 21 55 Hideshi Matsuda 1416C 14 10 8 1 22 55 Anthony Reid 10 1- 55 Eiichi Tajima 1416C 0- 520Ret19Ret18Ret16Ret 0- 55 14 0- 13 Mitsuhiro Kinoshita17C15Ret 16 12 1712Ret 0- 55 8 0- 13 Mitsuo Fujimura17C15Ret 16 12 1712Ret 0- 777 Takao Wada Masayoshi Sugiyama 1521C 1717Ret18Ret 0- 18 Juichi Wakisaka 1521DSQ14Ret 0- 64 19Ret 0- 2 Pedro de la Rosa5C 0- 23 Ralph Firman6C 0- 50 Hiroki Katoh8C 0- 12 Michael Krumm10C 0- 6 Anders Olofsson18C 0- 89 Kenji Kawagoe Tonichi Kanamori22C 0RankNo.DriverSUZFUJSENFUJMOTMINSUGTAIPts.

GT500 Teams' standings For teams that entered multiple cars, only the best result from each round counted towards the teams' points. RankTeamNo.SUZFUJSENFUJMOTMINSUGTAIPts. 1 Nismo 2Ret C271159Ret 70 231C110446102Mobil 1 Nakajima Racing 642CRet1Ret2DNS1503 Toyota Castrol Team TOM'S 366C38316RetRet49 377C611Ret10264Calsonic Team Impul 1211C53274549 5 Castrol Mugen 16RetCRet511117 48 6Hasemi Motorsports35 CRet28854 37 7 Toyota Team SARD 393C49Ret3Ret3 36 8 Team Kunimitsu with Mooncraft 10010C12Ret71Ret2 259 Toyota Team Cerumo 389CRetRet5123Ret 22 9 Autobacs Racing Team Aguri 5013C116698Ret 17 11Team 5Zigen54C7RetRetRetRet 14 12 Dome Racing Team 18RetCRet4Ret15DSQRet 1013 Team Power Craft 88C1012Ret7 8 14 INGING 6RetCRet13Ret6DNQ 6 15Team Take One 3012C815914Ret9 516JLOC88RetC918101311 377715 C17RetDNARet 17 Team Taisan Advan 3414 C14DNA108 1- Endless Sports13DNACRet161217Ret 0- Kenji Kawagoe89C0RankTeamNo.SUZFUJSENFUJMOTMINSUGTAIPts.

GT300 Drivers' championship