Just incase you didn't know, I think its been for as much as a month now (?), Japanese GT Championship is on SpeedTV (SpeedChannel, NASCAR Up The Wazooh, whatever you call it). 6:30pm and 11pm (PST) every monday it seems. Here's a link that might work:

http://www.speedtv.com/programs/inde...pan&usecal=yes

Have fun!

jason

 

alright!! japanese stock car racing! thanks for the info.

 

There was a thread over on that "other" website that was discussing the JGTC races. I was very excited to hear that JGTC was going to be broadcast in the US. I couldn't wait.

Overall, I'm completely unimpressed with the abilities of most of the drivers in that racing series. I actually turned the race off. It was painful to watch some of the stupidity I was seeing.

Gary
Sheehan Motor Racing
www.teamSMR.com

 

This is my personal impression but JGTC is one of the most exciting series in the world.
I participate in Speed WC as a crew, and I participate in NASA enduro series as well. but to me, US road racing scene is far behind Japanese racing scene, except IRL and CART but they do ovals.


2 thing you wanna keep in mind when you watch JGTC

#1
A lot of Formula one drivers are graduates of Japanese racing series and some are graduates of JGTC.
to give some examples;
Jacues Villeneuve
Eddie Irvine
Ralf Schumacher
H.H.Frentzen
Mika Salo
these F1 drivers spent at least one year in Japan.
There are examples of touring car drivers as well
Steve Soper was racing in Japan
Tom Christensen stayed for a long time,
Peter Dumbrek was racing in JPN right before he got picked up by Mercedes.
They are all graduates of Japanese racing series.
Ralf was actually a champion of JGTC with Mclaren F1 GTR (BMW powered, hehe).

so watch for future international talent in JGTC
Currently Ralf Firman who drives MOBIL 1 NSX is closest to F1.
He drove BAR as a test driver this winter.
There are a couple of other drivers are likely to be stepping upto F1.
Also look for drivers who came from drifting field. Drift King Tsuchiya, Orido, Taniguchi are doing well in JGTC. Proof that drifters got good skills.

#2
JGTC uses weight handicap system. If you win, you'll have to run with weight on your car next time.
Watch how cars with heavy weight handicap struggles in the braking area. If you see spin outs, don't label the driver stupid right away. It will be more interesting to think why it spun out. Maybe the car had more weight handicap on it and wearing out tires fast. Worn tires + weight ballast = unstable. Turbo vs NA is interesting too. Supra is always fast agaist NSX in Fuji because of altitude. But in MINE, which is smaller circuit, NSX kicks *** because of its good response.

The more you know about JGTC, the more you'll find it exciting.
There are reasons why it attracts so many people to the race track every race.
Enjoy!

This year JGTC will be held in Japan, Malaysia, and Shanghai.
There is talk about bringing it in US west coast soon so now is the time to learn about drivers and cars.

 

now i'm really curious...

Hey Gary, what do you think about all the drifting contest and stuff thats becoming so popular?

 

Gary, anything that eats up NASCAR time on US television is worth it, IMHO.


I'm curious as to what you all think about the Aussie V8 supercars. Its what NASCAR should be !!!


jason

 

Jason,

That's my line! It's what NASCAR SHOULD be!!! Aussie V8 Supercars is an amazing racing series. One of my favorites.

John #555,

I'm not a fan of the drifting contests. It's all show. A big lurid tail-out slide is much easier to control than a race car on the ragged edge. It's gaining popularity, but not with me.

go go go,

Yes, many F1 drivers are graduates of Japanese FORMULA car series. I know that other good drivers have participated in the JGTC before. The talent of a few good drivers doesn't transfer over to all of the other drivers in the series.

I haven't watched enough of the series to know who the drivers are that you mention regarding drifting, but I will say I saw WAY too much ***-end sliding of some of the cars. Perhaps some of the people you mentioned. However cool it looks, it's slow. A few degrees of rear slip angle is good. 10+ degrees is slow. I saw lots of that.

Regarding the weight handicap, racing series around the world use it, including the USTCC. I get hit with a 100 pound weight penalty if I win a race. I have never lost control of my car due to additional weight. No driver should. Yes, it changes the car slightly. A driver will drive the car accordingly. It should never surprise the driver and cause a spin.

The more I learn about the rules of the JGTC will not change my mind about the quality of the driving I saw...

Passing someone in the middle of a straight should never result in punting the driver in front off the track into a barrier. This was in the middle of a straight, nowhere near a braking zone. That is just damn stupid.

Spinning at the exit of a corner and turned around 180 degrees, I watched this spun driver put the car in gear and accelerate back towards the corner he spun in, causing a head on collision with another car exiting that corner. Dangerous AND completely stupid.

I saw numerous other incidents between drivers that caused off-track crashes and car to car crashes (not bumps) that would have been simple bumps and touches in other racing series with more experienced drivers.

As I said in the other thread, my GF turned to me during the race and said "Don't these guys know how to drive?!" Shortly after, I turned the race off.

From the little I saw, JGTC has nowhere near the driver skill of BTCC, ETCC or World Challenge for that matter.

I watch racing series based on their excitement AND driver skill. NASCAR has skilled drivers, but the racing format isn't exciting. JGTC may have and exciting format, but from what I saw, the drivers were hacks. I won't be watching either of them.

Gary
Sheehan Motor Racing
www.teamSMR.com

 

I'd have to agree with Gary there. Albeit I've only watched BTCC, ETCC and World Challenge for one whole season and this is the first few sets of rounds of JGTC I've ever watched. But there is a marked difference in skill between all those and JGTC. I've enjoyed it however, because one, its not NASCAR and two you see a different breed of cars. Not that they are all unique to the JGTC, but you don't get to see that many Skylines, Silvias or MR-Ss racing elsewhere.

Another thing I have noticed is that the JGTC seems to draw Japanese drivers almost exclusively while all those other TCs we've mentioned have a host of drivers from the Americas, Europe, Australia and Japan. Perhaps JGTC gets the Japanese cream of the crop and then everything else from Japan because no one from other parts of the world is really participating. *shrug* Listening to that Aussie announcer list Japanese name after Japanese name with that accent just cracks me up "Hashimoto" becomes "Haysheemawtauh"

jason

 

Gary, I agree that there are some less skilled drivers in JGTC, there are 80+ drivers running in one race. Stupid accidents happens in US and UK too though, it's not only JGTC thing. BTCC was all about pushing each other off the track, I've seen great battles in BTCC (around 92) but generally it looked stupid because TV likes to show crashes after crashes. So is the SpeedWC, heck one of our driver got hit his rear fender from behind(nobody else was around) in a main straightaway and forced to spin out. He was smash into the concrete barrier. That was in sear's point after the hairpin in the dragstrip. He lost conscious and went straight to paramedics. Things like that happens everywhere not only SpeedWC and JGTC. Worst of all is probably the F1's "wait before the checker and let the other guy win". There are stupid racing driver in every series.
I seem so diffensive to JGTC but I've seen JGTC, USTCC, SpeedWC, WRC, LeMans in real life. JGTC is certainly not a boring race.
Drifters are
Tsuchiya Keiichi in orange NSX
Orido in Denso Supra (red/white)
Taniguchi in RX7

Tsuchiya is known as drift king because he is the guy who spread the drifting culture.
He also won LeMan24hours GT2 class in first year of the NSX
and he was 2nd Overall in '99 LeMans24hrs in Toyota TS020 Gt-one.

Gary doesn't like to watch it but I like JGTC the best (tied with WRC).
It's the whole atmosphere of the circuit that I like, the whole facility packed with people, the sound of inline4, inline6, V6, V8, V12, rotory, flat6, EJ20BOXER!, NA, turbo.... so many different engines and so many different makes and models. Wheel to wheel battle between multi million dollor factory team projects... I love JGTC

I'm sure Gary would love to drive in a cusco Impreza backed by factory engine (same engine as WRC but different setting) in front of grand stand packed with people, competing with 360Modena and McLarenF1GTR, and broadcasted to Asia, Europe and his home in bayarea

 

I caught the last nights broadcast on Speed. First 5 min i thought WWF on a course (stuff Gary mentioned above was happening everywhere!). But, after while what I realized was drivers willing to gamble more - not tracing the line, passing each other all over the place (so many cars, and those damn COLD tires!! ), and 'what braking point?'
I still have a lot to learn about different formats, but overall, JGTC was really FUN to watch!

I just hope for better program editor for the broadcast... during the last lap where 1-2 were practically rubbing bumpers whole time, they kept showing the co-driver/crew at the pit!

 

I totally agree!

 

Yeah that was pretty funny... those cars just gentley floating off the track! Heh! (I'm sure this is more funny to us than to Gary ). I kept wondering, "Don't they have communication with the pits?"

As for the drifting stuff... while its not as skill oriented as real road course driving, there's two types of drifters and drift competitions. The kind I think Gary is down about are those who go for the most showy sideways turns that have more swing of the rear than not only is necessary but could ever possibly be useful. The stuff that I find interesting, at all, are the competitions and drivers who push the traction envelope and then keep going, trying to push as far as they can w/o actually having to correct a loss of control. Basically, "How far can you push the slip angle and keep the car going where you want it to?" What I find impressive about that is the drivers ability to feel the car and the road. Its not useful for quicker lap times, it just kills exit speed. But it has its own skill involved, and damn it scares the buhjezuz out of you! Its kinda like "Drag Racing For Turns" hehehehe

jason

 

Jason,
I'd also vote for the latter style you mentioned. But, I think it would help with lap times because it allows faster exit.(maybe not 'drifting' but with little oversteer) Many times ive seen AWD's blasting out of a turn, the car already pointing the straightaway, WOT. but then, i'm not sure how long the tires will last...

 

Don't be shy to voice your thanks to SpeedTV on their website forums. Power in numbers, one thing we have!

I really like the option video's and the like with their 5 lap quick races or the "Road course drag" to see who can do 1 lap the fastest. It keeps things moving and entertaining. I wish there was a traveling series like that. Can you imagine the ratings of a weekly tuner shootout on speed? (And this one would highlight the "GO" rather than "SHOW" with that hi-rev tuner show. The closest thing I see is autocross, but to do it on a full raceways would be SICK! Import drags are over in 7 seconds now...its getting boring

I agree with entertainment factor of the JGTC, there's crashes, close calls, and a large field of very diverse automobiles... even drivers to laugh at, and some to watch in complete awe. But nothings better than witnessing skilled driving. I'm dumbfounded at the amount of control, sensitivity and mature execution of the highly competitive series', and I learn/realize something new everytime I watch...and can afford to attend

 

Yeah, I love the Option videos. I go to J-town in San Francisco on a regular basis to get the latest ones.

What's cracks me up is just how much stinking fun these guys have on the short road courses. They laugh at eachother and wave when passing, its a crackup.

Some others are Best Motoring and Hot Version. Best Motoring is more of the Motor Trend of Japan. Less racing, more machine testing of showroom cars. Option seems more like a bit upper scale SCC in video (esp. before Josh Jacquot). Lastly, Hot Version is like the video version of Super Street

jason