The 1996 All Japan Grand Touring Car Championship was the fourth season of Japan Automobile Federation GT premiere racing. It was marked as well as the fourteenth season of a JAF-sanctioned sports car racing championship dating back to the All Japan Sports Prototype Championship. The GT500 class champion was the #61 Team Lark McLaren F1 GTR driven by David Brabham and John Nielsen, and the GT300 class champion was the #26 Team Taisan Jr Porsche 964 driven by Keiichi Suzuki and Morio Nitta.

For the 1996 season, the names of the two classes of the JGTC were changed to GT500 and GT300, replacing the previous GT1 and GT2 names from the 1994 and 1995 season. This season also mandated two-driver teams for all races. On November 17, the series held its first non-championship "All-Star Race" at Central Circuit.

The arrival of the McLaren F1 GTRs, prepared by Team Goh, was the biggest story of the 1996 season. The number 60 McLaren of Naoki Hattori and Ralf Schumacher led a 1-2 finish at the season opening round at Suzuka. However, despite winning three races, Hattori and Schumacher also suffered three retirements, and were beaten to the title by their senior teammates, Brabham and Nielsen. Despite massive performance handicaps instituted by the GTA, the two McLaren F1 GTRs combined to win four of the six championship races, and won pole position and set fastest lap in all six. At odds with the GTA over further performance handicaps that were to be proposed, Team Goh withdrew from the series after the championship finale at Miné Circuit, and after an aborted attempt to return in 2006, they would not return to the series until 2019.

The season also featured the debut of the Honda NSX in the series, although direct factory support would not appear until the following season; as such, the car entered by Team Kunimitsu was mostly mechanically identical to the 1995 24 Hours of Le Mans GT2 class winner.

Drivers and teams GT500 Team Make Car Engine Drivers Tyre Rounds Calsonic Team Impul Nissan Nissan Skyline GT-R Nissan RB26DETT 2.6 L Twin Turbo I6 1 Kazuyoshi Hoshino All Masahiko Kageyama All Team Zexel Nissan Nissan Skyline GT-R Nissan RB26DETT 2.6 L Twin Turbo I6 2 Aguri Suzuki All Hideo Fukuyama All Hasemi Motorsport Nissan Nissan Skyline GT-R Nissan RB26DETT 2.6 L Twin Turbo I6 3 Masahiro Hasemi All Tetsuya Tanaka All Taku Motor Sports Porsche Porsche 993 GT2 Porsche M64/81 3.6 L Turbo F6 5 Kaoru Iida All Tetsuya Ota 1–3, 5–6 Michael Krumm 4 FET Racing Team Toyota Toyota Supra Toyota 3S-GT 2.0 L Turbo I4 8 Tom Kristensen All Tatsuya Tanigawa 1–3 Bertrand Gachot 4–6 Prova Motorsport Porsche Porsche 964 Turbo Porsche M64/60 3.6 L Turbo F6 15 Motoji Sekine All Scott Maxwell 1 Taro Mitsuno 2 Takahiro Ito 3–6 Porsche 993 GT2 Porsche M64/81 3.6 L Turbo F6 16 Satoshi Toda 4–5 Taro Mitsuno 4 Eiji Yamada 5 Osamu Nakajima 6 Ichiro Iijima 6 Team-Jun Nissan Nissan Skyline GT-R Nissan SR20DET 2.0 L Turbo I4 19 Katsuo Kobayashi All Naohiro Furuya 1–3 Manabu Orido 4 Koma Mitsutake 5–6 Bros Factory Nissan Nissan Fairlady Z LM Nissan VH45DE 4.5 L V8 25 Masami Kageyama 2–3, 5–6, NC Yuji Tachikawa 2–3, 5–6, NC Team Take One Porsche Porsche 993 GT2 Porsche M64/81 3.6 L Turbo F6 30 Yoji Yamada All Eiichi Tajima 1–6 Kazuo Mogi NC Team Taisan Advan Porsche Porsche 993 GT2 Porsche M64/81 3.6 L Turbo F6 34 Hideshi Matsuda 3–4 Osamu Nakako 3–4 35 Takeshi Tsuchiya 1–4 Anthony Reid 1 Oscar Larrauri 2–4 Ferrari Ferrari F40 LM Ferrari F120B 2.9 L Twin Turbo V8 Oscar Larrauri 5–6 Anthony Reid 5 Mitsuhiro Kinoshita 6 Toyota Castrol Team TOM'S Toyota Toyota Supra Toyota 3S-GT 2.0 L Turbo I4 36 Masanori Sekiya All Pedro de la Rosa 1–6 Ukyo Katayama NC Toyota Castrol Team Cerumo Toyota Toyota Supra Toyota 3S-GT 2.0 L Turbo I4 37 Érik Comas All Hidetoshi Mitsusada 1–2 Hironori Takeuchi 3–6, NC Toyota Team SARD Toyota Toyota Supra Toyota 3S-GT 2.0 L Turbo I4 39 Wayne Gardner 1–4, 6 Alain Ferté 1–5 Naoki Nagasaka 5 Giampiero Simoni 6 Olivier Grouillard NC David Dussau NC Team BMB Minijuke Porsche Porsche 964 RS Porsche M64/04 3.8 L F6 43 Yukio Okamoto All Yasutaka Hinoi All Limit Motor Sport Nissan Nissan Skyline GT-R Nissan RB26DETT 2.6 L Twin Turbo I6 55 Kenji Tohira 1–5 Hiroyuki Kawai 1–5 Team Lark McLaren GTR McLaren McLaren F1 GTR BMW S70/2 6.0 L V12 60 Naoki Hattori All Ralf Schumacher All 61 David Brabham All John Nielsen All Kenji Kawagoe Porsche Porsche 993 GT2 Porsche M64/81 3.6 L Twin Turbo F6 69 Kenji Kawagoe 1–4 Shunji Kasuya 1–4 Kenwolf with JLOC Corsa Lamborghini Lamborghini Diablo Jota Lamborghini L522 5.7 L V12 88 Takao Wada 1–2, 4–6 Tatsuhiko Kaneumi 1 Satoshi Ikezawa 2, 4–6 Team Kunimitsu Honda Honda NSX Honda C30A 3.0 L V6 100 Kunimitsu Takahashi All Keiichi Tsuchiya All Kure Racing with Nismo Nissan Nissan Skyline GT-R Nissan RB26DETT 2.6 L Twin Turbo I6 556 Toshio Suzuki All Masahiko Kondo All

GT300 Team Make Car Engine Drivers Tyre Rounds imuraya Racing Team Toyota Toyota MR2 Toyota 3S-GE 2.0 L I4 6 Tetsuya Kawasaki 1–5 Kazuteru Wakita 1–2, 4–5 Nendai Fukushima 3 Takeshi Tsuchiya 6 Yoshihiro Daimonji 6 RE Amemiya Racing Mazda Mazda RX-7 (FD3S) Mazda RE13B 1.3 L 2-rotor 7 Shinichi Yamaji All Masato Yamamoto 1 Hisashi Wada 2–3 Haruhiko Matsumoto 4–6, NC Schloss Motorsport Porsche Porsche 993 RS Porsche M64/80 3.8 L F6 9 Katsuhiko Okamoto 1 Tsunefumi Hioki 1 M Factory Racing Nissan Nissan Skyline GTS-R (HR31) Nissan SR20DET 2.0 L Turbo I4 11 Hiromoto Ishimori 2–4 Masuo Saito 2–4 Hoshino Racing Nissan Nissan Silvia (S14) Nissan SR20DET 2.0 L Turbo I4 12 Satoshi Motoyama 3–6 Yuji Ide 3 Fuminori Mizuno 4–6 Eimei Auto Mitsubishi Mitsubishi Mirage C53A Mitsubishi 4G63 2.0 L I4 14 Akira Nagai 2 Takashige Kogayu 2 Team Power Magic BMW BMW 318i Coupe BMW M43B18 1.8L I4 16 Motoji Sekine 5 Toshiya Fujishima 5 Kageisen Racing Team Mazda Mazda RX-7 (FC3S) Mazda RE13B 1.3 L 2-rotor 17 Toshihiko Nogami 1–2, 4–5 Toshiaki Koshimizu 1–2, 4–5 Goldenbear Sportswear R.T. Porsche Porsche 993 RS Porsche M64/80 3.8 L F6 18 Shogo Kobayashi 3–4 Hiroyuki Enomoto 3–4 AI Auto Racing Porsche Porsche 993 RS Porsche M64/70 3.8 L F6 20 Kenji Takahashi All Hiroaki Suga All Hitotsuyama Racing BMW BMW M3 (E36) BMW S14 2.2 L Turbo I4 21 Kenji Yamamoto 1, 3–6 Fuminori Mizuno 1–2 Yasushi Hitotsuyama 2, 4–5 Mikio Hitotsuyama 3, 6 Hirano Motorsport Nissan Nissan Skyline GTS-i (R32) Nissan RB20DET 2.0 L Turbo I6 24 Toshiyuki Hirano 4 Yasuyuki Suzuki 4 Team Taisan Jr. Porsche Porsche 964 RSR Porsche M64/80 3.8 L F6 26 Keiichi Suzuki All Morio Nitta All BMW BMW M3 (E30) BMW S14 2.5 L I4 28 Masaoki Nagashima 1 Junichi Yamanashi 1 Toyota Toyota MR2 Toyota 3S-GE 2.0 L I4 Manabu Orido 5–6 Takeshi Tsuchiya 5–6 Porsche Porsche 993 RSR Porsche M64/80 3.8 L F6 38 Adrian Fu 1, 3–6 Rodney Jones 1 Masaoki Nagashima 3–6 NAC West Nissan Nissan Silvia (S13) Nissan FJ20DET 2.0 L Turbo I4 27 Toshikazu Kanamori 4 Mamoru Suzuki 4 Cobra Racing Team Porsche Porsche 993 RSR Porsche M64/80 3.8 L F6 31 Katsunori Iketani All Kazuo Mogi All 51 Masamitsu Ishihara All Hiroyuki Noji All Rank Up Tomei Sports Porsche Porsche 993 RSR Porsche M64/80 3.8 L F6 50 Masahisa Nakada 3–4 Shinichi Katsura 3–4 Sports Factory R.T. Mazda Mazda RX-7 (FD3S) Mazda RE13B 1.3 L 2-rotor 57 Toshihiro Fukazawa 4 Masaaki Nagashima 4 Team Gaikokuya Porsche Porsche 993 RSR Porsche M64/80 3.8 L F6 70 Yoshimi Ishibashi All Kaoru Hoshino All Makiguchi Engineering BMW BMW E36 BMW S14 2.5 L I4 72 Norio Makiguchi All Takayuki Kinoshita All First Racing Team Toyota Toyota MR2 Toyota 3S-GE 2.0 L I4 91 Masahiro Matsunaga 3–6 Junko Mihara 3–4 Takahito Kawai 5–6 Team Daishin Nissan Nissan Silvia (S13) Nissan FJ20DET 2.0 L Turbo I4 95 Nobuyuki Ohyagi All Tsuneaki Mankumo All 910 Racing Porsche Porsche 993 RSR Porsche M64/80 3.8 L F6 910 Seiichi Sodeyama 2–6, NC Naoki Nagasaka 2–4 Hideyuki Tamamoto 5–6, NC

Schedule Round Race Circuit Date 1 Suzuka GT 300 Suzuka Circuit March 31 2 All Japan Fuji GT Race Fuji Speedway May 4 3 HiLand GT Championship Sendai Hi-Land Raceway June 30 4 Japan Special GT-Cup Fuji Speedway August 11 5 SUGO GT Championship Sportsland SUGO October 6 6 CP Mine GT Race Mine Circuit October 27 NC Nicos Cup GT Allstar Race Central Circuit November 17

Season results

Round Circuit GT500 Winning Team GT300 Winning Team GT500 Winning Drivers GT300 Winning Drivers 1 Suzuka Circuit #60 Team Lark McLaren F1 GTR #26 Team Taisan Jr Porsche 964 Naoki Hattori Ralf Schumacher Keiichi Suzuki Morio Nitta 2 Mt. Fuji #61 Team Lark McLaren F1 GTR #910 910 Racing Porsche 993 David Brabham John Nielsen Seiichi Sodeyama Naoki Nagasaka 3 Sendai #37 Castrol Cerumo Toyota Supra #72 Makiguchi Engineering BMW M3 Hironori Takeuchi Érik Comas Morio Makiguchi Takayuki Kinoshita 4 Mt. Fuji #1 Calsonic Hoshino Racing GT-R #910 910 Racing Porsche 993 Masahiko Kageyama Kazuyoshi Hoshino Seiichi Sodeyama Naoki Nagasaka 5 Sportsland SUGO #60 Team Lark McLaren F1 GTR #26 Team Taisan Jr Porsche 964 Naoki Hattori Ralf Schumacher Keiichi Suzuki Morio Nitta 6 Mine Circuit #60 Team Lark McLaren F1 GTR #26 Team Taisan Jr Porsche 964 Naoki Hattori Ralf Schumacher Keiichi Suzuki Morio Nitta NC Central Circuit #3 Hasemi Motorsports GT-R #7 RE Amemiya Mazda RX-7 Masahiro Hasemi Tetsuya Tanaka Shinichi Yamaji Haruhiko Matsumoto

Point Ranking

GT500 Drivers' championship Rank No. Driver SUZ FUJ SEN FUJ SUG MINCEN Pts. 1 61 John Nielsen David Brabham 2 1 8 220Ret 4 63 2 60 Naoki Hattori Ralf Schumacher 122Ret 1519Ret 1 1 60 3 37 Érik Comas 16 4 116Ret 4 2 2 55 4 1 Masahiko Kageyama Kazuyoshi Hoshino 8 5 5 1 216Ret 5 54 5 3 Masahiro Hasemi Tetsuya Tanaka 3 6 2 14 6 5 1 47 6 2 Aguri Suzuki Hideo Fukuyama 419Ret 7 3 5 33 46 7 37 Hironori Takeuchi 116Ret 4 2 2 45 8 36 Masanori Sekiya 5 2 320Ret 817Ret 4 38 8 36 Pedro de la Rosa 5 2 320Ret 817Ret 38 9 39 Alain Ferté 17 3 4 9 7 28 10 39 Wayne Gardner 17 3 4 9 8 2711556 Toshio Suzuki Masahiko Kondo 618Ret 17 5 3 1010 27 12 8 Tom Kristensen 10 13 6 4 14 7 21138 Bertrand Gachot 4 14 7 141437 Hidetoshi Mitsusada 16 4 10 15 34 Hideshi Matsuda Osamu Nakako 9 918Ret 12 12 6 8 10 16 55 Kenji Tohira Hiroyuki Kawai 11 10 11 6 9 9 17 100 Kunimitsu Takahashi Keiichi Tsuchiya18Ret 8 12 7 10 11 6 8 18 8 Tatsuya Tanigawa 10 13 6 7 19 30 Yoji Yamada 7 11 918Ret21Ret20Ret 9 6 19 30 Eiichi Tajima 7 11 918Ret21Ret20Ret 6 20 35 Oscar Larrauri 720Ret 1515Ret 4 20 35 Takeshi Tsuchiya 12 720Ret 4 20 39 Naoki Nagasaka 7 4 23 43 Yasutaka Hinoi Yukio Yamamoto20Ret 12 13 8 1318Ret 3 23 39 Giampiero Simoni 8 3 25 25 Masami Kageyama Yuji Tachikawa20Ret19Ret22Ret 9 2 26 5 Kaoru Iida 13 14 1017Ret19Ret 12 1 26 5 Tetsuya Ota 13 14 1019Ret 12 1 26 16 Tetsushi Toda 10 11 1 26 15 Mitsuno Taro 16 0 16 10 127 88 Takao Wada19Ret21Ret 1117Ret 13 028 88 Satoshi Ikezawa21Ret 1117Ret 13 029 16 Tarzan Yamada 11 030 35 Anthony Reid 12 15 031 19 Katsuo Kobayashi21Ret 17 16 1318Ret 14 032 19 Manabu Orido 13 033 69 Kenji Kawagoe Shunji Kasuya 14 15 14 034 19 Takeru Koma18Ret 14 035 15 Sekine Motoshi 15 1619Ret 1516Ret 036 15 Takahiro Ito19Ret 1516Ret 037 15 Scott Maxwell 15 038 19 Naohiro Furuya21Ret 17 16 039 35 Mitsuhiro Kinoshita15Ret 040 5 Michael Krumm17Ret 041 16 Osamu Nakajima Ijima Ichiro19Ret 042 88 Tatsuhiko Kaneumi19Ret 043 36 Ukyo Katayama 4 044 39 Olivier Grouillard David Dussau 7 045 30 Kazuo Mogi 9 0RankNo.DriverSUZFUJSENFUJSUGMINCENPts.

GT500 Teams' standings For teams that entered multiple cars, only the best result from each round counted towards the teams' championship.