NEWS

As the sun began to set across the Suzuka circuit last October, Lamborghini was just a few kilometres from achieving an historic breakthrough triumph in the pinnacle of sportscar racing in Japan.

The journey had been long, arduous and at times, without reward.

An omnipresence in the country’s premier racing series, Super GT (formerly the All-Japan GT Championship), the Japanese Lamborghini Owners Club team had finally reached its Everest: courtesy of Yuya Motojima and Takashi Kogure in the #88 Lamborghini Huracán GT3 EVO2, the Super GT300 title was theirs.

As the name suggests, JLOC has been steeped in Lamborghini folklore for decades, originating back to 1980 when a group of Lamborghini Miura owners founded the company.

“JLOC has been in existence since 1980 but due to certain circumstances it ceased to operate in 1985,” explains JLOC chairman Isao Noritake, who went on to form the racing team in 1994.

“I, who was an original member, was asked by the former President to take over the management of JLOC; it resumed operation in 1986. At that time, there were no authorized dealers in Japan and spare parts were also difficult to find.

“Around 1995, there were 180 registered members and about 400 cars owned by members. Later, traffic laws changed, and group driving was banned, etc. and we switched to circuit driving. With the help of our old members and introduction of new people, we continue to race.”

In recognition of the founding year, the team’s primary race number remains to this year, #88, and it is appropriate that this number was the one to claim JLOC’s maiden Super GT title via Motojima and Kogure, in the squad’s 30th year of competition.

“The Super GT has a history of 31 years,” says Noritake. “We have participated since the first event in 1994, but back then it was mostly a hobby and had [only a] few spectators. Now [there are] more than 450,000 spectators [that] visit the racetrack every year and the races are broadcast on TV, on YouTube and other media, with Lamborghini taking on Toyota, Nissan and Honda!

“It is very rewarding; I am very satisfied. Decades ago, when there were no wins and Lamborghini did not build racing cars, we thought maybe [racing] with Toyota, Honda or Nissan cars. I thought about it many times.

“However, I felt it was my mission to be with Lamborghini, so I held on, and this increased the joy of winning the championship tenfold.”

With road car origins, it seemed only right that JLOC’s first venture in racing stayed true to its heritage. For the opening round of the 1994 season at Fuji, it entered a slightly modified Countach with Takao Wada and Satoshi Ikezawa as its drivers. The car performed admirably and finished two of the five races that year, taking a best result of eighth at Sendai.

From the following year, however, JLOC’s relationship with the factory started to grow and specifically homologated models were produced for the team in order to compete for class and overall honours.

“[In 1995], there was M. Kimberley as president of Lamborghini, G.Bentolini as CEO and G. Girotti CEO, I am very indebted to them, because they built me ​​three Diablo Jotas,” continues Noritake.

“At the time we were able to participate in the GT Championship. For six months we raced with a near-production Countach, after which Lamborghini built me ​​a Diablo GT1, Murciélago RGT, Gallardo and Huracán which [have] allowed us to race for 31 years.

“We hope to continue to collaborate with Lamborghini in the future.”

During the JGTC era, JLOC ran a number of models, beginning with the Countach in 1994. Following two unsuccessful seasons with the Diablo Jota and a year with the Diablo GTR, the new Diablo GT-1 came along in 1998. The six-litre V12 machine, which was re-homologated for the regulation change in 2001, lasted seven seasons before being replaced by the Murciélago R-GT and RG-1.

By this point, JGTC had been phased out and replaced by Super GT. The significance of the new regulations gave Lamborghini and JLOC a new lease of life. With GT300 specification now in place, the Murciélago RG-1 enjoyed success out of the box with victory in the opening round in 2006 courtesy of Marco Apicella and Yasutaka Hinoi, the first victory for the Murciélago worldwide.

That important triumph laid the foundations for a much bigger entry – the first of four consecutive appearances – in the Le Mans 24 Hours. Competing in the GT1 class, JLOC put their name on the global motor racing map in the world’s most famous endurance race.

And while results unfortunately failed to match expectations (a best result of eighth in 2006), the experience for Noritake had certainly left a strong impression.

“Since the Lamborghini Diablo SVR competed in the Le Mans support in 1996-1997, I had always wanted to participate in the main Le Mans race,” Noritake said.

“In 1996, I asked President Di Capua and Executive Director Ceccarani for the Diablo GT1 project, unfortunately only one car was completed, so we could not participate in Le Mans.

The Murciélago RGT, which was later completed with the help of Audi President Paefgen and Lamborghini President Greco, was a very beautiful car. I will never forget the high-pitched exhaust note and the sound of the straight at night. It was a moment that left me completely satisfied.”

Back in Japan, the Gallardo took over the mantle from the Murciélago and continued to be a strong car, but it was only when the Huracán made it to Super GT that title challenges really became a reality.

Having run the GT3 EVO until the second round of the 2023 season, JLOC had won the occasional race but struggled to produce a full-season assault. That began to change with the introduction of the GT3 EVO2, which won the final round of the 2023 campaign at Motegi before finally putting all the pieces together in 2024.

Four victories for Motojima and Kogure (at Fuji, Autopolis, Motegi and Suzuka) proved the capabilities of both the team and car throughout the season, culminating in a double title success.

Of particular note was the race pace of the crew from lowly grid positions, namely winning from 15^th in Autopolis and 17^th in Motegi, as well as pit-stop strategy from the whole JLOC team to put its drivers in the best position to fight for victory.

It’s given JLOC more determination to go back-to-back in 2025, despite a difficult start to its title defence in the early stages of the campaign.

“The drivers and the whole team are more motivated,” Noritake adds. “We have a new top engineer and a new data engineer. Both Kogure and Motoyama are aiming to win the championship again.

“The JLOC team is now very strong, with several top drivers and mechanics who know Lamborghini inside out.

“We will participate in 8 Super GT races in 2025 (including Malaysia). If possible, we will also participate in the Suzuka 1000 km race.

“As a team, we are motivated also; we have 8 employees and 10 external collaborators who take care of maintenance and racing. I always tell my employees that our goal is to be the only ones rather than the first.”