JLOC

JLOC was first founded in 1980 by a group of the Lamborghini Miura owners due to difficulties with getting spare parts and maintenance of their cars. The original JLOC operated in the Kansai region and was dissolved a few years later, but it was reformed in 1987 following Lamborghini's request. Isao Noritake, who had already become a member of the original JLOC, was elected as the chairman of the group upon its reformation. Seventeen members became part of the organization when JLOC held their first meeting in Sanza Villa, Lake Hamana in 1988 and by 2000, more than 100 members had joined the organization. The first meeting in 1988 served as the inspiration for Team JLOC's usage of #88 as their primary number in racing competition.

In the early 1990s, JLOC member Teruaki Terai wanted to take part in motorsport despite lacking a race car or a sponsor. In 1993, Terai managed to acquire a fire-damaged Lamborghini Countach 25th Anniversary that he planned to convert into a race car for the recently established All Japan Grand Touring Car Championship. Terai and Masahiko Mearashi, a former car magazine editor and a JLOC member, planned to reinforce the burnt chassis with a mono-plastic body with plans to enter the 1994 JGTC season, but by the spring of 1994 the project was still unfinished.

JLOC, competing under the KEN WOLF with Terai Engineering name in 1994, was initially unable to enter the season opening race at Fuji Speedway but they were requested to enter the race by the organizers after they heard the news of JLOC’s planned participation. Circuit no Ōkami’s mangaka Satoshi Ikezawa was invited by Mearashi to negotiate a deal with exotic car dealership Art Sports to supply a road-going Countach for JLOC. Due to the limited amount of time, the Countach was kept mostly stock but it received modifications to its bodywork, suspension, and engine. Noritake, who had flown to Italy to inform Lamborghini about the project, became Team JLOC’s team manager. F3000 driver Takao Wada and Ikezawa were signed to be their drivers, while the team also secured sponsorship from Rain-X. The car was mostly unsuccessful, having only finished two of the five races it competed in but it managed to score points with an eight place finish in the second round at Sendai.

For 1995, JLOC requested Lamborghini to develop a Diablo homologation special for JGTC competition. Three Diablo Jota’s were developed, two for competition purposes and one for road homologation; all three models still exist in Japan. The Diablo Jota would compete in all but one round of the 1995 season, scoring no championship points and a best finish of 13th at Sendai and Fuji respectively. Wada and Ikezawa were retained as the team’s drivers, although Ikezawa was replaced by Tatsuhiko Kanoumi for the final round at Mine. Tragedy struck the team that year, however, as Terai died from cancer in August. JLOC continued to campaign the Diablo Jota’s for the 1996 season, once again scoring no championship points at the end of the season.

In between the 1996 and 1997 seasons, Lamborghini contracted Signes Advanced Technologies (SAT) to develop the Lamborghini Diablo GT-1 Stradale, a racing version of the Diablo that was planned to be raced in the GT1 class at Le Mans. Financial difficulties would force the company to not go further with the project, but two cars had been built before the project was closed. One of the models, the racing version of the Diablo GT-1 Stradale, was bought by JLOC for the 1997 JGTC season. Hisashi Wada was also signed by the team to replace Ikezawa.

JLOC raced the Diablo GT-1 for the next four seasons. JLOC scored two points finishes with the Diablo GT-1 in 1998, but they failed to score a championship point in the 1997, 1999, and 2000 seasons. The 2000 version of JLOC’s Diablo GT-1 famously became the first Lamborghini car to be featured in Gran Turismo due to a licensing quirk. Sony Computer Entertainment, who at that time did not have the official Lamborg

In the early 1990s, JLOC member Teruaki Terai wanted to take part in motorsport despite lacking a race car or a sponsor. In 1993, Terai managed to acquire a fire-damaged Lamborghini Countach 25th Anniversary that he planned to convert into a race car for the recently established All Japan Grand Touring Car Championship. Terai and Masahiko Mearashi, a former car magazine editor and a JLOC member, planned to reinforce the burnt chassis with a mono-plastic body with plans to enter the 1994 JGTC season, but by the spring of 1994 the project was still unfinished.

JLOC, competing under the KEN WOLF with Terai Engineering name in 1994, was initially unable to enter the season opening race at Fuji Speedway but they were requested to enter the race by the organizers after they heard the news of JLOC’s planned participation. Circuit no Ōkami’s mangaka Satoshi Ikezawa was invited by Mearashi to negotiate a deal with exotic car dealership Art Sports to supply a road-going Countach for JLOC. Due to the limited amount of time, the Countach was kept mostly stock but it received modifications to its bodywork, suspension, and engine. Noritake, who had flown to Italy to inform Lamborghini about the project, became Team JLOC’s team manager. F3000 driver Takao Wada and Ikezawa were signed to be their drivers, while the team also secured sponsorship from Rain-X. The car was mostly unsuccessful, having only finished two of the five races it competed in but it managed to score points with an eight place finish in the second round at Sendai.

For 1995, JLOC requested Lamborghini to develop a Diablo homologation special for JGTC competition. Three Diablo Jota’s were developed, two for competition purposes and one for road homologation; all three models still exist in Japan. The Diablo Jota would compete in all but one round of the 1995 season, scoring no championship points and a best finish of 13th at Sendai and Fuji respectively. Wada and Ikezawa were retained as the team’s drivers, although Ikezawa was replaced by Tatsuhiko Kanoumi for the final round at Mine. Tragedy struck the team that year, however, as Terai died from cancer in August. JLOC continued to campaign the Diablo Jota’s for the 1996 season, once again scoring no championship points at the end of the season.

In between the 1996 and 1997 seasons, Lamborghini contracted Signes Advanced Technologies (SAT) to develop the Lamborghini Diablo GT-1 Stradale, a racing version of the Diablo that was planned to be raced in the GT1 class at Le Mans. Financial difficulties would force the company to not go further with the project, but two cars had been built before the project was closed. One of the models, the racing version of the Diablo GT-1 Stradale, was bought by JLOC for the 1997 JGTC season. Hisashi Wada was also signed by the team to replace Ikezawa.

JLOC raced the Diablo GT-1 for the next four seasons. JLOC scored two points finishes with the Diablo GT-1 in 1998, but they failed to score a championship point in the 1997, 1999, and 2000 seasons. The 2000 version of JLOC’s Diablo GT-1 famously became the first Lamborghini car to be featured in Gran Turismo due to a licensing quirk. Sony Computer Entertainment, who at that time did not have the official Lamborghini licensing, paid JLOC to license their Diablo GT-1 for Gran Turismo 3: A-Spec. The licensing controversy meant that the JLOC Diablo only appeared in the NTSC-J version of Gran Turismo 3: A-Spec at Lamborghini’s request and only made its return in Gran Turismo 5, a year after Lamborghini’s introduction as a fully licensed manufacturer in 2009’s Gran Turismo for the PlayStation Portable.

JLOC's Lamborghini Murciélago RG-1 at Suzuka in 2005, the team's final year of competition in GT500.
JLOC redeveloped the Diablo GT-1 into the Diablo JGT-1 for the 2001 season, which featured a reworked chassis and suspension along with other parts specially built for JGTC. The Diablo JGT-1 was raced for three seasons but despite this, the car co

JLOC's Lamborghini Murciélago RG-1LM in 2007.
JLOC first attempted to enter the 24 Hours of Le Mans in 2005, but they failed to secure an entry. They entered the 24 Hours of Le Mans for the first time in 2006 with a Lamborghini Murciélago RG-1LM, a Murciélago R-GT that was modified by JLOC for endurance racing. JLOC’s Super GT drivers Marco Apicella, Yasutaka Hinoi, and Koji Yamanishi would share the driving duties for the team’s debut at Le Mans. The team completed 283 laps but stopped with three hours left in the race and did not complete the final lap, leaving them non-classified in the final results.

The team returned to Le Mans the next year with a driver line-up of Apicella, Yamanishi and Atsushi Yogo. JLOC received logistical support from DAMS for their participation in the 2007 race. Apicella suffered a major crash at the first Mulsanne chicane in the Wednesday first qualifying session, which damaged the RG-1LM beyond repair. JLOC successfully earned a dispensation by the ACO to replace their damaged RG-1LM with a standard R-GT for the race itself. In addition, Apicella was declared unfit after the crash, leaving Yamanishi and Yogo to compete as a duo. The team only completed one lap before it was forced to retire due to a broken driveshaft.

JLOC didn’t enter the 2008 edition of the 24 Hours of Le Mans and only returned for the 2009 edition with Apicella, Yogo, and Yutaka Yamagishi as the team’s drivers. JLOC suffered numerous mechanical issues throughout practice and qualifying that left them unable to qualify for the race. ACO, however, allowed the team to start the race. As Apicella and a number of mechanics had flown back home after the team’s initial failure to qualify, JLOC elected to start and park the car after completing just one lap.

For the 2010 race, JLOC was given an entry after the team won the Okayama 1000km race of 2009 that made up the sole Asian Le Mans Series round of that year. Yogo, Yamanishi, and Hiroyuki Iiri are elected to drive JLOC’s newly-prepared Murciélago LP670 R-SV for the race. The team retired at the 18th hour mark after only completing 138 laps due to suffering from numerous puncture and transmission problems.

JLOC never received manufacturer support and struggled to be competitive during their four Le Mans attempts. In an interview with Motorsport.com in 2022, JLOC’s team principal Isao Noritake believes that the project struggled to be competitive because Audi lost interest in the Murciélago R-GT project, forcing JLOC to compete independently despite being the sole representative for Lamborghini at Le Mans.

No.88 Weibo Primez Lamborghini GT3 at 2022 Takanoko no Hotel Suzuka GT 300km

^ Cite error: The named reference JLOC Le Mans Motorsport.com was invoked but never defined (see the help page).

^ "24 HOURS OF LE MANS – WHEN THE MEMORABLE LAMBORGHINI MURCIELAGO TOOK ON THE LMGT1 CLASS". 24h-lemans.com. Automobile Club de l'Ouest. 18 May 2022. Retrieved 5 September 2022.

^ Matt Salisbury (16 June 2007). "Lamborghini returns". crash.net. Crash Media Group. Retrieved 5 September 2022.