JLOC

The Japan Lamborghini Owners' Club (JLOC) is an organization of Lamborghini car owners in Japan, whose members would later form Team JLOC, currently competing in the GT300 class of Super GT, in 1994.

Team JLOC first entered Super GT in 1994 and has been active in the series ever since, initially fielding cars in the GT500 class before switching to GT300 in 2006 due to the uncompetitiveness of its cars against factory-backed entries in GT500. The team is the reigning champions in the GT300 class with drivers Takashi Kogure and Yuya Motojima. Cars run by Team JLOC had also previously competed in the 24 Hours of Le Mans and the Asian Le Mans Series.

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 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.