You've either stood next to one; read about one; heard about one; saw a picture, or heard a friend talk about one; and you know you're interested. If you've only seen JGTC cars in magazines, then you're not grasping the entirety of it all. The outrageously tuned engines will shake the ground and rattle your bones, and overwhelm your sense of touch and hearing. Both taste and smell are gladly blow away by an intoxicating mix of race fuel and smoldering racing slicks. Seeing JGTC cars in action will finally unlock all of your senses and allow your brain to melt away into a sea of speed and adrenaline. The JGTC is one of the most popular racing series in Japan. Drivers have fame, fortune and supermodel wives. The bragging rights are so big and the competition among manufacturers is so fierce that the series and its related costs have grown astronomically in its 11-year run. JGTC cars have the ability to both impress and inspire. If you own a 350Z, you can't help but pay special attention to the Nismo cars--likewise for Impreza, NSX and Celica owners. The widebody look, the muscular stance and the tuned engine power are all a very super car version of your own ride. It makes you wonder, how do they do it?
We wondered ourselves, so we spoke to M-Tec third section motorsports business department manager, Junichi Kumakura, about the 2004 JGTC GT300 class champion, the #16 M-Tec NSX. Comprised of nearly 150 employees, M-Tec is foreign to many import enthusiasts, but Mugen obviously is not. Formed by Hirotoshi Honda, the son of Soichiro Honda himself, Mugen is a famed engine tuner and parts manufacturer very closely associated with Honda Motor Company. In early 2004, all Mugen's assets were handed over to M-Tec, and the name Mugen was retained for use by M-Tec. Even the building location and workforce of Mugen remains the same. So while Mugen the company is technically no more, the name can still be found on hop-up parts, and in actuality M-Tec is the new name of Mugen.
The M-Tec team is similar to the Nismo teams as they are both closely aligned with a manufacturer, although M-Tec doesn't quite enjoy the same level of direct factory support Nismo gets for its JGTC effort. With such close relations and support from Honda, M-Tec can develop its in-house manufactured NSX chassis and engine far better than smaller private teams such as Leyjun or Gaikokuya. When they're not racing, the M-Tec team is refining either the chassis or the engine on the computer, a test track or on an engine dyno. For the JGTC effort, M-Tec generally fields five workers on the chassis design team, two race drivers, 10 maintenance and pit service crew members, and 20 engine development workers. These workers continually refine the NSX. The M-Tec effort is very tight-knit, crafted almost like a mini-corporation. Each team member is a link, and all members do the best they can in their position. There are no weak links found in the chain, only utter loyalty. It is unheard of for a pit mechanic to transfer from the M-Tec team over to the Tom's team; once you're in, you're set.
The only downside of the close manufacturer support is the incredible amount of pressure to deliver results. Toyota, Nissan and Honda want the GT500 crown at any cost. Top teams have a $1 million budget, so a "must win" mentality falls over the JGTC ranks. Engine and chassis modifications are carried out to the absolute limit of the rulebook. Some teams have turned to non-Japanese drivers who are capable of extracting the fastest lap times out of the GT cars.Ties to Honda mean M-Tec is currently locked to the NSX chassis, so the team only had to decide whether it would shoot for the championship or develop a racing driver. Recent rulebook changes limited the NSX's performance capability, meaning the 2000 GT500-champion Mugen NSX wasn't capable of winning this year. M-Tec faced a difficult decision to stay in GT500. The team could either twin-turbocharge the engine and find a new European driver or keep the same program and fall to the back of the pack. For M-Tec, neither choice was acceptable.
M-Tec decided to drop down to GT300 and help train Japanese drivers for GT500 speeds. By grabbing promising drivers early in their careers, M-Tec would then be able to mold them and have definite access to future champions. M-Tec driver, Hiroyuki Yagi, was sourced from the Integra One Make race series. Giving the drivers experience was more important than developing the car to take the championship. To this end, M-Tec simply detuned the car for the GT300 class without optimizing it for the new power level. Winning the GT300 series by one point over the ARTA Garaiya was simply an unintended bonus for a dedicated, championship-level team.
Breaking into the United States is another goal for the M-Tec team and the Mugen name. Kumakura-san thought racing the NSX Stateside was a great way to promote the company in a previously unvisited environment. When asked what else M-Tec would like to accomplish in America with the golden NSX, competing at Sebring and Daytona were marked as attractive goals. So 2NR had to ask, "What if you were up against some of the most famous U.S. racecars, such as the LeMans-winning Corvette C5Rs?"
Kumakura-san replied with a laugh, "If we were in the same class, we would definitely win."