1997_Australian_Super_Touring_Car_Championship
The 1997 Australian Super Touring Championship was a CAMS sanctioned Australian motor racing title open to Super Touring Cars. It was the fifth national title to be run in Australia for Super Touring Cars and the third to carry the Australian Super Touring Championship name. The championship, which was promoted by TOCA Australia as the 1997 BOC Gases Australian Super Touring Championship, began on 4 May at Lakeside International Raceway and ended on 9 November at Amaroo Park after eight rounds and sixteen races. The Drivers Championship was won by Paul Morris, the Manufacturers Championship by BMW and the Teams Championship by BMW Motorsport.[1]
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The following teams and drivers competed in the 1997 Australian Super Touring Championship.
| Team | Car | No. | Driver |
|---|---|---|---|
| Audi Sport Australia | Audi A4 Quattro | 1 * |  Brad Jones |
| 11 * | Cameron McConville | ||
| BMW Motorsport | BMW 320i | 2 * | Paul Morris |
| 22 * |  Craig Baird | ||
| 83 * | Geoff Brabham | ||
| Volvo Cars Australia | Volvo 850 | 4 * | Tony Scott |
| 8 * | Jim Richards | ||
| Phoenix Motorsport | Toyota Camry | 10 | Mark Adderton Neal Bates |
| Greenfield Mowers Racing | Opel Vectra Holden Vectra |
12 | Cameron McLean |
| CPW Motorsport | BMW 318i | 13 | Wayne Wakefield |
| 27 | Steven Johnson | ||
| 64 | Jason Richards | ||
| Triple P Racing | Hyundai Elantra | 14 | Jim Cornish Kurt Kratzmann |
| 57 | Jim Cornish | ||
| 58 | Paul Pickett | ||
| Team Petronas PX2 | Ford Mondeo | 15 |  Gianfranco Brancatelli  Michael Briggs |
| 20 |  Albert Poon | ||
| AAP Racing | Toyota Carina | 15 | Milton Leslight |
| Bob Holden Motors | BMW 318i | 16 | Justin Matthews |
| M-F Racing | Peugeot 405 Mi16 | 21 | Mike Fitzgerald |
| Garry Rogers Motorsport | Honda Accord Nissan Primera |
34 | Steven Richards |
| TC Motorsport | Peugeot 405 Mi16 | 37 | Tony Newman |
| 38 | Dwayne Bewley | ||
| Gun Racing | Alfa Romeo 155 TS | 45 | David Auger |
| John Henderson Racing | Opel Vectra | 56 | John Henderson |
| Warren Luff | Honda Accord | 60 | Warren Luff |
| Robert Tweedie | Vauxhall Cavalier | 79 | Bob Tweedie |
| Knight Racing | Ford Mondeo | 88 | Peter Hills |
| 89 | Jenni Thompson Claude Elias | ||
| Nigel Barclay | BMW 318i | 99 | Blair Smith |
Note : * indicates entry nominated by a manufacturer for the Manufacturers Championship
The 1997 Australian Super Touring Championship was contested over eight rounds with two races held at each round.[2]
Drivers Championship
Drivers Championship points were awarded on a 15-12-10-8-6-5-4-3-2-1 basis for the first ten places in each race.[2] One point was awarded to the driver setting the fastest qualifying time for each races.[2]
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Manufacturers Championship
Manufacturers Championship points were awarded on a 15-12-10 basis for relative positions attained in each race by the best placed car of each of the three manufacturers that had nominated cars to compete on their behalf.
| Position | Manufacturer[1] | Lak R1 |
Lak R2 |
Phi R1 |
Phi R2 |
Cal R1 |
Cal R2 |
Ama R1 |
Ama R2 |
Win R1 |
Win R2 |
Mal R1 |
Mal R2 |
Lak R1 |
Lak R2 |
Ama R1 |
Ama R2 |
Points[1] |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | BMW | 15 | 15 | 15 | 15 | 12 | 15 | 12 | 12 | 12 | 15 | 10 | 12 | 15 | 15 | 15 | 15 | 220 |
| 2 | Audi | - | 10 | 12 | 12 | 15 | 12 | 15 | 15 | 15 | 12 | 15 | 15 | 12 | 10 | 12 | 12 | 194 |
| 3 | Volvo | 12 | 12 | - | 10 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 12 | 10 | 10 | 12 | 10 | 10 | 158 |
Teams Championship
| Position[1] | Team[1] | Car | Points[1] |
| 1 | BMW Motorsport | BMW 320i | 362 |
| 2 | Orix Audi Sport Australia | Audi A4 Quattro | 305 |
| 3 | HVe Motorsport | Hyundai Lantra | 31 |
| 4 | Knight Racing | Ford Mondeo | 30 |
| 5 | Volvo Racing | Volvo 850 | 25 |
| 6 | Fastway Couriers | Peugeot 405 Mi16 | 17 |
TOCA Challenge Cup - Independents
| Position[1] | Driver[1] | Car | Points[1] |
| 1 | Cameron McLean | Opel Vectra Holden Vectra |
186 |
| 2 | Steven Richards | Nissan Primera | 123 |
| 3 | Justin Matthews | BMW 318i | 111 |
| 4 | David Auger | Alfa Romeo 155 TS | 81 |
| 5 | Robert Tweedie | Vauxhall Cavalier | 78 |
| 6 | Tony Newman | Peugeot 405 Mi16 | 74 |
| 7 | Mark Adderton | Toyota Camry | 50 |
| 8 | Neal Bates | Toyota Camry | 34 |
| 9 | Peter Hills | Ford Mondeo | 30 |
| 10 | Wayne Wakefield | BMW 318i | 24 |
| = | Steven Johnson | BMW 318i | 24 |
| 12 | Jason Richards | BMW 318i | 23 |
| 13 | Dwayne Bewley | Peugeot 405 Mi16 | 22 |
| 14 | Jim Cornish | Hyundai Lantra | 16 |
| 15 | Claude Elias | Ford Mondeo | 13 |
| 16 | Mike Briggs | Ford Mondeo | 12 |
| 17 | Warren Luff | Honda Accord | 8 |
| 18 | Paul Pickett | Hyundai Lantra | 6 |
| 19 | Jenni Thompson | Ford Mondeo | 4 |
The TOCA Challenge Cup was open to drivers of teams which did not receive major support from a manufacturer.[2]
1997 AMP Bathurst 1000, a non-championship race for Super Touring cars.
- Australian Titles at docs.cams.com.au as archived at web.archive.org
- Results Archive at www.natsoft.com.au
- Review and images from the Winton round of the Championship at www.minerva.com.au Archived 30 October 2009 at the Wayback Machine
- 1997 Australian Super Touring Championship Entry List at www.supertouringregister.com