1997 All Japan Grand Touring Car Championship
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The 1997 All Japan Grand Touring Car Championship was the fifth season of the All-Japan GT Championship, now known as the Super GT Series, and the 15th season of top-level Japanese sports car racing dating back to the formation of the previous All-Japan Endurance/Sports Prototype Championship.
Michael Krumm and Pedro de la Rosa won the GT500 class championship for Toyota Castrol Team in the #36 Castrol TOM's Supra. Hideo Fukuyama and Manabu Orido won the GT300 class championship for Racing Project Bandoh in the #19 Nissan Silvia.
The GT500 Drivers' Championship was decided on a tiebreaker for the first time in JGTC/Super GT history. The duo of De la Rosa and Krumm, and Toyota Team SARD driver Masami Kageyama each scored 67 points, with two victories, and one second place finish. But a third-place finish for De la Rosa and Krumm broke the tie, giving them the championship for the Toyota Castrol Team. De la Rosa became the first driver to win both the GT500 Drivers' Championship, and the Japanese Top Formula Championship in Formula Nippon (now Super Formula), in the same calendar year.
For the second year in a row, the GT Association (GTA) held a non-championship all-star race at the end of the year. The race was held at the new Twin Ring Motegi circuit which had opened earlier in the year. Instead of using the 4.801-kilometre road course, the series raced around the 2.414 km superspeedway oval with cone chicanes installed around the banked corners. The circuit, now known as Mobility Resort Motegi, staged its first championship race the following year and has remained on the JGTC/Super GT schedule ever since.
Drivers and teams
GT500
GT300
Schedule
| Round | Race | Circuit | Dates |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Suzuka GT 300 km |  Suzuka Circuit
|
29–30 March |
| 2 | All Japan Fuji GT Race | Fuji Speedway
|
3–4 May |
| 3 | Hi-Land GT Championship | Sendai Hi-Land Raceway
|
28–29 June |
| 4 | Japan Special GT Cup | Fuji Speedway
|
9–10 August |
| 5 | CP Mine GT Race | Miné Circuit
|
4–5 October |
| 6 | Sugo GT Championship | Sportsland SUGO
|
25–26 October |
| NC | Nicos Cup GT Allstar Race | Twin Ring Motegi
|
15–16 November |
Season results
Drivers credited with winning Pole Position for their respective teams are indicated in bold text.
Point ranking
GT500 class
Drivers
| Rank[16] | Driver | No. | SUZ | FUJ | SEN | FUJ | MIN | SUG | MOT | MOT | Points | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  Pedro de la Rosa Michael Krumm
|
No. 36 Toyota Castrol Team | 13 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 15 | 67 | |||
| 2 | Masami Kageyama
|
No. 39 Toyota Team SARD | 2 | 1 | 5 | 1 | 13 | 7 | Ret | Ret | 67 | |
| 3 | Toshio Suzuki
|
No. 37 Toyota Castrol Team | 3 | 6 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 4 | 3 | 2 | 64 | |
| 3 | Masanori Sekiya
|
No. 37 Toyota Castrol Team | 3 | 6 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 4 | 64 | |||
| No. 36 Toyota Castrol Team | Ret | 5 | ||||||||||
| 4 | Aguri Suzuki
|
No. 2 NISMO | 1 | 4 | 2 | 10 | 9 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 60 | |
| 5 | Tatsuya Tanigawa
|
No. 39 Toyota Team SARD | 1 | 5 | 1 | 13 | 7 | Ret | Ret | 52 | ||
| 6 |  Érik Comas
|
No. 2 NISMO | 1 | 2 | 10 | 9 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 50 | ||
| 7 | Masahiro Hasemi Tetsuya Tanaka
|
No. 3 Hasemi Motorsports | 4 | 2 | 9 | 6 | 7 | Ret | 4 | 3 | 37 | |
| 8 | Eiichi Tajima
|
No. 5 Team 5Zigen | 6 | Ret | 6 | Ret | 12 | 1 | 7 | 10 | 32 | |
| 8 |  Marc Goossens
|
No. 5 Team 5Zigen | 6 | Ret | 6 | Ret | 12 | 1 | 32 | |||
| 9 | Kunimitsu Takahashi Akira Iida
|
No. 100 Team Kunimitsu with Mooncraft | Ret | 16 | 11 | 2 | 2 | 10 | 11 | 30 | ||
| 10 | Hironori Takeuchi Katsutomo Kaneishi
|
No. 38 Toyota Castrol Team | 7 | 9 | 4 | 8 | 5 | 10 | 2 | 4 | 28 | |
| 11 | Satoshi Motoyama
|
No. 12 Hoshino Racing | Ret | 5 | 15 | 4 | 6 | 14 | 24 | |||
| 12 | Naoki Nagasaka
|
No. 8 Power Craft | 7 | 4 | 6 | 20 | ||||||
| 13 | Kazuyoshi Hoshino
|
No. 12 Hoshino Racing | Ret | 15 | 4 | 6 | 14 | Ret | 6 | 16 | ||
| 14 | Olivier Grouillard
|
No. 39 Toyota Team SARD | 2 | 15 | ||||||||
| 15 | Bertrand Gachot Paul Belmondo
|
No. 8 Power Craft | 10 | Ret | 12 | |||||||
| No. 510 Ryowa House Pacific Team Cerumo | 8 | 5 | 11 | |||||||||
| 16 | Takuya Kurosawa Katsumi Yamamoto
|
No. 18 Mugen + Dome Project | Ret | Ret | Ret | 8 | 5 | 8 | 9 | 11 | ||
| 17 |  Marco Apicella
|
No. 2 NISMO | 4 | 10 | ||||||||
| 17 |  Tom Kristensen
|
No. 8 Power Craft | 15 | 4 | 10 | |||||||
| 19 | Masahiko Kageyama Masahiko Kondo
|
No. 556 NISMO | 5 | Ret | 14 | 9 | Ret | Ret | Ret | 7 | 10 | |
| 20 |  Wayne Gardner
|
No. 8 Power Craft | 7 | 15 | 6 | 10 | ||||||
| 21 | Fuminori Mizuno
|
No. 12 Hoshino Racing | 5 | 8 | ||||||||
| 22 | Mitsuhiro Kinoshita
|
No. 13 Endless Sports | 8 | Ret | 11 | 7 | 10 | 12 | 8 | |||
| 23 | Mitsuo Fujimura
|
No. 13 Endless Sports | Ret | 11 | 7 | 10 | 12 | 5 | ||||
| 24 | Kaoru Iida Ralph Firman
|
No. 10 Team TMS | 12 | 7 | 13 | 13 | DNQ | 4 | ||||
| 25 | Keiichi Tsuchiya Hideshi Matsuda
|
No. 34 Team Taisan with Advan | 10 | Ret | 14 | 8 | 6 | Ret | 4 | |||
| 26 | Yoji Yamada Kazuo Mogi
|
No. 30 Team Take One | 9 | Ret | 12 | 12 | 11 | 9 | 5 | 8 | 4 | |
| 27 | Tatsuhiko Kanaumi Mitsutake Koma
|
No. 4 Suzuki Bankin | 11 | 8 | DNQ | 16 | DNQ | 3 | ||||
| 27 | Yasushi Kikuchi
|
No. 13 Endless Sports | 8 | 3 | ||||||||
| Takao Wada Hisashi Wada
|
No. 88 JLOC Corsa | Ret | Ret | 14 | Ret | 13 | 9 | Ret | 0 | |||
| Masato Yamamoto Katsuhiko Okamoto
|
No. 47 Susuki Racing Mechanics | Ret | 0 | |||||||||
| Shingo Tachi
|
No. 37 Toyota Castrol Team | 3 | 2 | 0 | ||||||||
| Ukyo Katayama
|
No. 36 Toyota Castrol Team | Ret | 5 | 0 | ||||||||
| Takeshi Tsuchiya
|
No. 12 Hoshino Racing | Ret | 6 | 0 | ||||||||
| Hiro Matsushita
|
No. 5 Team 5Zigen | 7 | 10 | 0 |
GT300 Class (Top 5)
Drivers
| Rank | Drivers | Number/Team | Points | Wins |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Hideo Fukuyama Manabu Orido
|
#19 Racing Project Bandoh Nissan Silvia | 90 | 2 |
| 2 | Keiichi Suzuki Morio Nitta
|
#26 Team Taisan Jr Porsche 964 | 89 | 2 |
| 3 | Masaoki Nagashima
|
#25 Tsuchiya Engineering Toyota MR-2 | 52 | 1 |
| 4 | Takeshi Tsuchiya
|
#25 Tsuchiya Engineering Toyota MR-2 | 52 | 1 |
| 5 | Kaoru Hoshino Masaki Jyonai
|
#71 Team Sigmatech Porsche 993 | 51 | 1 |
Notes
References
- ^ "GT Championship 1997 - Round 1 Qualify". supergt.net. Retrieved 2023-08-25.
- ^ "GT Championship 1997 - Round 1 Race Result". supergt.net. Retrieved 2023-08-25.
- ^ "GT Championship 1997 Round 2 - Qualify". supergt.net. Retrieved 2023-08-25.
- ^ "GT Championship 1997 Round 2 - Race Result". supergt.net. Retrieved 2023-08-25.
- ^ "GT Championship 1997 Round 3 - Qualify". supergt.net. Retrieved 2023-08-25.
- ^ "GT Championship 1997 Round 3 - Race Result". supergt.net. Retrieved 2023-08-25.
- ^ "GT Championship 1997 Round 4 - Qualify". supergt.net. Retrieved 2023-08-25.
- ^ "GT Championship 1997 Round 4 - Race Result". supergt.net. Retrieved 2023-08-25.
- ^ "GT Championship 1997 Round 5 - Qualify". supergt.net. Retrieved 2023-08-25.
- ^ "GT Championship 1997 Round 5 - Race Result". supergt.net. Retrieved 2023-08-25.
- ^ "GT Championship 1997 Round 6 - Qualify". supergt.net. Retrieved 2023-08-25.
- ^ "GT Championship 1997 Round 6 - Race Result". supergt.net. Retrieved 2023-08-25.
- ^ "GT Championship 1997 Allstar Race - 1st Race Result". supergt.net. Retrieved 2023-08-25.
- ^ a b "GT Championship 1997 Allstar Race - Qualify". supergt.net. Retrieved 2023-08-25.
- ^ "GT Championship 1997 Allstar Race - 1st Race Result". supergt.net. Retrieved 2023-08-25.
- ^ "GT Championship 1997 - Series Ranking". supergt.net. Retrieved 2023-07-24.
External links
- Super GT/JGTC official race archive (in English)
- 1997 season results