1997 Australian Drivers' Championship | |||
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The 1997 Australian Drivers' Championship was a motor racing competition open to drivers of racing cars complying with CAMS Formula Holden regulations. [1] The championship winner was awarded the 1997 CAMS Gold Star as the Australian Drivers' Champion. [1] It was the 41st running of the Australian Drivers' Championship, [2] and the ninth to feature the Formula Holden category which had been developed during 1988. The championship began on 15 March 1997 at the Calder Park Raceway and ended on 3 August at Oran Park Raceway after seven rounds of a series which was promoted as the "Holden Australian Drivers Championship". [3]
Jason Bright, in his second season in Formula Holden and as new team leader of Birrana Racing, raced to the title, winning eight of the 14 races over the course of the season, wrapping up the championship at the sixth round and choosing to miss the final round. SH Racing's Jason Bargwanna finished second just 13 points behind Bright, although 40 of his points came from two wins at Oran Park in Bright's absence. Mark Noske, driving a Lola, was the only driver to take race wins away from the two Jasons. He was in contention for the championship early in the season, but his charge faded mid-year as he experienced problems at Winton and Eastern Creek and lost third place in the points to New Zealand teenager Scott Dixon in the Ralt Australia prepared Reynard.
The following drivers competed in the 1997 Australian Drivers' Championship.
Driver [4] [5] | No [4] [5] | Car [4] [5] | Entrant [4] [5] |
---|---|---|---|
![]() | 2 | Reynard 91D | Garry & Warren Smith |
![]() | 3 | Reynard 92D | Clem Smith |
![]() | 4 | Reynard 92D | Simoco Pacific P/L |
![]() | 5 | Shrike NB89H | Stan Keen |
![]() | 6 | Reynard 91D | |
![]() | 7 | Reynard 91D | Hunter Holden |
![]() | 8 | Ralt RT21 | Dean Irwin |
![]() | 9 | Reynard 91D | Birrana Racing Pty Ltd |
![]() | 10 | Lola T93/50 | Mark Noske |
![]() | 11 | Reynard 91D | Graham Watson |
![]() | 12 | Reynard 90D | Graham Watson |
![]() | 12 | Reynard 90D | |
![]() | 12 | Reynard 90D | |
![]() | 14 | March 87B | |
![]() | 15 | Reynard 91D | |
![]() | 19 | Reynard 92D Reynard 95D | Arthur Abrahams |
![]() | 21 | Reynard 94D | Stephen Cramp |
![]() | 29 | Reynard 92D | Bob Minogue |
![]() | 34 | Reynard 92D | NHP Electrical |
![]() | 47 | Reynard 92D | SH Racing |
![]() | 48 | Ralt RT23 | |
![]() | 70 | Reynard 91D | |
![]() | 74 | Reynard 92D | GL Knight and Associates |
![]() | 78 | Cheetah Mk. 9 | |
![]() | 87 | Reynard 92D | Chas Jacobsen |
![]() | 99 | Reynard 90D | Albert Callegher |
Note: Formula Holden technical regulations mandated that cars be powered by 3.8 litre Holden V6 engines.
The 1997 Australian Drivers' Championship was contested over seven rounds held in three different states. Each round consisted of two races.
Rd. | Circuit | Location, State | Date | Winner |
---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Calder Park Raceway | Melbourne, Victoria | 15 March | Jason Bright |
2 | Phillip Island Grand Prix Circuit | Phillip Island, Victoria | 13 April | Jason Bright |
3 | Sandown Raceway | Melbourne, Victoria | 27 April | Jason Bright |
4 | Winton Motor Raceway | Benalla, Victoria | 18 May | Jason Bargwanna |
5 | Eastern Creek Raceway [4] | Sydney, New South Wales | 25 May | Jason Bright |
6 | Mallala Motor Sport Park [5] | Mallala, South Australia | 13 July | Mark Noske |
7 | Oran Park Raceway | Sydney, New South Wales | 3 August | Jason Bargwanna |
Championship points were awarded on a 20–15–12–10–8–6–4–3–2–1 basis for the first ten places in each race. [1]
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Note: Race 2 at the opening round at Calder was declared a No Race and no championship points were awarded. [7]
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