1997 Australian Drivers' Championship

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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]

Contents

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.

Drivers

The following drivers competed in the 1997 Australian Drivers' Championship.

Driver [4] [5] No [4] [5] Car [4] [5] Entrant [4] [5]
Flag of Australia (converted).svg Jason Bright 2 Reynard 91DGarry & Warren Smith
Flag of Australia (converted).svg Darren Edwards 3 Reynard 92DClem Smith
Flag of Australia (converted).svg Bruce Williams 4 Reynard 92DSimoco Pacific P/L
Flag of Australia (converted).svg Stan Keen 5 Shrike NB89H Stan Keen
Flag of the United Kingdom.svg James Taylor 6 Reynard 91D
Flag of Australia (converted).svg Adam Kaplan 7 Reynard 91DHunter Holden
Flag of Australia (converted).svg Dean Irwin 8 Ralt RT21Dean Irwin
Flag of Australia (converted).svg Brenton Ramsay 9 Reynard 91DBirrana Racing Pty Ltd
Flag of Australia (converted).svg Mark Noske 10 Lola T93/50Mark Noske
Flag of New Zealand.svg Scott Dixon 11 Reynard 91DGraham Watson
Flag of Australia (converted).svg Tony Blanche 12 Reynard 90DGraham Watson
Flag of Australia (converted).svg Ryan McLeod 12 Reynard 90D
Flag of Australia (converted).svg Graham Watson 12 Reynard 90D
Flag of Australia (converted).svg Chas Talbot 14 March 87B
Flag of Australia (converted).svg Stephen White 15 Reynard 91D
Flag of Australia (converted).svg Darren Pate 19 Reynard 92D
Reynard 95D		Arthur Abrahams
Flag of Australia (converted).svg Stephen Cramp 21 Reynard 94DStephen Cramp
Flag of Australia (converted).svg Bob Minogue 29 Reynard 92DBob Minogue
Flag of Australia (converted).svg Owen Osborne 34 Reynard 92DNHP Electrical
Flag of Australia (converted).svg Jason Bargwanna 47 Reynard 92DSH Racing
Flag of Australia (converted).svg Bob Power 48 Ralt RT23
Flag of Australia (converted).svg Kevin Weeks 70 Reynard 91D
Flag of Australia (converted).svg Chris Hocking 74 Reynard 92DGL Knight and Associates
Flag of Australia (converted).svg Brian Sampson 78 Cheetah Mk. 9
Flag of Australia (converted).svg Chas Jacobsen 87 Reynard 92DChas Jacobsen
Flag of Australia (converted).svg Al Callegher 99 Reynard 90DAlbert Callegher

Note: Formula Holden technical regulations mandated that cars be powered by 3.8 litre Holden V6 engines.

Race calendar

The 1997 Australian Drivers' Championship was contested over seven rounds held in three different states. Each round consisted of two races.

Rd.CircuitLocation, StateDateWinner
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

Points system

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]

Championship results

PosDriver [6] Rd 1Rd 2Rd 3Rd 4Rd 5Rd 6Rd 7Pts [6]
1 Jason Bright 1st(5th)1st1st1st1st3rd2nd1st1stRet1st187
2 Jason Bargwanna 3rd(DNS)2nd2nd2ndDNS1st1st2nd2ndRet2nd1st1st182
3 Scott Dixon 5th(4th)4th6th5th5th4th4th4th4thRet4th4th2nd115
4 Darren Pate 2nd(DNS)8th3rdDSQDNS2nd3rd3rdRet2nd5th5th4th110
5 Darren Edwards 10th(DNS)5th5th3rd2nd5th5thDNSDNS3rdRet2nd3rd99
6 Mark Noske Ret(1st)3rd4th4th3rdRetDNSDNSDNS1st3rd3rd5th96
7 Bob Minogue 12th(8th)7th8th7th6th7th7th6th6th9th8th11th9th44
8 Brenton Ramsay 11th(10th)6th7thRet7thRetRet8th7th5th9th8th6th40
9 Stephen Cramp 7th(6th)13thDNS7th5th4th6th7th8th39
10 Bruce Williams Ret(3rd)9th12th6th4thDNSRet5thRet8th7th9th12th35
11 Adam Kaplan Ret3rd6th7th22
12 Owen Osborne 8th(7th)10th10th8thDNS6th6thRetRetRetDNS20
= Chas Jacobsen 6th(11th)Ret9th11th8th10th8th7th10thRet11th20
14 Kevin Weeks 4th(2nd)10
= Chris Hocking 15th(14th)RetRet10th9thRet8th9th9thRet11th13th14th10
16 Stan Keen 13th(Ret)6th13th12th13th6
= Dean Irwin 9th(9th)Ret11th9th11thDNSDNSRet12th10th10th6
18 Chas Talbot 8th9th5
19 Brian Sampson 17th(DNS)11th13th14th10th1
PosDriverRd 1Rd 2Rd 3Rd 4Rd 5Rd 6Rd 7Pts
ColourResult
GoldWinner
Silver2nd place
Bronze3rd place
GreenPoints finish
BlueNon-points finish
Non-classified finish (NC)
PurpleRetired (Ret)
RedDid not qualify (DNQ)
Did not pre-qualify (DNPQ)
BlackDisqualified (DSQ)
WhiteDid not start (DNS)
Withdrew (WD)
Race cancelled (C)
BlankDid not practice (DNP)
Did not arrive (DNA)
Excluded (EX)

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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References

  1. 1 2 3 Specific Conditions, 1997 CAMS Manual of Motor Sport, page 7-10
  2. ↑ Records, Titles and Awards, 2002 CAMS Manual of Motor Sport, page 14-4
  3. ↑ Official Programme, Mallala, 13 July 1997
  4. 1 2 3 4 5 "Australian Racing Drivers Club 25/05/1997 1997 Shell Australian Touring Car Championship Round 6". National Software. 25 May 1997. Archived from the original on 24 August 1999. Retrieved 10 April 2010.
  5. 1 2 3 4 5 "Mallala Motorsport Park 13/07/1997 The 1997 Shell Australian Touring Car Championships - Round 9". National Software. 13 July 1997. Archived from the original on 30 January 1998. Retrieved 10 April 2010.
  6. 1 2 1997 HADC Overall Point Score, Formula Holden Association Inc, 14 August 1997
  7. ↑ 1997 Holden Australian Drivers Championship Points Allocation Retrieved in December 2001. Site no longer available. Archived 2012-02-23.
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