The 1997 FIA GT Championship was the inaugural season of FIA GT Championship, an

auto racing Auto racing (also known as car racing, motor racing, or automobile racing) is a motorsport involving the racing of automobiles A car or automobile is a motor vehicle with wheels. Most definitions of ''cars'' say that they run primaril ...

series endorsed by the

Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile The Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA; en, International Automobile Federation) is an association established on 20 June 1904 to represent the interests of motoring organisations and motor car users. It is the governing body for ...

(FIA) and organized by the

Stéphane Ratel Organisation SRO Motorsports Group (formerly the Stéphane Ratel Organisation) is an international sporting organisation best known for promoting and running a variety of racing events and series, including the Total 24 Hours of Spa, Intercontinental GT Chal ...

(SRO). The FIA GT Championship replaced the BPR Global GT Series which had been held races and championships from 1994 to 1996 after the series was promoted by the FIA, while Stéphane Ratel took over as promoter and organizer of the new championship, replaced the former BPR Organisation after the departure of partners

Jürgen Barth Jürgen Barth (born 10 December 1947 in Thum, Saxony) is a German former racecar driver. He is the son of Formula One driver and sports car racer Edgar Barth. Barth started out as an engineer but became one of the most successful drivers i ...

and Patrick Peter. The races featured grand touring cars conforming to two categories of regulations, GT1 and GT2, and awarded driver and team championships in each category. The season began on 13 April 1997 and ended on 26 October 1997 after 11 rounds, visiting Europe, Japan, and the United States. Bernd Schneider and his AMG Mercedes team won the GT1 Drivers' and Teams' Championships, while Justin Bell and Viper Team Oreca secured the GT2 titles.

Schedule

For the new international championship, much of the calendar was new. The

Nürburgring The is a 150,000 person capacity motorsports complex located in the town of Nürburg, Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. It features a Grand Prix race track built in 1984, and a long "North loop" track, built in the 1920s, around the village a ...

Spa A spa is a location where mineral-rich spring water (and sometimes seawater) is used to give medicinal baths. Spa towns or spa resorts (including hot springs resorts) typically offer various health treatments, which are also known as balneothe ...

Silverstone Silverstone is a village and civil parish in Northamptonshire, England. It is about from Towcester on the former A43 main road, from the M1 motorway junction 15A and about from the M40 motorway junction 10, Northampton, Milton Keynes and B ...

, and Suzuka's endurance event were all retained, but much of the European calendar was new to the series.

Donington Park Donington Park is a motorsport circuit located near Castle Donington in Leicestershire, England. The circuit business is now owned by Jonathan Palmer's MotorSport Vision organisation, and the surrounding Donington Park Estate, still owned ...

replaced

Brands Hatch Brands Hatch is a motor racing circuit in West Kingsdown, Kent, England, United Kingdom. Originally used as a grasstrack motorcycle circuit on farmland, it hosted 12 runnings of the British Grand Prix between 1964 and 1986 and currently hos ...

as the second British round, while

Hockenheimring The Hockenheimring Baden-Württemberg () is a motor racing circuit situated in the Rhine valley near the town of Hockenheim in Baden-Württemberg, Germany, located on the Bertha Benz Memorial Route. Amongst other motor racing events, it has ho ...

was added as a second German event. Mugello took over from

Monza Monza (, ; lmo, label= Lombard, Monça, locally ; lat, Modoetia) is a city and ''comune'' on the River Lambro, a tributary of the Po in the Lombardy region of Italy, about north-northeast of Milan. It is the capital of the Province of M ...

in Italy, and A1-Ring also brought the series to Austria for the first time. A

street circuit A street circuit is a motorsport racing circuit composed of temporarily closed-off public roads of a city, town or village, used in motor races. Airport runways and taxiways are also sometimes part of street circuits. Facilities such as the ...

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was unique to the calendar, and served as the first race of a shorter three-hour duration. Two American events of a three-hour duration replaced the former season-ending fly-away race in China, visiting Sebring and

Laguna Seca Laguna Seca may refer to: * Laguna Seca Formation, a geologic formation in California * Laguna Seca (Mexico), see Convention of London * Laguna Seca (Santa Clara County), a seasonal lake in California * Laguna Seca, Texas, United States * Rancho L ...

Entries

GT1

GT2

Results and standings

Race results

Points were awarded to the top six finishers in each category. Entries were required to complete 75% of the race distance in order to be classified.

Driver championships

GT1

GT2

Team championships

Teams score points for all cars that finish each round of the championship. Cars must complete at least 75% of the race distance to be classified.

GT1

GT2

References

External links

Official FIA GT homepage

Retrieved from www.racingsportscars.com on 24 August 2009

Retrieved from web.archive.org on 24 August 2009
1997 FIA GT Championship points tables
Retrieved from web.archive.org on 24 August 2009

Retrieved from web.archive.org on 25 August 2009 {{DEFAULTSORT:1997 Fia Gt Championship Season FIA GT FIA GT Championship seasons