The 1997 All Japan Grand Touring Car Championship was the fifth season of Japan Automobile Federation GT premiere racing. It was marked as well as the fifteenth season of a JAF-sanctioned sports car racing championship dating back to the
All Japan Sports Prototype Championship
The , abbreviated as JSPC, formed by the Japan Automobile Federation, was a domestic championship which took place in Japan for Group C and IMSA GTP prototype cars and also featured cars that were eligible for touring car racing in its earlier yea ...
. The GT500 class champion was the #36
Castrol
Castrol is a British oil company that markets industrial and automotive lubricants, offering a wide range of oil, greases and similar products for most lubrication applications. The name ''Castrol'' was originally just the brand name for com ...
TOM'S
is a factory supported racing team and tuner of Toyota and Lexus vehicles. The name stands for Tachi Oiwa Motor Sport. Their head office is located in Tokyo, Japan. They are currently heavily involved with Super GT, Super Formula and Super Formu ...
Toyota Supra
is a sports car and grand tourer manufactured by the Toyota Motor Corporation beginning in 1978. The name "supra" is derived from the Latin prefix, meaning "above", "to surpass" or "go beyond".
The initial four generations of the Supra were pr ...
driven by
Michael Krumm
Michael Krumm (born 19 March 1970) is a German professional racing driver who won the 2011 FIA GT1 World Championship driving for JR Motorsports.
Biography
Born in Reutlingen, Krumm married Japanese tennis player Kimiko Date on 1 December 2001 ...
and
Pedro de la Rosa
Pedro MartÃnez de la Rosa (; born 24 February 1971) is a Spanish former Formula One driver who has participated in 107 Grands Prix for the Arrows, Jaguar, McLaren, Sauber and HRT teams. He made his Formula One debut on 7 March 1999, becoming ...
and the GT300 class champion was the #19 Bandoh Racing
Nissan Silvia
The is the series of small sports cars produced by Nissan. Versions of the Silvia have been marketed as the 200SX or 240SX for export, with some export versions being sold under the Datsun brand.
The name "Silvia" is derived from Sylvia, th ...
driven by
Hideo Fukuyama
is a Japanese racing driver. A former competitor at the 24 Hours of Le Mans, he attempted to compete in the NASCAR Winston Cup Series in the early 2000s, but only qualified for four races before leaving the series. He was the first Japanese driv ...
and
Manabu Orido
is a Japanese racing driver who currently competes in the Super GT series for Team apr Racing, driving a Toyota GR86 GT300 and in the Super Taikyu, driving Aston Martin Vantage GT4. He's a two-time JGTC/Super GT GT300 class champions.
Racing c ...
.
The GT500 Drivers' Championship was decided on a tiebreaker for the first and, as of the conclusion of the 2019 season, the only time in JGTC/Super GT history. The duo of De la Rosa and Krumm, and Toyota Team SARD driver
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. With this, 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
The Japanese Super Formula Championship is a formula racing series. It is considered as being the top level of single-seater racing in Japan and regional motorsports in Asia. The series is sanctioned by the Japan Automobile Federation (JAF) an ...
), in the same calendar year.
Schedule
Season results
Point ranking
GT500 class
Drivers
GT300 Class (Top 5)
Drivers
External links
Super GT/JGTC official race archive
{{Super GT seasons
Super GT seasons
JGTC
Super GT (stylized as SUPER GT) is a grand touring car racing series that began in 1993. Launched as the , generally referred to as either the JGTC or the All Japan Grand Touring Car Championship, the series was renamed to Super GT in 2005. It is ...