1997 All Japan Grand Touring Car Championship
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
Entrant | Team Name | Make | Car | Engine | No. | Drivers | Tyre | Rounds |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
KRAFT | Wise Sports Dunlop BP MR2 | Toyota | Toyota MR2 | Toyota 3S-GE 2.0 L I4 | 6 | Hiroki Katoh | D | 1–6 |
Takahiro Fujita | 1–6 | |||||||
Wise Sports Dunlop BP Cavalier | Toyota Cavalier | 60 | Kumi Sato | 4–6, NC | ||||
Minoru Tanaka | 4–6, NC | |||||||
RE Amemiya Racing | RE Amemiya SuperG RX-7 | Mazda | Mazda RX-7 (FD3S) | Mazda RE20B 2.0 L 3-rotor | 7 | Shinichi Yamaji | D | All |
Haruhiko Matsumoto | All | |||||||
Team 5ZIGEN | PCJ 5ZIGEN RSR | Porsche | Porsche 993 RSR | Porsche M64/80 3.8 L F6 | 9 | Tsunefumi Hioki | D | 1–2 |
Masaharu Kinoshita | 1–2 | |||||||
M Factory Racing | Murauchi Kamei Skyline | Nissan | Nissan Skyline GTS-R (HR31) | Nissan SR20DET 2.0 L Turbo I4 | 11 | Hiromoto Ishimori | B | 2 |
Kinji Suzuki | 2 | |||||||
Kamco Works | Kamco Workstation GT-R | Nissan | Nissan Skyline GT-R (R32) | Nissan RB26DETT 2.6 L Twin Turbo I6 | 15 | Takeshi Odagiri | Y | 4 |
Takatoshi Onoda | 4 | |||||||
Team Power Magic | YB BMW 318i Coupe | BMW | BMW 318i Coupe | BMW M43B18 1.8L I4 | 16 | Motoji Sekine | Y | All |
Hiroyuki Iiri | 1–2 | |||||||
Toshiya Fujishima | 3–6 | |||||||
Kageisen Racing Team | Tokyo College of Science and Arts RX-7 (1) | Mazda | Mazda RX-7 (FC3S) | Mazda RE13B 1.3 L 2-rotor | 17 | Toshihiko Nogami | D | 1 |
Toshiaki Koshimizu | 1 | |||||||
Tokyo Polytechnic Institute Roadster (2-4, 6) | Mazda Roadster (NA) | Toshihiko Nogami | 2–4, 6, NC | |||||
Tomoyuki Hosono | 2–4, 6, NC | |||||||
RS-R Racing with Bandoh | RS-R Silvia | Nissan | Nissan Silvia (S14) | Nissan SR20DET 2.0 L Turbo I4 | 19 | Manabu Orido | Y | All |
Hideo Fukuyama | All | |||||||
AI Auto Racing | Porsche | Porsche 993 RS | Porsche M64/70 3.8 L F6 | 20 | Kenji Takahashi | Y | All | |
Hiroaki Suga | All | |||||||
Hitotsuyama Racing | BMW | BMW M3 (E36) | BMW S14 2.2 L Turbo I4 | 21 | Yasushi Hitotsuyama | D | 1–2, 6 | |
Takayuki Kinoshita | 1 | |||||||
Kenji Yamamoto | 2–4 | |||||||
Mikio Hitotsuyama | 3–5 | |||||||
Mizuno Fuminori | 5–6 | |||||||
Hirano Motorsport | Nissan | Nissan Skyline GTS-i (R32) | Nissan RB20DET 2.0 L Turbo I6 | 24 | Toshiyuki Hirano | Y | 4 | |
Hisanori Kuboyama | 4 | |||||||
Tsuchiya Engineering | Toyota | Toyota MR2 | Toyota 3S-GTE 2.0 L Turbo I4 | 25 | Masaoki Nagashima | Y | All | |
Takeshi Tsuchiya | 1–6 | |||||||
Sakae Obata | NC | |||||||
Team Taisan Jr. | Porsche | Porsche 993 RSR | Porsche M64/80 3.8 L F6 | 26 | Keiichi Suzuki | Y | All | |
Morio Nitta | All | |||||||
Team Ferrari Club of Japan | Ferrari | Ferrari F355 GT | Ferrari F129B 3.5 L V8 | 27 | Tetsuya Ota | Y | 1–4, 6, NC | |
Anders Olofsson | 1–2, 4, NC | |||||||
Steven Andskär | 3, 6 | |||||||
28 | Masami Sugiyama | All | ||||||
Masahiro Yamazaki | 1–4, 6 | |||||||
Tetsuya Ota | 5 | |||||||
Signal | Nissan | Nissan Silvia (S13) | Nissan FJ20DET 2.0 L Turbo I4 | 45 | Takeshi Yuasa | Y | 1–2 | |
Kiyoaki Hanai | 1–2 | |||||||
Cobra Racing Team | Porsche | Porsche 993 RSR | Porsche M64/80 3.8 L F6 | 51 | Katsunori Iketani | Y | All | |
Masamitsu Ishihara | 1–2, 4–6 | |||||||
Masami Sugiyama | 3 | |||||||
S.D.R. | Porsche | Porsche 993 RSR | Porsche M64/80 3.8 L F6 | 54 | Nobuyuki Tanaka | Y | 6 | |
Kazushige Saito | 6 | |||||||
Sports Factory Racing | Mazda | Mazda RX-7 (FD3S) | Mazda RE13B 1.3 L 2-rotor | 55 | Toshihiro Fukazawa | D | 1–3, 4, 6 | |
Masaaki Nagashima | 1–3, 4, 6 | |||||||
ecurie SiFo | Renault | Renault Sport Spider | Renault F7R 2.0 L I4 | 57 | Hideyuki Tamamoto | M | 2 | |
Michiko Okuyama | 2 | |||||||
Tomohiko Sunako | 6 | |||||||
Akira Yoshitomi | 6 | |||||||
Team Gaikokuya | Porsche | Porsche 993 RSR | Porsche M64/80 3.8 L F6 | 70 | Yoshimi Ishibashi | Y | All | |
Nobuo Komiya | All | |||||||
SigmaTec Racing Team | Porsche | Porsche 993 RSR | Porsche M64/80 3.8 L F6 | 71 | Kaoru Hoshino | D | All | |
Masaki Jyonai | All | |||||||
Makiguchi Engineering | BMW | BMW M3 (E36) | BMW S14 2.5 L I4 | 72 | Norio Makiguchi | Y | All | |
Takeshi Asami | All | |||||||
Cusco Racing | Subaru | Subaru Impreza WRX STI | Subaru EJ20 2.0 L Turbo F4 | 77 | Katsuo Kobayashi | Y | 6 | |
Naohiro Furuya | 6 | |||||||
NAC West | Nissan | Nissan Silvia (S13) | Nissan FJ20DET 2.0 L Turbo I4 | 79 | Masanori Sugiyama | D | 2, 4 | |
Hiroyasu Aoyagi | 2, 4 | |||||||
Team Daishin | Nissan | Nissan Silvia (S14) | Nissan SR20DET 2.0 L Turbo I4 | 81 | Nobuyuki Ohyagi | B (1–2) D (3–6) |
All | |
Takayuki Kinoshita | 2–6 | |||||||
Tsuneaki Mankumo | 1 | |||||||
First Racing Team | Toyota | Toyota MR2 | Toyota 3S-GTE 2.0 L Turbo I4 | 91 | Masahiro Matsunaga | Y | All | |
Junko Mihara | All | |||||||
Shimizu Racing Enterprise | Porsche | Porsche 993 RSR | Porsche M64/80 3.8 L F6 | 333 | Masatomo Shimizu | D | 1–2, 4, 6 | |
Yoshimi Katayama | 1–2 | |||||||
Shigekazu Saeki | 4 | |||||||
Fumihito Sakamoto | 6 | |||||||
Tackle & RS Matsumoto | Porsche | Porsche 993 RSR | Porsche M64/80 3.8 L F6 | 777 | Katsuya Makita | D | 1 | |
Katuharu Shiomi | 1 | |||||||
910 Racing | 910 Porsche | Porsche | Porsche 993 RSR | Porsche M64/80 3.8 L F6 | 910 | Seiichi Sodeyama | D | All |
Kiyoshi Misaki | 1 | |||||||
Tomohiko Sunako | 2–3 | |||||||
Hideyuki Tamamoto | 4–6 | |||||||
910 TIB Porsche | 911 | Shigemitsu Haga | 6 | |||||
Kiichi Takahashi | 6 |
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
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 |
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
-
- 36 and #37 operated by TOM's, #38 operated by Cerumo
- Operated by Cerumo with drivers from Power Craft
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.
- "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