1997 Australian Drivers' Championship


The 1997 Australian Drivers' Championship was a motor racing competition open to drivers of racing cars complying with CAMS Formula Holden regulations. The championship winner was awarded the 1997 CAMS Gold Star as the Australian Drivers' Champion. It was the 41st running of the Australian Drivers' Championship, 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".
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.
DriverNoCarEntrant
Jason Bright2Reynard 91DGarry & Warren Smith
Darren Edwards3Reynard 92DClem Smith
Bruce Williams4Reynard 92DSimoco Pacific P/L
Stan Keen5Shrike NB89HStan Keen
James Taylor6Reynard 91D
Adam Kaplan7Reynard 91DHunter Holden
Dean Irwin8Ralt RT21Dean Irwin
Brenton Ramsay9Reynard 91DBirrana Racing Pty Ltd
Mark Noske10Lola T93/50Mark Noske
Scott Dixon11Reynard 91DGraham Watson
Tony Blanche12Reynard 90DGraham Watson
Ryan McLeod12Reynard 90D
Graham Watson12Reynard 90D
Chas Talbot14March 87B
Stephen White15Reynard 91D
Darren Pate19Reynard 92D
Reynard 95D		Arthur Abrahams
Stephen Cramp21Reynard 94DStephen Cramp
Bob Minogue29Reynard 92DBob Minogue
Owen Osborne34Reynard 92DNHP Electrical
Jason Bargwanna47Reynard 92DSH Racing
Bob Power48Ralt RT23
Kevin Weeks70Reynard 91D
Chris Hocking74Reynard 92DGL Knight and Associates
Brian Sampson78Cheetah Mk. 9
Chas Jacobsen87Reynard 92DChas Jacobsen
Al Callegher99Reynard 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
1Calder Park RacewayMelbourne, Victoria15 MarchJason Bright
2Phillip Island Grand Prix CircuitPhillip Island, Victoria13 AprilJason Bright
3Sandown RacewayMelbourne, Victoria27 AprilJason Bright
4Winton Motor RacewayBenalla, Victoria18 MayJason Bargwanna
5Eastern Creek RacewaySydney, New South Wales25 MayJason Bright
6Mallala Motor Sport ParkMallala, South Australia13 JulyMark Noske
7Oran Park RacewaySydney, New South Wales3 AugustJason 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.

Championship results

Note: Race 2 at the opening round at Calder was declared a No Race and no championship points were awarded.