1997 Australian Super Touring Championship

The 1997 Australian Super Touring Championship was a CAMS sanctioned Australian motor racing title open to Super Touring Cars. It was the fifth national title to be run in Australia for Super Touring Cars and the third to carry the Australian Super Touring Championship name. The championship, which was promoted by TOCA Australia as the 1997 BOC Gases Australian Super Touring Championship, began on 4 May at Lakeside International Raceway and ended on 9 November at Amaroo Park after eight rounds and sixteen races. The Drivers Championship was won by Paul Morris, the Manufacturers Championship by BMW and the Teams Championship by BMW Motorsport.[1]

1997 ASTC season
Previous:	1996	Next:	1998

Teams and drivers

The following teams and drivers competed in the 1997 Australian Super Touring Championship.

Team	Car	No.	Driver
Audi Sport Australia	Audi A4 Quattro	1 *	Brad Jones
		11 *	Cameron McConville
BMW Motorsport	BMW 320i	2 *	Paul Morris
		22 *	Craig Baird
		83 *	Geoff Brabham
Volvo Cars Australia	Volvo 850	4 *	Tony Scott
		8 *	Jim Richards
Phoenix Motorsport	Toyota Camry	10	Mark Adderton Neal Bates
Greenfield Mowers Racing	Opel Vectra Holden Vectra	12	Cameron McLean
CPW Motorsport	BMW 318i	13	Wayne Wakefield
		27	Steven Johnson
		64	Jason Richards
Triple P Racing (HVe Motorsport)	Hyundai Elantra	14	Jim Cornish Kurt Kratzmann
		57	Jim Cornish
		58	Paul Pickett
Albert Poon	Ford Mondeo	15	Gianfranco Brancatelli Mike Briggs
		20	Albert Poon
AAP Racing	Toyota Carina	15	Milton Leslight
Bob Holden Motors	BMW 318i	16	Justin Matthews
M-F Racing	Peugeot 405 Mi16	21	Mike Fitzgerald
Garry Rogers Motorsport	Honda Accord Nissan Primera	34	Steven Richards
TC Motorsport (Fastway Couriers)	Peugeot 405 Mi16	37	Tony Newman
		38	Dwayne Bewley
Gun Racing	Alfa Romeo 155 TS	45	David Auger
John Henderson Racing	Opel Vectra	56	John Henderson
Warren Luff	Honda Accord	60	Warren Luff
Robert Tweedie	Vauxhall Cavalier	79	Bob Tweedie
Knight Racing	Ford Mondeo	88	Peter Hills
		89	Jenni Thompson Claude Elias
Nigel Barclay	BMW 318i	99	Blair Smith

Note : * indicates entry nominated by a manufacturer for the Manufacturers Championship

Race Calendar

The 1997 Australian Super Touring Championship was contested over eight rounds with two races held at each round.[2]

Rd.[2]	Race	Circuit [2]	Location / State	Date	Winner	Car	Team	Report
1	1	Lakeside International Raceway	Brisbane, Queensland	3–4 May	Paul Morris	BMW 320i	Paul Morris Motorsport
	2	Lakeside International Raceway	Brisbane, Queensland	3–4 May	Paul Morris	BMW 320i	Paul Morris Motorsport
2	1	Phillip Island Grand Prix Circuit	Phillip Island, Victoria	31 May–1 Jun	Paul Morris	BMW 320i	Paul Morris Motorsport
	2	Phillip Island Grand Prix Circuit	Phillip Island, Victoria	31 May–1 Jun	Geoff Brabham	BMW 320i	Paul Morris Motorsport
3	1	Calder Park Raceway	Melbourne, Victoria	21–22 Jun	Brad Jones	Audi A4 Quattro	Brad Jones Racing
	2	Calder Park Raceway	Melbourne, Victoria	21–22 Jun	Geoff Brabham	BMW 320i	Paul Morris Motorsport
4	1	Amaroo Park	Sydney, New South Wales	19–20 Jul	Brad Jones	Audi A4 Quattro	Brad Jones Racing
	2	Amaroo Park	Sydney, New South Wales	19–20 Jul	Brad Jones	Audi A4 Quattro	Brad Jones Racing
5	1	Winton Motor Raceway	Benalla, Victoria	9–10 Aug	Cameron McConville	Audi A4 Quattro	Brad Jones Racing
	2	Winton Motor Raceway	Benalla, Victoria	9–10 Aug	Paul Morris	BMW 320i	Paul Morris Motorsport
6	1	Mallala Motor Sport Park	Mallala, South Australia	23–24 Aug	Brad Jones	Audi A4 Quattro	Brad Jones Racing
	2	Mallala Motor Sport Park	Mallala, South Australia	23–24 Aug	Cameron McConville	Audi A4 Quattro	Brad Jones Racing
7	1	Lakeside International Raceway	Brisbane, Queensland	25–26 Oct	Paul Morris	BMW 320i	Paul Morris Motorsport
	2	Lakeside International Raceway	Brisbane, Queensland	25–26 Oct	Paul Morris	BMW 320i	Paul Morris Motorsport
NC	1	Mount Panorama Circuit	Bathurst, New South Wales	5 Oct	David Brabham & Geoff Brabham	BMW 320i	BMW Motorsport Australia	Report
8	1	Amaroo Park	Sydney, New South Wales	8–9 Nov	Geoff Brabham	BMW 320i	Paul Morris Motorsport
	2	Amaroo Park	Sydney, New South Wales	8–9 Nov	Paul Morris	BMW 320i	Paul Morris Motorsport

Results

Drivers Championship

Drivers Championship points were awarded on a 15-12-10-8-6-5-4-3-2-1 basis for the first ten places in each race.[2] One point was awarded to the driver setting the fastest qualifying time for each races.[2]

Pos.[1] Driver [1] Car Lak 1 Lak 2 Phi 1 Phi 2 Cal 1 Cal 2 Ama 1 Ama 2 Win 1 Win 2 Mal 1 Mal 2 Lak 1 Lak 2 Ama 1 Ama 2 Points [1] 1 Paul Morris BMW 320i 1st 1st 1st 2nd Ret 2nd 2nd 4th 2nd 1st 6th 3rd 1st 1st 4th 1st 189 2 Geoff Brabham BMW 320i 2nd 2nd 5th 1st 2nd 1st 4th 3rd 8th 3rd Ret 2nd 2nd 2nd 1st 3rd 171 3 Cameron McConville Audi A4 Quattro DSQ 8th 2nd 4th 3rd 3rd 3rd 2nd 1st 2nd 3rd 1st 4th 6th 3rd 2nd 152 4 Brad Jones Audi A4 Quattro Ret 6th 11th 3rd 1st 4th 1st 1st 3rd 6th 1st 4th Ret 7th 2nd Ret 125 5 Jim Richards Volvo 850 3rd 3rd Ret 5th 4th 5th 5th 5th 4th 4th 2nd 5th 5th 4th 6th 5th 111 6 Cameron McLean Opel Vectra Holden Vectra 4th 4th 4th Ret 5th 10th 11th 6th 5th 7th 4th 6th 6th 5th 13th 11th 70 7 Steven Richards Honda Accord Nissan Primera Ret Ret 3rd 6th DSQ 6th 6th 7th 7th 5th 11th Ret 8th Ret 42 8 Craig Baird BMW 320i 3rd 3rd 5th 4th 35 9 Justin Matthews BMW 318i 6th 7th 6th 8th 9th 9th 10th 11th 10th 9th Ret Ret 9th 9th 16th 8th 32 10 Tony Newman Peugeot 405 Mi16 8th 9th 7th 7th 8th Ret Ret 10th 11th Ret 7th 8th Ret 14th Ret DNS 24 11 David Auger Alfa Romeo 155 TS 7th 10th 8th Ret 7th 8th 13th 13th 12th 10th 9th 9th 10th 10th 14th Ret 22 12 Bob Tweedie Vauxhall Cavalier Ret Ret 12th DSQ 6th Ret 9th 9th 13th 11th 8th 7th 11th 12th 12th Ret 16 13 Mark Adderton Toyota Camry Ret Ret 8th Ret 8th Ret 7th 7th 14 13 Neal Bates Toyota Camry 6th 8th 5th Ret 14 15 Wayne Wakefield BMW 318i 5th 5th 12 16 Tony Scott Volvo 850 9th 6th 7 16 Jason Richards BMW 318i 7th 8th 7 16 Steven Johnson BMW 318i 7th 8th 7 19 Mike Briggs Ford Mondeo Ret 7th 4 20 Peter Hills Ford Mondeo 12th 12th 9th 12th 12th 11th Ret Ret 2 20 Paul Pickett Hyundai Elantra Ret Ret 9th Ret Ret 15th Ret DNS 2 20 Claude Elias Ford Mondeo 15th 9th 2 20 Jim Cornish Hyundai Elantra Ret 11th 10th Ret Ret Ret 10th Ret 2 20 Dwayne Bewley Peugeot 405 Mi16 Ret 13th 10th 10th 2 - Warren Luff Honda Accord Ret DNS 11th Ret - - Jenni Thompson Ford Mondeo 13th 16th - - Gianfranco Brancatelli Ford Mondeo Ret Ret - - Blair Smith BMW 318i Ret Ret Ret Ret - - Kurt Kratzmann Hyundai Elantra Ret DNS - - John Henderson Opel Vectra Ret Ret - - Milton Leslight Toyota Carina Ret DNS - - Mike Fitzgerald Peugeot 405 Mi16 Ret DNS - - Albert Poon Ford Mondeo DNS DNS - Pos. Driver Car Lak 1 Lak 2 Phi 1 Phi 2 Cal 1 Cal 2 Ama 1 Ama 2 Win 1 Win 2 Mal 1 Mal 2 Lak 1 Lak 2 Ama 1 Ama 2 Points

Colour Result Gold Winner Silver 2nd place Bronze 3rd place Green Points finish Blue Non-points finish Non-classified finish (NC) Purple Retired (Ret) Red Did not qualify (DNQ) Did not pre-qualify (DNPQ) Black Disqualified (DSQ) White Did not start (DNS) Withdrew (WD) Race cancelled (C) Blank Did not participate (DNP) Did not arrive (DNA) Excluded (EX)

Manufacturers Championship

Manufacturers Championship points were awarded on a 15-12-10 basis for relative positions attained in each race by the best placed car of each of the three manufacturers that had nominated cars to compete on their behalf.

Position	Manufacturer[1]	Lak R1	Lak R2	Phi R1	Phi R2	Cal R1	Cal R2	Ama R1	Ama R2	Win R1	Win R2	Mal R1	Mal R2	Lak R1	Lak R2	Ama R1	Ama R2	Points [1]
1	BMW	15	15	15	15	12	15	12	12	12	15	10	12	15	15	15	15	220
2	Audi	-	10	12	12	15	12	15	15	15	12	15	15	12	10	12	12	194
3	Volvo	12	12	-	10	10	10	10	10	10	10	12	10	10	12	10	10	158

Teams Championship

Position [1]	Team [1]	Car	Points [1]
1	BMW Motorsport	BMW 320i	362
2	Orix Audi Sport Australia	Audi A4 Quattro	305
3	HVe Motorsport	Hyundai Lantra	31
4	Knight Racing	Ford Mondeo	30
5	Volvo Racing	Volvo 850	25
6	Fastway Couriers	Peugeot 405 Mi16	17

TOCA Challenge Cup - Independents

Position [1]	Driver [1]	Car	Points [1]
1	Cameron McLean	Opel Vectra Holden Vectra	186
2	Steven Richards	Nissan Primera	123
3	Justin Matthews	BMW 318i	111
4	David Auger	Alfa Romeo 155 TS	81
5	Robert Tweedie	Vauxhall Cavalier	78
6	Tony Newman	Peugeot 405 Mi16	74
7	Mark Adderton	Toyota Camry	50
8	Neal Bates	Toyota Camry	34
9	Peter Hills	Ford Mondeo	30
10	Wayne Wakefield	BMW 318i	24
=	Steven Johnson	BMW 318i	24
12	Jason Richards	BMW 318i	23
13	Dwayne Bewley	Peugeot 405 Mi16	22
14	Jim Cornish	Hyundai Lantra	16
15	Claude Elias	Ford Mondeo	13
16	Mike Briggs	Ford Mondeo	12
17	Warren Luff	Honda Accord	8
18	Paul Pickett	Hyundai Lantra	6
19	Jenni Thompson	Ford Mondeo	4

The TOCA Challenge Cup was open to drivers of teams which did not receive major support from a manufacturer.[2]

See also

1997 AMP Bathurst 1000, a non-championship race for Super Touring cars.

References

1. TOCA Australia – BOC Gases Australian Super Touring Championship Points – Final, 9 December 1997
2. Official Programme, Australian Super Touring Championship, Mallala, Round 6–24 August 1997, p. 40

External links

• Australian Titles at docs.cams.com.au as archived at web.archive.org
• Results Archive at www.natsoft.com.au
• Review and images from the Winton round of the Championship at www.minerva.com.au
• 1997 Australian Super Touring Championship Entry List at www.supertouringregister.com