Motorsports season
The1997 All Japan Grand Touring Car Championship was the fifth season of theAll-Japan GT Championship , now known as theSuper GT Series, and the 15th season of top-level Japanese sports car racing dating back to the formation of the previousAll-Japan Endurance/Sports Prototype Championship .
1997 GT500 champions, #36 Castrol TOM'S Toyota Supra Michael Krumm andPedro de la Rosa won the GT500 class championship forToyota Castrol Team in the #36Castrol TOM's Supra .Hideo Fukuyama andManabu Orido won the GT300 class championship forRacing 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 driverMasami 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 (nowSuper 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 newTwin 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.
Entrant Team Name Make Car Engine No. Drivers Tyre Rounds NISMO ZEXEL SkylineNissan Nissan Skyline GT-R Nissan RB26DETT 2.6 LTwin Turbo I6 2 Aguri Suzuki B All Érik Comas 1, 3–6, NC Marco Apicella 2 KURE R33 556 Masahiko Kageyama All Masahiko Kondo All Hasemi Motorsports Unisia JECS SkylineNissan Nissan Skyline GT-R Nissan RB26DETT 2.6 LTwin Turbo I6 3 Masahiro Hasemi B All Tetsuya Tanaka All Suzuki Bankin Advan Porsche (1) Alpha Computer Porsche (2, 4–5)Dunlop Porsche (3, 6)Porsche Porsche 993 GT2 Porsche M64/81 3.6 LTurbo F6 4 Tatsuhiko Kaneumi Y (1–2) D (3–6) All Mitsutake Koma All Team 5ZIGEN 5ZIGEN Supra Toyota Toyota Supra Toyota 3S-GT 2.0 LTurbo I4 5 Eiichi Tajima D All Marc Goossens 1–6 Hiro Matsushita NC Power Craft Power CraftTRD Supra Toyota Toyota Supra Toyota 3S-GT 2.0 LTurbo I4 8 Bertrand Gachot B 1–2 Paul Belmondo 1–2 Wayne Gardner 3–4, 6, NC Naoki Nagasaka 3, 5, 6 Tom Kristensen 4–5, NC Team TMS Chateraise Porsche GT2 Porsche Porsche 993 GT2 Porsche M64/81 3.6 LTurbo F6 10 Kaoru Iida D All Ralph Firman All Hoshino Racing Calsonic SkylineNissan Nissan Skyline GT-R Nissan RB26DETT 2.6 LTwin Turbo I6 12 Satoshi Motoyama B 1–6 Kazuyoshi Hoshino 1, 3–6, NC Fuminori Mizuno 2 Takeshi Tsuchiya NC Endless Sports Endless Advan GT-R Nissan Nissan Skyline GT-R Nissan RB26DETT 2.6 LTwin Turbo I6 13 Mitsuhiro Kinoshita Y All Yasushi Kikuchi 1 Mitsuo Fujimura 2–6 Mugen +Dome Project avex Dome Mugen NSXHonda Honda NSX Honda C32B 3.5 LV6 18 Takuya Kurosawa B 2–6, NC Katsumi Yamamoto 2–6, NC Team Take One SOK Porsche Porsche Porsche 993 GT2 Porsche M64/81 3.6 LTurbo F6 30 Yoji Yamada B All Kazuo Mogi All Team Taisan Advan STP Taisan Porsche GT2Porsche Porsche 993 GT2 Porsche M64/81 3.6 LTurbo F6 34 Keiichi Tsuchiya Y 3–4 Hideshi Matsuda 3–4 STP Taisan Advan Viper Dodge Dodge Viper GTS-R Dodge Viper 8.0 LV10 Keiichi Tsuchiya 5–6, NC Hideshi Matsuda 5–6, NC ToyotaCastrol Team[ N 1] CastrolTOM's Supra Toyota Toyota Supra Toyota 3S-GT 2.0 LTurbo I4 36 Michael Krumm B 1–6 Pedro de la Rosa 1–6 Masanori Sekiya NC Ukyo Katayama NC 37 Toshio Suzuki All Masanori Sekiya 1–6 Shingo Tachi NC CastrolCerumo Supra Toyota Toyota Supra Toyota 3S-GT 2.0 LTurbo I4 38 Hironori Takeuchi B All Katsutomo Kaneishi All Toyota TeamSARD Denso SARD SupraToyota Toyota Supra Toyota 3S-GT 2.0 LTurbo I4 39 Masami Kageyama Y All Olivier Grouillard 1 Tatsuya Tanigawa 2–6, NC Susuki Racing Mechanics Advance Auto GT Camaro Chevrolet Chevrolet Camaro Chevrolet 6.0 LV8 47 Masato Yamamoto G 4 Katsuhiko Okamoto 4 Team LeMans Nissan 300ZX-GTS Nissan Nissan Fairlady Z LM Nissan VH45DE 4.5 LV8 75 Yuji Tachikawa Y 1–2 Tsuyoshi Takahashi 1–2 JLOC Corsa JLOC Diablo GTR Lamborghini Lamborghini Diablo GTR Lamborghini L532 6.0 LV12 88 Takao Wada D 2–6, NC Hisashi Wada 2–6, NC Team Kunimitsu withMooncraft Raybrig NSXHonda Honda NSX Honda C32B 3.5 LV6 100 Kunimitsu Takahashi B 2–6, NC Akira Iida 2–6, NC Ryowa House Pacific TeamCerumo [ N 2] RH Cerumo Supra Toyota Toyota Supra Toyota 3S-GT 2.0 LTurbo I4 510 Bertrand Gachot B 3–6 Paul Belmondo 3–6
Entrant Team Name Make Car Engine No. Drivers Tyre Rounds KRAFT Wise Sports Dunlop BP MR2 Toyota Toyota MR2 Toyota 3S-GE 2.0 LI4 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 L3-rotor 7 Shinichi Yamaji D All Haruhiko Matsumoto All Team 5ZIGEN PCJ 5ZIGEN RSR Porsche Porsche 993 RSR Porsche M64/80 3.8 LF6 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 LTurbo 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 LTwin Turbo I6 15 Takeshi Odagiri Y 4 Takatoshi Onoda 4 Team Power Magic YB BMW 318i Coupe BMW BMW 318i Coupe BMW M43B18 1.8LI4 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 L2-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 withBandoh RS-R Silvia Nissan Nissan Silvia (S14) Nissan SR20DET 2.0 LTurbo I4 19 Manabu Orido Y All Hideo Fukuyama All AI Auto Racing AI Auto GAB Porsche Porsche Porsche 993 RS Porsche M64/70 3.8 LF6 20 Kenji Takahashi Y All Hiroaki Suga All Hitotsuyama Racing DunlopBP BMW BMW BMW M3 (E36) BMW S14 2.2 LTurbo 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 Hirano Motorsport R32M Nissan Nissan Skyline GTS-i (R32) Nissan RB20DET 2.0 LTurbo I6 24 Toshiyuki Hirano Y 4 Hisanori Kuboyama 4 Tsuchiya Engineering Atlus Tsuchiya MR2 (1–2) Tsuchiya MR2 (3–6)Toyota Toyota MR2 Toyota 3S-GTE 2.0 LTurbo I4 25 Masaoki Nagashima Y All Takeshi Tsuchiya 1–6 Sakae Obata NC Team Taisan Jr. Taisan Star Card RSR Porsche Porsche 993 RSR Porsche M64/80 3.8 LF6 26 Keiichi Suzuki Y All Morio Nitta All Team Ferrari Club of Japan Team FCJ Ferrari (1–4)Shell Ferrari F355 (5–6) Ferrari Ferrari F355 GT Ferrari F129B 3.5 LV8 27 Tetsuya Ota Y 1–4, 6, NC Anders Olofsson 1–2, 4, NC Steven Andskär 3, 6 Team FCJ Ferrari 28 Masami Sugiyama All Masahiro Yamazaki 1–4, 6 Tetsuya Ota 5 Signal Friends Nito Seaside Silvia Nissan Nissan Silvia (S13) Nissan FJ20DET 2.0 LTurbo I4 45 Takeshi Yuasa Y 1–2 Kiyoaki Hanai 1–2 Cobra Racing Team Cobra Porsche Porsche Porsche 993 RSR Porsche M64/80 3.8 LF6 51 Katsunori IketaniY All Masamitsu Ishihara 1–2, 4–6 Masami Sugiyama 3 S.D.R. Che'Nelle Porsche SDRPorsche Porsche 993 RSR Porsche M64/80 3.8 LF6 54 Nobuyuki Tanaka Y 6 Kazushige Saito 6 Sports Factory Racing Castrol RX-7 (1–3) Castrol FS RX-7 (4, 6) Mazda Mazda RX-7 (FD3S) Mazda RE13B 1.3 L2-rotor 55 Toshihiro Fukazawa D 1–3, 4, 6 Masaaki Nagashima 1–3, 4, 6 ecurie SiFo SiFo Spider Version GT Renault Renault Sport Spider Renault F7R 2.0 LI4 57 Hideyuki Tamamoto M 2 Michiko Okuyama 2 Tomohiko Sunako 6 Akira Yoshitomi 6 Team Gaikokuya Gaikokuya Dunlop Porsche Porsche Porsche 993 RSR Porsche M64/80 3.8 LF6 70 Yoshimi Ishibashi Y All Nobuo Komiya All SigmaTec Racing Team SigmaTec 911 Porsche Porsche 993 RSR Porsche M64/80 3.8 LF6 71 Kaoru Hoshino D All Masaki Jyonai All Makiguchi Engineering WAKO'S BMW M3 BMW BMW M3 (E36) BMW S14 2.5 LI4 72 Norio Makiguchi Y All Takeshi Asami All Cusco Racing Cusco Subaru Impreza Subaru Subaru Impreza WRX STI Subaru EJ20 2.0 LTurbo F4 77 Katsuo Kobayashi Y 6 Naohiro Furuya 6 NAC West NAC West Silvia Nissan Nissan Silvia (S13) Nissan FJ20DET 2.0 LTurbo I4 79 Masanori Sugiyama D 2, 4 Hiroyasu Aoyagi 2, 4 Team Daishin Daishin Silvia Nissan Nissan Silvia (S14) Nissan SR20DET 2.0 LTurbo I4 81 Nobuyuki Ohyagi B (1–2) D (3–6) All Tsuneaki Mankumo 1 Takayuki Kinoshita 2–6 First Racing Team Buddy Club MR2 Toyota Toyota MR2 Toyota 3S-GTE 2.0 LTurbo I4 91 Masahiro Matsunaga Y All Junko Mihara All Shimizu Racing Enterprise Castrol Porsche (1–3) Porsche (4, 6) Porsche Porsche 993 RSR Porsche M64/80 3.8 LF6 333 Masatomo Shimizu D 1–2, 4, 6 Yoshimi Katayama 1–2 Shigekazu Saeki 4 Fumihito Sakamoto 6 Tackle & RS Matsumoto PCJ Shiomi Clinic RSR Porsche Porsche 993 RSR Porsche M64/80 3.8 LF6 777 Katsuya Makita D 1 Katsuharu Shiomi 1 910 Racing 910 Porsche Porsche Porsche 993 RSR Porsche M64/80 3.8 LF6 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
Drivers credited with winning Pole Position for their respective teams are indicated inbold text .
GT500 Teams' standings[ edit ] For teams that entered multiple cars, only the best result from each round counted towards the teams' points.
GT300 Drivers' championship[ edit ] GT300 Teams' standings[ edit ] For teams that entered multiple cars, only the best result from each round counted towards the teams' championship.
Rank Team No. SUZ FUJ SEN FUJ MIN SUG MOT MOT Pts. 1 RS-R Racing withBandoh 19 1 2 2 3 1 5 2 9 90 2 Team Taisan Jr. 26 4 1 3 1 3 2 DNS DNS 89 3 Tsuchiya Engineering 25 3 Ret 1 5 3 Ret 7 52 4 SigmaTec Racing Team 71 DNA 6 7 6 2 1 5 4 51 5 910 Racing 910 2 8 4 4 12 12 4 3 38 911 14 6 Team Ferrari Club of Japan 27 11 4 9 2 DNA Ret 1 1 31 28 Ret 13 15 7 Ret 7 RE Amemiya Racing 7 Ret 3 5 Ret 10 4 6 10 31 8 Cobra Racing Team 51 5 5 DNQ 7 DNA 9 22 9 KRAFT 6 Ret Ret Ret 11 Ret 6 16 60 16 4 16 Ret 5 10 Team Daishin 81 8 7 6 Ret Ret 8 3 2 16 11 Makiguchi Engineering 72 7 9 8 8 Ret DNQ 12 12 AI Auto Racing 20 Ret Ret 11 9 5 11 10 13 Team Gaikokuya 70 10 Ret Ret 10 6 17 7 14 Team 5ZIGEN 9 6 DNA 6 15 Hitotsuyama Racing 21 Ret 10 10 Ret Ret 7 6 16 Team Power Magic 16 15 15 12 12 8 13 3 17 Tackle & RS Matsumoto 777 9 2 17 First Racing Team 91 13 14 14 14 9 Ret DNS 6 2 19 S.D.R. 54 10 1 - Sports Factory Racing 55 12 11 DNS Ret 13 15 0 - Kageisen Racing Team 17 14 12 DNQ Ret Ret 7 8 0 - NAC West 79 13 19 DNA 0 - Signal 45 16 Ret 0 - M Factory Racing 11 16 0 - Shimizu Racing Enterprise 333 Ret DNA 17 DNQ 0 - Kamco Works 15 18 0 - ecurie SiFo 57 DNS 18 0 - Cusco Racing 77 Ret 0 - Hirano Motorsport 24 DNS 0 Rank Team No. SUZ FUJ SEN FUJ MIN SUG MOT MOT Pts.
^ #36 and #37 operated byTOM's , #38 operated byCerumo ^ Operated by Cerumo with drivers from Power Craft