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
Team Make Car Engine No. Drivers Tyre Rounds
NISMO Nissan Nissan Skyline GT-R Nissan RB26DETT 2.6 L Twin Turbo I6 2 Aguri Suzuki B All
Érik Comas 1, 3–6, NC
Marco Apicella 2
556 Masahiko Kageyama All
Masahiko Kondo All
Hasemi Motorsports Nissan Nissan Skyline GT-R Nissan RB26DETT 2.6 L Twin Turbo I6 3 Masahiro Hasemi B All
Tetsuya Tanaka All
Suzuki Bankin Porsche Porsche 993 GT2 Porsche M64/81 3.6 L Turbo F6 4 Tatsuhiko Kaneumi B (1–2)
D (3–6)		 All
Mitsutake Koma All
Team 5ZIGEN Toyota Toyota Supra Toyota 3S-GT 2.0 L Turbo I4 5 Eiichi Tajima D All
Marc Goossens 1–6
Hiro Matsushita NC
Power Craft Toyota Toyota Supra Toyota 3S-GT 2.0 L Turbo 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 Porsche Porsche 993 GT2 Porsche M64/81 3.6 L Turbo F6 10 Kaoru Iida D All
Ralph Firman All
Hoshino Racing Nissan Nissan Skyline GT-R Nissan RB26DETT 2.6 L Twin Turbo I6 12 Satoshi Motoyama B 1–6
Kazuyoshi Hoshino 1, 3–6, NC
Fuminori Mizuno 2
Takeshi Tsuchiya NC
Endless Sports Nissan Nissan Skyline GT-R Nissan RB26DETT 2.6 L Twin Turbo I6 13 Mitsuhiro Kinoshita Y All
Yasushi Kikuchi 1
Mitsuo Fujimura 2–6
Mugen + Dome Project Honda Honda NSX Honda C32B 3.5 L V6 18 Takuya Kurosawa B 2–6, NC
Katsumi Yamamoto 2–6, NC
Team Take One Porsche Porsche 993 GT2 Porsche M64/81 3.6 L Turbo F6 30 Yoji Yamada B All
Kazuo Mogi All
Team Taisan Advan Porsche Porsche 993 GT2 Porsche M64/81 3.6 L Turbo F6 34 Keiichi Tsuchiya Y 3–4
Hideshi Matsuda 3–4
Chrysler Chrysler Viper GTS-R Chrysler 356-T6 8.0 L V10 Keiichi Tsuchiya 5–6, NC
Hideshi Matsuda 5–6, NC
Toyota Castrol Team[N 1] Toyota Toyota Supra Toyota 3S-GT 2.0 L Turbo 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
Toyota Toyota Supra Toyota 3S-GT 2.0 L Turbo I4 38 Hironori Takeuchi B All
Katsutomo Kaneishi All
Toyota Team SARD Toyota Toyota Supra Toyota 3S-GT 2.0 L Turbo I4 39 Masami Kageyama Y All
Olivier Grouillard 1
Tatsuya Tanigawa 2–6, NC
Susuki Racing Mechanics Chevrolet Chevrolet Camaro Chevrolet 6.0 L V8 47 Masato Yamamoto G 4
Katsuhiko Okamoto 4
Team LeMans Nissan Nissan Fairlady Z LM Nissan VH45DE 4.5 L V8 75 Yuji Tachikawa Y 1–2
Tsuyoshi Takahashi 1–2
JLOC Corsa Lamborghini Lamborghini Diablo GTR Lamborghini L532 6.0 L V12 88 Takao Wada D 2–6, NC
Hisashi Wada 2–6, NC
Team Kunimitsu with Mooncraft Honda Honda NSX Honda C32B 3.5 L V6 100 Kunimitsu Takahashi B 2–6, NC
Akira Iida 2–6, NC
Ryowa House Pacific Team Cerumo[N 2] Toyota Toyota Supra Toyota 3S-GT 2.0 L Turbo I4 510 Bertrand Gachot B 3–6
Paul Belmondo 3–6

GT300
Team Make Car Engine No. Drivers Tyre Rounds
KRAFT Toyota Toyota MR2 Toyota 3S-GE 2.0 L I4 6 Hiroki Katoh D 1–6
Takahiro Fujita 1–6
Toyota Cavalier 60 Kumi Sato 4–6, NC
Minoru Tanaka 4–6, NC
RE Amemiya Racing Mazda Mazda RX-7 (FD3S) Mazda RE20B 2.0 L 3-rotor 7 Shinichi Yamaji D All
Haruhiko Matsumoto All
Team 5ZIGEN Porsche Porsche 993 RSR Porsche M64/80 3.8 L F6 9 Tsunefumi Hioki D 1–2
Masaharu Kinoshita 1–2
M Factory Racing Nissan Nissan Skyline GTS-R (HR31) Nissan SR20DET 2.0 L Turbo I4 11 Hiromoto Ishimori B 2
Kinji Suzuki 2
Kamco Works 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 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 Mazda Mazda RX-7 (FC3S) Mazda RE13B 1.3 L 2-rotor 17 Toshihiko Nogami D 1
Toshiaki Koshimizu 1
Mazda Roadster (NA) Toshihiko Nogami 2, 4–6, NC
Tomoyuki Hosono 2, 4–6, NC
RS-R Racing with Bandoh 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 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
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.

Round Circuit Date Class Pole Position Race Winner
1 Suzuka Circuit[1][2] 30 March GT500 No. 37 Toyota Castrol Team No. 2 NISMO
Masanori Sekiya
Toshio Suzuki		 Aguri Suzuki
Érik Comas
GT300 No. 26 Team Taisan Jr. No. 19 Racing Project Bandoh
Keiichi Suzuki
Morio Nitta		 Hideo Fukuyama
Manabu Orido
2 Fuji Speedway[3][4] 4 May GT500 No. 36 Toyota Castrol Team No. 39 Toyota Team SARD
Michael Krumm
Pedro de la Rosa		 Masami Kageyama
Tatsuya Tanigawa
GT300 No. 19 Racing Project Bandoh No. 26 Team Taisan Jr.
Hideo Fukuyama
Manabu Orido		 Keiichi Suzuki
Morio Nitta
3 Sendai Hi-Land Raceway[5][6] 29 June GT500 No. 37 Toyota Castrol Team No. 36 Toyota Castrol Team
Masanori Sekiya
Toshio Suzuki		 Michael Krumm
Pedro de la Rosa
GT300 No. 21 Hitotsuyama Racing No. 25 Tsuchiya Engineering
Yasushi Hitotsuyama
Kenji Yamamoto		 Takeshi Tsuchiya
Masaoki Nagashima
4 Fuji Speedway[7][8] 10 August GT500 No. 36 Toyota Castrol Team No. 39 Toyota Team SARD
Michael Krumm
Pedro de la Rosa		 Masami Kageyama
Tatsuya Tanigawa
GT300 No. 25 Tsuchiya Engineering No. 26 Team Taisan Jr.
Takeshi Tsuchiya
Masaoki Nagashima		 Keiichi Suzuki
Morio Nitta
5 Miné Circuit[9][10] 5 October GT500 No. 18 Mugen + Dome Project No. 36 Toyota Castrol Team
Takuya Kurosawa
Katsumi Yamamoto		 Michael Krumm
Pedro de la Rosa
GT300 No. 6 Kraft No. 19 Racing Project Bandoh
Hiroki Katoh
Takahiro Fujita		 Hideo Fukuyama
Manabu Orido
6 Sportsland SUGO[11][12] 26 October GT500 No. 100 Team Kunimitsu with Mooncraft No. 5 Team 5Zigen
Kunimitsu Takahashi
Akira Iida		 Eiichi Tajima
Marc Goossens
GT300 No. 25 Tsuchiya Engineering No. 71 Sigmatech Racing Team
Takeshi Tsuchiya
Masaoki Nagashima		 Kaoru Hoshino
Masaki Jyonai
NC Twin Ring Motegi Race 1–16 November[13] GT500 No. 2 NISMO[14] No. 2 NISMO
Aguri Suzuki
Érik Comas		 Aguri Suzuki
Érik Comas
GT300 No. 910 910 Racing[14] No. 27 Ferrari Club of Japan
Seiichi Sodeyama
Hideyuki Tamamoto		 Tetsuya Ota
Anders Olofsson
Race 2–16 November[15] GT500 No. 2 NISMO No. 2 NISMO
Aguri Suzuki
Érik Comas		 Aguri Suzuki
Érik Comas
GT300 No. 27 Ferrari Club of Japan No. 27 Ferrari Club of Japan
Tetsuya Ota
Anders Olofsson		 Tetsuya Ota
Anders Olofsson

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 12Ret 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 12Ret 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 17Ret 4 3 37
8 Eiichi Tajima No. 5 Team 5Zigen 6 12Ret 6 19Ret 12 1 7 10 32
8 Marc Goossens No. 5 Team 5Zigen 6 12Ret 6 19Ret 12 1 32
9 Kunimitsu Takahashi
Akira Iida		 No. 100 Team Kunimitsu with Mooncraft 16Ret 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 14Ret 5 15 4 6 14 24
12 Naoki Nagasaka No. 8 Power Craft 7 4 6 20
13 Kazuyoshi Hoshino No. 12 Hoshino Racing 14Ret 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 14Ret 12
No. 510 Ryowa House Pacific Team Cerumo 8 5 11
16 Takuya Kurosawa
Katsumi Yamamoto		 No. 18 Mugen + Dome Project 17Ret 18Ret 17Ret 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 11Ret 14 9 15Ret 16Ret 14Ret 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 13Ret 11 7 10 12 8
23 Mitsuo Fujimura No. 13 Endless Sports 13Ret 11 7 10 12 5
24 Kaoru Iida
Ralph Firman		 No. 10 Team TMS 12 7 13 13 19DNQ 4
25 Keiichi Tsuchiya
Hideshi Matsuda		 No. 34 Team Taisan with Advan 10 20Ret 14 8 6 12Ret 4
26 Yoji Yamada
Kazuo Mogi		 No. 30 Team Take One 9 10Ret 12 12 11 9 5 8 4
27 Tatsuhiko Kanaumi
Mitsutake Koma		 No. 4 Suzuki Bankin 11 8 19DNQ 16 18DNQ 3
27 Yasushi Kikuchi No. 13 Endless Sports 8 3
28 Takao Wada
Hisashi Wada		 No. 88 JLOC Corsa 15Ret 17Ret 14 17Ret 13 9 13Ret 0
29 Masato Yamamoto
Katsuhiko Okamoto		 No. 47 Susuki Racing Mechanics 18Ret 0
30 Shingo Tachi No. 37 Toyota Castrol Team 3 2 0
31 Ukyo Katayama No. 36 Toyota Castrol Team 11Ret 5 0
32 Takeshi Tsuchiya No. 12 Hoshino Racing 13Ret 6 0
33 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
    1. 36 and #37 operated by TOM's, #38 operated by Cerumo
  2. Operated by Cerumo with drivers from Power Craft

References
  1. "GT Championship 1997 - Round 1 Qualify". supergt.net. Retrieved 2023-08-25.
  2. "GT Championship 1997 - Round 1 Race Result". supergt.net. Retrieved 2023-08-25.
  3. "GT Championship 1997 Round 2 - Qualify". supergt.net. Retrieved 2023-08-25.
  4. "GT Championship 1997 Round 2 - Race Result". supergt.net. Retrieved 2023-08-25.
  5. "GT Championship 1997 Round 3 - Qualify". supergt.net. Retrieved 2023-08-25.
  6. "GT Championship 1997 Round 3 - Race Result". supergt.net. Retrieved 2023-08-25.
  7. "GT Championship 1997 Round 4 - Qualify". supergt.net. Retrieved 2023-08-25.
  8. "GT Championship 1997 Round 4 - Race Result". supergt.net. Retrieved 2023-08-25.
  9. "GT Championship 1997 Round 5 - Qualify". supergt.net. Retrieved 2023-08-25.
  10. "GT Championship 1997 Round 5 - Race Result". supergt.net. Retrieved 2023-08-25.
  11. "GT Championship 1997 Round 6 - Qualify". supergt.net. Retrieved 2023-08-25.
  12. "GT Championship 1997 Round 6 - Race Result". supergt.net. Retrieved 2023-08-25.
  13. "GT Championship 1997 Allstar Race - 1st Race Result". supergt.net. Retrieved 2023-08-25.
  14. "GT Championship 1997 Allstar Race - Qualify". supergt.net. Retrieved 2023-08-25.
  15. "GT Championship 1997 Allstar Race - 1st Race Result". supergt.net. Retrieved 2023-08-25.
  16. "GT Championship 1997 - Series Ranking". supergt.net. Retrieved 2023-07-24.
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