# 1997 Australian Formula Ford Championship

The 1997 Australian Formula Ford Championship was a CAMS sanctioned Australian motor racing title for drivers of Formula Ford racing cars. It was 28th national series to be held in Australia for Formula Fords and the fifth to be contested under the Australian Formula Ford Championship name. The championship, which was promoted as the Ford Motorsport / Slick 50 Australian Formula Ford Championship, was won by Western Australian Garth Tander, driving a Van Diemen RF95.

## Calendar

The championship was contested over an eight-round series with two races per round.
| Round | Circuit | State | Date |
| 1 | Calder | Victoria | 15 March |
| 2 | Phillip Island | Victoria | 13 April |
| 3 | Sandown | Victoria | 27 April |
| 4 | Eastern Creek | New South Wales | 27 May |
| 5 | Lakeside | Queensland | 15 June |
| 6 | Barbagallo | Western Australia | 6 July |
| 7 | Mallala | South Australia | 13 July |
| 8 | Oran Park | New South Wales | 3 August |

## Points system

Championship points were awarded on the results of each race as per the following table.
| Position | 1st | 2nd | 3rd | 4th | 5th | 6th | 7th | 8th | 9th | 10th |
| Points | 20 | 16 | 14 | 12 | 10 | 8 | 6 | 4 | 2 | 1 |

## Results

| Position | Driver | No. | Car | Entrant | Cal | Phi | San | Eas | Lak | Bar | Mal | Ora | Total |
| 1 | Garth Tander | 17 | Van Diemen RF95 Ford | Fastlane Racing | 40 | 20 | 40 | 32 | 14 | 32 | 40 | 30 | 248 |
| 2 | Marcos Ambrose | 4 | Van Diemen RF97 Ford | Marcos Ambrose | 26 | 16 | 28 | 40 | 40 | 22 | 30 | 36 | 238 |
| 3 | Todd Kelly | 12 | Van Diemen RF95 Ford | Todd Kelly | - | 32 | 32 | 10 | 30 | 40 | 1 | 21 | 166 |
| 4 | Craig Zerner | 35 | Van Diemen RF95 Ford | Craig Zerner | 32 | - | 20 | 26 | - | - | 10 | 20 | 108 |
| 5 | Greg Ritter | 36 | Van Diemen RF94 Ford | Greg Ritter | 14 | 24 | - | 6 | 26 | - | 26 | 1 | 97 |
| 6 | Christian Jones | 27 | Spectrum 06 Ford | George Stockman | - | 18 | - | - | 28 | 13 | 16 | 12 | 87 |
| = | Aaron McNally | 74 | Van Diemen RF97 Ford | Aaron McNally | 6 | 14 | 12 | 10 | - | 18 | 1 | 26 | 87 |
| 8 | Adam Macrow | 71 | Spectrum 06 Ford | Team Arrow | 18 | 2 | 12 | 10 | 14 | 2 | 2 | - | 60 |
| 9 | Justin Cotter | 7 | Mygale SJ95 Ford | Justin Cotter | 12 | 4 | 14 | 14 | - | - | - | 4 | 48 |
| 10 | Phillip Scifleet | 77 | Spectrum 06 Ford | Phillip Scifleet | 3 | - | 1 | 22 | - | 1 | 2 | 12 | 41 |
| 11 | John Blanchard | 3 | Mygale SJ97 Ford | Apache Constructors | - | 24 | - | 14 | - | - | - | - | 38 |
| 12 | Scott Bargwanna | 9 | Van Diemen RF95 Ford | Scott Bargwanna | - | - | 18 | - | 2 | - | - | 14 | 34 |
| 13 | Kerry Wade | 14 | Van Diemen RF94 Ford | | 12 | - | - | - | - | 20 | - | - | 32 |
| = | Brett Burvill | 73 | Van Diemen RF92 Ford | Fastlane Racing | 10 | - | - | - | - | - | 22 | - | 32 |
| 15 | Ray Stubber | 54 | Spectrum 06 Ford | | - | - | - | - | - | 20 | - | - | 20 |
| 16 | Dugal McDougall | 8 | Mygale SJ97 Ford | Apache Constructors | 2 | - | - | - | 16 | - | - | - | 18 |
| 17 | Damien White | 31 | Spectrum 06 Ford | Team Arrow | - | 14 | 2 | - | - | - | - | - | 16 |
| 18 | Christian Murchison | 52 | Van Diemen RF95 & RF94 Ford | Fastlane Racing | - | - | - | - | - | 4 | 10 | - | 14 |
| = | Ken Smith | 73 | Van Diemen RF92 Ford | Fastlane Racing | - | - | - | - | - | - | 14 | - | 14 |
| 20 | Ashley Cutchie | 15 | Swift SC96K Ford | Swift Racing Cars | - | - | - | - | 12 | - | - | - | 12 |
| = | Cameron Schearer | 48 | Mygale SJ95 Ford | Apache Constructors | 1 | - | - | - | 1 | 10 | - | - | 12 |
| 22 | Wayne Stoddard | 46 | Vector MG96 Ford | W Stoddard | 10 | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | 10 |
| = | Rodney Forbes | 25 | Van Diemen RF92 Ford | R Forbes | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | 10 | 10 |
| 24 | Dean Lindstrom | 19 | Van Diemen RF91 Ford | | - | 6 | 2 | - | - | - | - | - | 8 |
| = | Michael Simpson | 38 | Van Diemen RF96 Ford | M Simpson | - | 8 | - | - | - | - | - | - | 8 |
| = | Tim Leahey | 75 | Van Diemen RF96B Ford | Tim Leahey | - | - | - | - | - | - | 8 | - | 8 |
| 27 | Scott Marsh | 42 | Swift SC92F Ford | S Marsh | - | 4 | - | 2 | - | - | - | - | 6 |
| 28 | Andrew Reid | 26 | Swift SC97K Ford | Inspired Racing | - | - | - | - | 1 | - | 4 | - | 5 |
| 29 | Murray Ditton | 41 | Spectrum 06 Ford | Murray Ditton | - | - | 4 | - | - | - | - | - | 4 |
| = | Owen Ow | 55 | Van Diemen RF94 Ford | | - | - | - | - | - | 4 | - | - | 4 |
| 31 | Christopher Dell | 57 | Van Diemen RF94 Ford | Christopher Dell | - | - | - | - | 2 | - | - | - | 2 |
| 32 | Sam Oliver | 80 | Van Diemen RF94 Ford | Prix Max | - | - | 1 | - | - | - | - | - | 1 |