# 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.
| Driver | No | Car | Entrant |
| Jason Bright | 2 | Reynard 91D | Garry & Warren Smith |
| Darren Edwards | 3 | Reynard 92D | Clem Smith |
| Bruce Williams | 4 | Reynard 92D | Simoco Pacific P/L |
| Stan Keen | 5 | Shrike NB89H | Stan Keen |
| James Taylor | 6 | Reynard 91D | |
| Adam Kaplan | 7 | Reynard 91D | Hunter Holden |
| Dean Irwin | 8 | Ralt RT21 | Dean Irwin |
| Brenton Ramsay | 9 | Reynard 91D | Birrana Racing Pty Ltd |
| Mark Noske | 10 | Lola T93/50 | Mark Noske |
| Scott Dixon | 11 | Reynard 91D | Graham Watson |
| Tony Blanche | 12 | Reynard 90D | Graham Watson |
| Ryan McLeod | 12 | Reynard 90D | |
| Graham Watson | 12 | Reynard 90D | |
| Chas Talbot | 14 | March 87B | |
| Stephen White | 15 | Reynard 91D | |
| Darren Pate | 19 | Reynard 92D Reynard 95D | Arthur Abrahams |
| Stephen Cramp | 21 | Reynard 94D | Stephen Cramp |
| Bob Minogue | 29 | Reynard 92D | Bob Minogue |
| Owen Osborne | 34 | Reynard 92D | NHP Electrical |
| Jason Bargwanna | 47 | Reynard 92D | SH Racing |
| Bob Power | 48 | Ralt RT23 | |
| Kevin Weeks | 70 | Reynard 91D | |
| Chris Hocking | 74 | Reynard 92D | GL Knight and Associates |
| Brian Sampson | 78 | Cheetah Mk. 9 | |
| Chas Jacobsen | 87 | Reynard 92D | Chas Jacobsen |
| Al Callegher | 99 | Reynard 90D | Albert 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. | Circuit | Location, State | Date | Winner |
| 1 | Calder Park Raceway | Melbourne, Victoria | 15 March | Jason Bright |
| 2 | Phillip Island Grand Prix Circuit | Phillip Island, Victoria | 13 April | Jason Bright |
| 3 | Sandown Raceway | Melbourne, Victoria | 27 April | Jason Bright |
| 4 | Winton Motor Raceway | Benalla, Victoria | 18 May | Jason Bargwanna |
| 5 | Eastern Creek Raceway | Sydney, New South Wales | 25 May | Jason Bright |
| 6 | Mallala Motor Sport Park | Mallala, South Australia | 13 July | Mark Noske |
| 7 | Oran Park Raceway | Sydney, New South Wales | 3 August | Jason 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

| Pos | Driver | Rd 1 | Rd 1 | Rd 2 | Rd 2 | Rd 3 | Rd 3 | Rd 4 | Rd 4 | Rd 5 | Rd 5 | Rd 6 | Rd 6 | Rd 7 | Rd 7 | Pts |
| 1 | Jason Bright | 1st | (5th) | 1st | 1st | 1st | 1st | 3rd | 2nd | 1st | 1st | Ret | 1st | | | 187 |
| 2 | Jason Bargwanna | 3rd | (DNS) | 2nd | 2nd | 2nd | DNS | 1st | 1st | 2nd | 2nd | Ret | 2nd | 1st | 1st | 182 |
| 3 | Scott Dixon | 5th | (4th) | 4th | 6th | 5th | 5th | 4th | 4th | 4th | 4th | Ret | 4th | 4th | 2nd | 115 |
| 4 | Darren Pate | 2nd | (DNS) | 8th | 3rd | DSQ | DNS | 2nd | 3rd | 3rd | Ret | 2nd | 5th | 5th | 4th | 110 |
| 5 | Darren Edwards | 10th | (DNS) | 5th | 5th | 3rd | 2nd | 5th | 5th | DNS | DNS | 3rd | Ret | 2nd | 3rd | 99 |
| 6 | Mark Noske | Ret | (1st) | 3rd | 4th | 4th | 3rd | Ret | DNS | DNS | DNS | 1st | 3rd | 3rd | 5th | 96 |
| 7 | Bob Minogue | 12th | (8th) | 7th | 8th | 7th | 6th | 7th | 7th | 6th | 6th | 9th | 8th | 11th | 9th | 44 |
| 8 | Brenton Ramsay | 11th | (10th) | 6th | 7th | Ret | 7th | Ret | Ret | 8th | 7th | 5th | 9th | 8th | 6th | 40 |
| 9 | Stephen Cramp | 7th | (6th) | | | 13th | DNS | | | 7th | 5th | 4th | 6th | 7th | 8th | 39 |
| 10 | Bruce Williams | Ret | (3rd) | 9th | 12th | 6th | 4th | DNS | Ret | 5th | Ret | 8th | 7th | 9th | 12th | 35 |
| 11 | Adam Kaplan | | | | | | | | | Ret | 3rd | | | 6th | 7th | 22 |
| 12 | Owen Osborne | 8th | (7th) | 10th | 10th | 8th | DNS | 6th | 6th | Ret | Ret | Ret | DNS | | | 20 |
| = | Chas Jacobsen | 6th | (11th) | Ret | 9th | 11th | 8th | | | 10th | 8th | 7th | 10th | Ret | 11th | 20 |
| 14 | Kevin Weeks | 4th | (2nd) | | | | | | | | | | | | | 10 |
| = | Chris Hocking | 15th | (14th) | Ret | Ret | 10th | 9th | Ret | 8th | 9th | 9th | Ret | 11th | 13th | 14th | 10 |
| 16 | Stan Keen | 13th | (Ret) | | | | | | | | | 6th | 13th | 12th | 13th | 6 |
| = | Dean Irwin | 9th | (9th) | Ret | 11th | 9th | 11th | DNS | DNS | | | Ret | 12th | 10th | 10th | 6 |
| 18 | Chas Talbot | | | | | | | 8th | 9th | | | | | | | 5 |
| 19 | Brian Sampson | 17th | (DNS) | 11th | 13th | 14th | 10th | | | | | | | | | 1 |
| Pos | Driver | Rd 1 | Rd 1 | Rd 2 | Rd 2 | Rd 3 | Rd 3 | Rd 4 | Rd 4 | Rd 5 | Rd 5 | Rd 6 | Rd 6 | Rd 7 | Rd 7 | Pts |
| Colour | Result |
| Gold | Winner |
| Silver | Second place |
| Bronze | Third place |
| Green | Points finish |
| Blue | Non-points finish |
| Blue | Non-classified finish (NC) |
| Purple | Retired (Ret) |
| Red | Did not qualify (DNQ) |
| Red | Did not pre-qualify (DNPQ) |
| Black | Disqualified (DSQ) |
| White | Did not start (DNS) |
| White | Withdrew (WD) |
| White | Race cancelled (C) |
| Blank | Did not practice (DNP) |
| Blank | Did not arrive (DNA) |
| Blank | Excluded (EX) |
Note: Race 2 at the opening round at Calder was declared a No Race and no championship points were awarded.