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]
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 * | |
| 8 * | |||
| Phoenix Motorsport | Toyota Camry | 10 | |
| Greenfield Mowers Racing | Opel Vectra Holden Vectra | 12 | |
| CPW Motorsport | BMW 318i | 13 | |
| 27 | |||
| 64 | |||
| Triple P Racing | Hyundai Elantra | 14 | Jim Cornish Kurt Kratzmann |
| 57 | Jim Cornish | ||
| 58 | |||
| Team Petronas PX2 | Ford Mondeo | 15 |  Gianfranco Brancatelli Michael Briggs |
| 20 |  Albert Poon | ||
| AAP Racing | Toyota Carina | 15 | |
| Bob Holden Motors | BMW 318i | 16 | Justin Matthews |
| M-F Racing | Peugeot 405 Mi16 | 21 | |
| Garry Rogers Motorsport | Honda Accord Nissan Primera | 34 | |
| TC Motorsport | Peugeot 405 Mi16 | 37 | |
| 38 | |||
| Gun Racing | Alfa Romeo 155 TS | 45 | |
| John Henderson Racing | Opel Vectra | 56 | |
| Warren Luff | Honda Accord | 60 | |
| Robert Tweedie | Vauxhall Cavalier | 79 | |
| Knight Racing | Ford Mondeo | 88 | |
| 89 | |||
| Nigel Barclay | BMW 318i | 99 | |
Note : * indicates entry nominated by a manufacturer for the Manufacturers Championship
The 1997 Australian Super Touring Championship was contested over eight rounds with two races held at each round.[2]
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]
|
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 | 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 | 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 |
| Position | Team | Car | Points | |
| 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 |
| Position | Driver | Car | Points | |
| 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]
1997 AMP Bathurst 1000, a non-championship race for Super Touring cars.