1997 World Rally Championship Explained

The 1997 World Rally Championship was the 25th season of the FIA World Rally Championship. The season saw many changes in the championship. Most notably, Group A was partially replaced by the World Rally Car with manufacturers given the option which regulations to construct to. One inherent benefit to manufacturers by adopting WRC regulations was removing the need to mass-produce road-going versions of the cars that they competed with, under the previous rules for homologation. This meant that vehicles such as the Escort RS Cosworth and Subaru Impreza Turbo no longer had to be mass-produced for general sale in order to compete at World Championship level, and thus acting as a means of attracting increased competition and involvement by manufacturers. In the few years that follow, the Championship saw the added presence of WRC cars from companies such as Toyota, Hyundai, Seat, Citroën, and Peugeot, who would all compete under WRC regulations without having to manufacture equivalent specialised road cars for public sale. Both Ford and Subaru switched to WRC in 1997, except Mitsubishi who stayed with Group A to maintain the links to their Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution road cars. Subaru's transition was much more gradual for similar reasons with the early Subaru Impreza WRCs still largely Group A in nature.

Events also became shorter and more compact, event rotation system used in previous three seasons was dropped and registered manufacturers were required to contest the expanded 14 event calendar for the first time. In due course the World Rally Car rules would bring new manufactures into the sport, but at the start of 1997 it was still Subaru versus Mitsubishi versus Ford as before, although, by mid season Toyota Team Europe were back with a Corolla World Rally Car. The Drivers' championship was very tightly contested and in the end Tommi Mäkinen won his second drivers' world championship in a Mitsubishi Lancer Evo IV by a single point ahead of Subaru Impreza WRC driver Colin McRae after the final round in Great Britain. Carlos Sainz was third in the leading Ford Escort WRC. The Manufacturers' title was won by Subaru with Ford second and Mitsubishi third.

One major flaw in the new class system was exposed by the increasing speed of the naturally aspirated front-wheel-drive FIA 2-Litre World Rally Cup cars. The tarmac specification cars built by Peugeot and Renault that competed in the all-tarmac French and Spanish championships became major threats on WRC tarmac events Rallye Catalunya and the Tour de Corse with Gilles Panizzi defeating all but two of the WRC four-wheel-drive turbos in his Peugeot 306 Maxi, taking third place in both events.

Calendar

The 1997 championship was contested over fourteen rounds in Europe, Africa, Asia, South America and Oceania.

RoundDatesRace
119–22 January Monte Carlo Rally
27–10 February Swedish Rally
31–3 March Safari Rally
423–26 March Rally Portugal
514–16 April Rally Catalunya
65–7 May Tour de Corse
722–24 May Rally Argentina
88–10 June Acropolis Rally
92–5 August Rally New Zealand
1029–31 August Rally Finland
1119–21 September Rally Indonesia
1212–15 October Rally Sanremo
1330 October-2 November Rally Australia
1423–25 November RAC Rally
Sources:[1] [2]

Teams and drivers

Manufacturer teams
TeamManufacturerCarTyreNoDriversRounds
Team Mitsubishi RalliartMitsubishiLancer Evo IV
Lancer Evo III		1 Tommi MäkinenAll
2 Uwe Nittel1–2, 5–6, 10, 12
Richard Burns3–4, 7–9, 11, 13–14
10 Uwe Nittel8
11 Ed Ordynski13
13 Kenjiro Shinozuka13
555 Subaru World Rally TeamSubaruImpreza WRC 973 Colin McRaeAll
4 Piero Liatti1, 5–6, 12
Kenneth Eriksson2–4, 7–11, 13–14
8 Piero Liatti14
Ford Motor Co LtdFordEscort WRC5 Carlos SainzAll
6 Armin Schwarz1–6
Juha Kankkunen7–14
16 Angelo Medeghini14
Toyota Castrol TeamToyotaCorolla WRC7 Didier Auriol10–14
8 Neal Bates11, 13
9 Marcus Grönholm10, 14
10 Freddy Loix12
Source:[3]
Major entries not registered as manufacturers
TeamManufacturerCarDriversRounds
R.A.S. SportFordEscort RS Cosworth Didier Auriol1
Jean-Pierre Richelmi4, 8
Mobil Ford Motorsport Stig Blomqvist2
Blue Rose Team Jarmo Kytölehto2
Bo-Be Plastindustri AB Mats Jonsson2
Gazprom Rally Team Alexander Zheludov14
Escort WRC Bruno Thiry14
Totta Peres Competicao Fernando Peres4
Belgacom Turbo Team Gregoire de Mevius4, 8, 12, 14
Ford Motor Hellas Leonídas Kyrkos8
Blue Rose Team Jarmo Kytölehto10
Ford Team Finland Sebastian Lindholm10
Jolly Club Gianfranco Cunico12
Motorsport Consultancy Ari Vatanen14
Toyota Castrol TeamToyotaCelica GT-Four ST205 Freddy Loix1, 4, 8, 10, 13
Isolde Holderied1
Henrik Lundgaard1
Thomas Rådström2, 8
Tomas Jansson2, 10
Marcus Grönholm2, 4, 7
Mats Thorszelius2
Ian Duncan3
Karim Hirji3
Neal Bates9
Fujimoto Yoshio11, 13
H.F. Grifone SRL José Mariá Ponce1
Raúl Sufan4–5, 7–13
Didier Auriol7
Andrea Aghini12
Pierlorenzo Zanchi12
Mitsubishi Ralliart GermanyMitsubishiLancer Evo III
Lancer Evo IV		 Gustavo Trelles1–2, 4–5, 7–10, 12
Manfred Stohl1–2, 4–5, 7, 10, 12
Luis Climent4–6, 8, 10, 13–14
Kris Rosenberger12, 14
Mitsubishi Ralliart Sweden Kenneth Bäcklund2
Stig-Olov Walfridson2
Mitsubishi Ralliart Finland Juha Kangas2, 10
Jouko Puhakka10
Ralliart New Zealand Geoff Argyle9
Reece Jones9
Marty Roestenburg9
Craig Marshall9
Renault Team SwedenRenaultMégane Maxi Jonas Kruse2, 10
Renault Gest Galp José Carlos Macedo4
Pedro Azeredo4
Renault Elf Team Raphael Sperrer4–5, 10, 12
Renault Sport España Miguel Martínez5
Société Diac Philippe Bugalski6
Serge Jordan6
Claude Balesi6
Italian Promotor Sport Paolo Andreucci12
Corrado Fontana12
Renault Dealer Rallying UK Robbie Head14
Martin Rowe14
Subaru AllstarsSubaruImpreza WRC 97 Frédéric Dor12
Impreza 5553–4, 8–10
Rui Madeira4–5
Yukihiko Sakurai4, 8, 14
A.R.T. Engineering Angelo Medeghini5, 10
Andrea Navarra8, 12, 14
Massimo Ercolani12
Subaru Rally Team Australia Peter 'Possum' Bourne9, 13
Greg Graham9, 13
Subaru Rally Team Japan Yoshihiro Kataoka9
Hideaki Miyoshi9, 11, 13
Toshihiro Arai13
Peugeot Esso CompetiçãoPeugeot306 Maxi Adruzilo Lopes4
Peugeot Sport François Delecour5–6
Gilles Panizzi5–6
Peugeot Sport España Jaime Azcona5
Source:

Results and standings

Drivers' championship

DriverMON
SWE
KEN
POR
ESP
FRA
ARG
GRE
NZL
FIN
INA
ITA
AUS
GBR
 Pts 
1 Tommi Mäkinen33Ret11Ret13Ret1Ret32663
2 Colin McRaeRet41Ret412RetRetRetRet11162
3 Carlos Sainz22RetRet102Ret12Ret14Ret351
4 Juha KankkunenRet23226Ret229
5 Kenneth Eriksson1RetRet3Ret1Ret3RetRet28
6 Piero Liatti1252724
7 Richard Burns2RetRet4444421
8 Armin Schwarz4643Ret911
9 Freddy Loix162Ret37578
10 Gilles Panizzi338
11 Didier AuriolRet58Ret83Ret6
12 Marcus Grönholm8Ret4Ret55
13 Ian Duncan34
14 Jarmo KytölehtoRet34
15 Thomas Rådström554
16 Possum Bourne554
17 Grégoire De Mévius47RetRet3
18 François DelecourDSQ43
19 Sebastian Lindholm43
20 Uwe Nittel5Ret8867Ret3
21 Jonathan Toroitich52
22 Jean-Pierre Richelmi5Ret2
23 Angelo Medeghini5Ret102
24 Tomas Jansson752
25 Yoshio Fujimoto5Ret2
26 Henrik Lundgaard61
27 Frédéric Dor617112329151
28 Masao Kamioka6Ret141
29 Rui Madeira1561
30 Philippe Bugalski61
31 Gustavo Trelles916713613717Ret1
32 Neal Bates6Ret81
33 Pasi Hagström61
34 Karamjit Singh116Ret171
35 Ed Ordynski61
DriverMON
SWE
KEN
POR
ESP
FRA
ARG
GRE
NZL
FIN
INA
ITA
AUS
GBR
 Pts 
Sources:[4] [5]

Manufacturers' championship

ManufacturerMON
SWE
KEN
POR
ESP
FRA
ARG
GRE
NZL
FIN
INA
ITA
AUS
GBR
Points
1 555 Subaru World Rally Team3Ret41Ret412RetRetRetRet111114
411RetRet253Ret1Ret32RetRet
2 Ford Motor Co522RetRet102Ret12Ret14Ret391
64643Ret9Ret23226Ret2
3 Team Mitsubishi Ralliart133Ret11Ret13Ret1Ret32686
25Ret2Ret88Ret4474Ret44
ManufacturerMON
SWE
KEN
POR
ESP
FRA
ARG
GRE
NZL
FIN
INA
ITA
AUS
GBR
Points
Sources:

Group N Cup

DriverMON
SWE
KEN
POR
ESP
FRA
ARG
GRE
NZL
FIN
INA
ITA
AUS
GBR
 Pts 
1 Gustavo Trelles14111114Ret84
2 Luís Climent3RetRet27Ret126
Manfred Stohl362536426
4 Shigeyuki KonishiRet2121
Karamjit Singh31Ret421
6 Kenneth Bäcklund113
Johnny Hellier113
Jean-Marie Santoni113
Jouko Puhakka113
Mario Stagni113
Reece Jones2Ret313
12 Hideaki MiyoshiRet3310
13 Armin Kremer28
Stig-Olov Walfridsson28
Sobiesław Zasada28
Antonello Fidanza28
Jacques Andreani28
Roberto Sanchez28
Olli Harkki2Ret8
Luca Baldini28
Yoshihiro KataokaRetRet28
Jeremy Easson28
14 Juha Kangas357
23 Anwar Azar35
David Nafría35
Achim Mörtl35
Pavlos Moschoutis35
Marko Ipatti35
Boris Popovič35
DriverMON
SWE
KEN
POR
ESP
FRA
ARG
GRE
NZL
FIN
INA
ITA
AUS
GBR
 Pts 

Events

+ align=center style="background:#BFD7FF"1997 World Rally Championship schedule and results
Rally NameDates RunPodium Drivers (Finishing Time)Podium Cars
19 January–22 January
  1. Piero Liatti (4h:26m:58s)
  2. Carlos Sainz (4h:27m:53s)
  3. Tommi Mäkinen (4h:29m:29s)
  1. Subaru Impreza WRC 97
  2. Ford Escort WRC
  3. Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution IV
7 February–10 February
  1. Kenneth Eriksson (3h:51m:49s)
  2. Carlos Sainz (3h:52m:05s)
  3. Tommi Mäkinen (3h:52m:15s)
  1. Subaru Impreza WRC 97
  2. Ford Escort WRC
  3. Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution IV
1 March–3 March
  1. Colin McRae (11h:29m:00s)
  2. Richard Burns (11h:36m:04s)
  3. Ian Duncan (11h:40m:18s)
  1. Subaru Impreza WRC 97
  2. Mitsubishi Carisma GT Evolution IV
  3. Toyota Celica GT-Four ST205
23 March–26 March
  1. Tommi Mäkinen (4h:53m:01s)
  2. Freddy Loix (4h:57m:06s)
  3. Armin Schwarz (4h:59m:34s)
  1. Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution IV
  2. Toyota Celica GT-Four ST205
  3. Ford Escort WRC
14 April–16 April
  1. Tommi Mäkinen (4h:08m:46s)
  2. Piero Liatti (4h:08m:53s)
  3. Gilles Panizzi (4h:11m:55s)
  1. Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution IV
  2. Subaru Impreza WRC 97
  3. Peugeot 306 Maxi
5 May–7 May
  1. Colin McRae (4h:31m:08s)
  2. Carlos Sainz (4h:31m:16s)
  3. Gilles Panizzi (4h:31m:46s)
  1. Subaru Impreza WRC 97
  2. Ford Escort WRC
  3. Peugeot 306 Maxi
22 May–24 May
  1. Tommi Mäkinen (4h:25m:38s)
  2. Colin McRae (4h:26m:39s)
  3. Kenneth Eriksson (4h:30m:06s)
  1. Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution IV
  2. Subaru Impreza WRC 97
  3. Subaru Impreza WRC 97
8 June–10 June
  1. Carlos Sainz (4h:56m:24s)
  2. Juha Kankkunen (4h:56m:41s)
  3. Tommi Mäkinen (5h:01m:27s)
  1. Ford Escort WRC
  2. Ford Escort WRC
  3. Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution IV
2 August–5 August
  1. Kenneth Eriksson (4h:14m:11s)
  2. Carlos Sainz (4h:14m:24s)
  3. Juha Kankkunen (4h:14m:30s)
  1. Subaru Impreza WRC 97
  2. Ford Escort WRC
  3. Ford Escort WRC
29 August–31 August
  1. Tommi Mäkinen (3h:16m:18s)
  2. Juha Kankkunen (3h:16m:25s)
  3. Jarmo Kytölehto (3h:18m:18s)
  1. Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution IV
  2. Ford Escort WRC
  3. Ford Escort WRC
19 September–21 September
  1. Carlos Sainz (4h:37m:30s)
  2. Juha Kankkunen (4h:37m:46s)
  3. Kenneth Eriksson (4h:38m:49s)
  1. Ford Escort WRC
  2. Ford Escort WRC
  3. Subaru Impreza WRC 97
13 October–15 October
  1. Colin McRae (4h:08m:25s)
  2. Piero Liatti (4h:08m:31s)
  3. Tommi Mäkinen (4h:08m:37s)
  1. Subaru Impreza WRC 97
  2. Subaru Impreza WRC 97
  3. Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution IV
30 October–2 November
  1. Colin McRae (4h:05m:31s)
  2. Tommi Mäkinen (4h:05m:37s)
  3. Didier Auriol (4h:05m:52s)
  1. Subaru Impreza WRC 97
  2. Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution IV
  3. Toyota Corolla WRC
23 November–25 November
  1. Colin McRae (3h:54m:31s)
  2. Juha Kankkunen (3h:57m:18s)
  3. Carlos Sainz (3h:58m:24s)
  1. Subaru Impreza WRC 97
  2. Ford Escort WRC
  3. Ford Escort WRC
Source:

External links

Notes and References

  1. Web site: WRC 1997. eWRC-results.com. 16 January 2024.
  2. Web site: 1997 WRC calendar. Jonkka's World Rally Archive. 16 January 2024.
  3. Web site: FIA World Rally Championship Entry List 1997. Motorsport Stats. 16 January 2024.
  4. Web site: Season 1997 – Championship standings. Jonkka's World Rally Archive. 16 January 2024.
  5. Web site: FIA World Rally Championship Standings 1997. Motorsport Stats. 16 January 2024.

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