1997 Australian GT Production Car Championship

The 1997 Australian GT Production Car Championship was an Australian motor racing competition for Group 3E Series Production Cars.^[1] The championship, which was contested over an eight round series,^[2] was organised and administered by Procar Australia.^[1] It was recognised by the Confederation of Australian Motor Sport as the second Australian GT Production Car Championship.^[3]

The championship was won by Peter Fitzgerald driving a Porsche 911 RSCS Type 993.

Schedule

The title was contested over an eight round series with two races per round.

Round 1: Lakeside, Queensland, 4 May
Round 2: Phillip Island, Victoria, 1 June
Round 3: Calder Park, Victoria, 22 June
Round 4: Amaroo Park, New South Wales, 20 July
Round 5: Winton, Victoria, 10 August
Round 6: Mallala Motor Sport Park, South Australia, 24 August
Round 7: Lakeside, Queensland, 26 October
Round 8: Amaroo Park, New South Wales, 9 November^[4]

Points system

Outright championship points were awarded on a 15-12-10-8-6-5-4-3-2-1 basis to the first ten finishers in each race. An additional point was awarded to the driver setting the fastest qualifying lap for each race. Class points were awarded on a 15-12-10-8-6-5-4-3-2-1 basis to the first ten finishers in each class in each race.

Championship standings

Position^[5]	Driver	No	Car	Entrant	Lak.	Phi.	Cal.	Ama.	Win.	Mal.	Lak.	Ama.	Total
1	Peter Fitzgerald	3	Porsche 993 RSCS	Falken Tyres	32	29	24	24	31	28	30	30	228
2	John Bowe	27	Ferrari F355 Challenge	Positive Hype Pty Ltd	-	27	27	32	25	28	26	24	189
3	Ed Aitken	8	Porsche 993 RSCS	E Aitkin	-	16	16	12	16	20	18	22	120
4	Domenic Beninca	52	Porsche 993 RSCS	Beninca Racing	22	20	25	18	10	8	6	-	109
5	Max Dunn	46	Porsche 993 RSCS	Dunn Furrugia Racing	18	10	-	10	10	11	-	16	75
6	Andrej Pavicevic	11	Subaru Impreza WRX	Andrej Pavicevic	11	4	11	1	5	4	11	9	56
7	Garry Waldon	27 28	Ferrari F355 Challenge	Positive Hype Pty Ltd Palmer Motorsport	18	-	-	-	-	-	18	-	36
8	Ross Almond	26	Mitsubishi Lancer Evo III	Ross Almond	-	-	5	7	-	5	9	8	34
9	Chris Kousparis	6	Subaru Impreza WRX	Nepean EFI	6	1	7	4	3	4	5	3	33
10	Alfredo Costanzo	10	Maserati Ghibli Cup	Cisco System Maserati	2	8	-	-	7	7	-	-	24
10	Ray Lintott	5	Dodge Viper GTS	Wagon Wheels Chrysler Jeep	-	12	-	-	-	-	-	12	24
12	John Smith	77	Porsche 993 RSCS	Gerhard Hassler	-	-	-	18	-	-	-	-	18
13	John Bourke	9	Toyota Supra RZ		-	6	-	-	10	-	-	-	16
13	Neal Bates	5	Dodge Viper GTS		-	-	-	-	16	-	-	-	16
15	Peter Boylan	7	Subaru Impreza WRX	PM Boylan	6	-	-	-	-	-	4	3	13
16	Gerhard Hassler	88	Porsche 993 RSCS	Gerhard Hassler	-	-	-	-	-	11	-	-	11
16	Peter McKay	10	Maserati Ghibli Cup	Cisco System Maserati	-	-	-	7	-	-	-	4	11
18	Murray Carter	18	Nissan 200SX Turbo	Murray Carter	4	1	4	-	-	-	-	-	9
19	Wayne Park	2	HSV GTSR	JC Motorsport	8	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	8
	Beric Lynton	23	BMW 323i	Beric Lynton BMW	-	-	-	-	-	8	-	-	8
	Kevin Weeks	70	Porsche 993 RSCS	Kevin Weeks	6	-	2	-	-	-	-	-	8
22	Paul Freestone	14	Lotus Esprit		-	-	6	-	-	-	-	-	6
	Guy Gibbons	35	Subaru Impreza WRX	Guy Gibbons	1	-	5	-	-	-	-	-	6
	John Cowley	2	HSV GTSR	JT Cowley	-	-	-	1	-	-	3	2	6
25	Troy Searle	15	BMW 323i	Roadchill Express	-	-	-	-	1	-	2	-	3
26	Phil Kirkham	71	Mazda 626	Rebound Clothing Company	-	-	-	-	-	-	2	-	2
26	Ian McAlister	66	Volvo 850 T5R	Ian McAlister	-	-	2	-	-	-	-	-	2
28	Anthony Robson	49	Toyota MR2 Bathurst	Osborne Motor Sport	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	1	1
Class A : Super Cars
1	Peter Fitzgerald	3	Porsche 993 RSCS	Falken Tyres	30	27	24	24	30	27	30	30	222
2	John Bowe	27	Ferrari F355 Challenge	Positive Hype Pty Ltd	-	27	25	30	24	27	24	22	179
3	Ed Aitken	8	Porsche 993 RSCS	E Aitkin	-	16	16	12	16	18	20	22	120
4	Domenic Beninca	52	Porsche 993 RSCS	Beninca Racing	22	20	25	18	10	8	6	-	109
5	Max Dunn	46	Porsche 993 RSCS	Dunn Furrugia Racing	18	10	-	10	10	11	-	16	75
6	Ross Almond	26	Mitsubishi Lancer Evo III	Ross Almond	11	4	5	7	-	7	11	10	55
7	Garry Waldon	27 28	Ferrari F355 Challenge	Positive Hype Pty Ltd Palmer Motorsport	20	-	-	-	-	-	18	-	38
8	Alfredo Costanzo	10	Maserati Ghibli Cup	Cisco System Maserati	6	8	-	-	7	7	-	-	28
9	Ray Lintott	5	Dodge Viper GTS	Wagon Wheels Chrysler Jeep	-	12	-	-	-	-	-	12	24
10	John Smith	77	Porsche 993 RSCS	G Hassler	-	-	-	18	-	-	-	-	18
11	John Bourke	9	Toyota Supra RZ		-	6	-	-	10	-	-	-	16
11	Neal Bates	5	Dodge Viper GTS		-	-	-	-	16	-	-	-	16
13	Peter McKay	10	Maserati Ghibli Cup	Cisco System Maserati	-	-	-	7	-	-	-	5	12
14	Paul Freestone	14	Lotus Esprit		-	-	11	-	-	-	-	-	11
14	Gerhard Hassler	88	Porsche 993 RSCS	Gerhard Hassler	-	-	-	-	-	11	-	-	11
16	Kevin Weeks	70	Porsche 993 RSCS	Kevin Weeks	-	-	-	-	-	8	-	-	8
17	Carlos Rolfo	22	Nissan 300ZX	Carlos Rolfo	-	-	-	2	-	-	-	-	2
Class B : High Performance Cars
1	Andrej Pavicevic	11	Subaru Impreza WRX	Andrej Pavicevic	27	30	30	20	30	27	30	30	224
2	Chris Kousparis	6	Subaru Impreza WRX	Nepean EFI	20	22	22	30	24	27	20	12	177
3	Ian McAlister	66	Volvo 850 T5R	Ian McAlister	11	12	12	20	11	12	10	14	102
4	Murray Carter	18	Nissan 200SX Turbo	Murray Carter	14	12	20	-	10	20	-	-	76
5	Colin Osborne	13	Toyota MR2 Bathurst	Osborne Motor Sport	7	7	7	11	16	10	14	-	72
5	Peter Boylan	7	Subaru Impreza WRX	PM Boylan	18	16	-	-	-	-	18	20	72
7	Anthony Robson	49	Toyota MR2 Bathurst	Osborne Motor Sport	5	10	10	6	16	8	-	15	69
8	John Cowley	2	HSV GTSR	JT Cowley	-	5	7	20	-	16	10	10	68
9	Guy Gibbons	35	Subaru Impreza WRX	Guy Gibbons	11	10	18	-	-	-	-	-	39
10	Wayne Park	2	HSV GTSR	JC Motorsport	15	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	15
11	Richard Davis	25	HSV GTSR	Richard Davis	-	-	-	-	-	6	-	-	6
Class C : Production Cars Over 2500cc
1	Chris Sexton	99	Ford EL Falcon XR6	Prodrive Racing	30	-	30	27	22	12	27	-	148
2	Denis Cribbin	99 38	Ford EL Falcon XR6	Prodrive Racing	-	30	-	-	22	-	-	24	76
3	Robert Chadwick	20	Mitsubishi TE Magna	Robert Chadwick	-	-	-	-	-	30	10	8	48
4	Paul Gover	44	Ford EL Falcon XR6	Prodrive Racing	-	-	-	-	30	-	-	-	30
4	Mark Cohen	55	Holden VS Commodore SS	M Cohen	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	30	30
6	Michael Stahl	44	Ford EL Falcon XR6	Prodrive Racing	-	-	-	27	-	-	-	-	27
6	Tony Cross	44	Ford EL Falcon XR6	Prodrive Racing	-	-	-	-	-	-	27	-	27
8	Chris Nixon	44	Ford EL Falcon XR6	Prodrive Racing	-	-	-	-	-	22	-	-	22
9	Toby Hagon	44	Ford EL Falcon XR6	Prodrive Racing	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	20	20
Class D : Production Cars 1851 - 2500cc
1	Beric Lynton	23	BMW 323i	Beric Lynton BMW	30	30	27	25	20	27	24	22	205
2	Troy Searle	15	BMW 323i	Roadchill Express	22	10	20	23	30	27	30	22	184
3	Phil Kirkham	71	Mazda 626	Rebound Clothing Company	22	24	25	12	24	20	-	30	157
4	Peter Phelan	16	Peugeot 405 Mi16	P Phelan	-	10	18	14	14	-	-	-	56
5	Allan Letcher	33	Honda Civic VTiR	Burswood Motorsport	16	-	-	22	-	-	-	-	38
6	Jamie Cartwright	71	Mazda 626	Rebound Clothing Company	-	-	-	-	-	-	20	-	20
7	David Wood	16	Peugeot 405 Mi16	P Phelan	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	16	16
8	Chris Smith	33	Honda Civic VTiR	Burswood Motorsport	-	-	-	-	14	-	-	-	14
Class E : Production Cars 0 - 1850cc
1	Trevor Haines	17 60	Ford Laser TX3	T Haynes Carlos Rolfo	-	-	30	27	24	27	24	22	154
2	Nigel Stones	42	Suzuki Swift GTi	Nigel Stones	-	-	-	27	30	27	30	30	144
3	Carlos Rolfo	22	Ford Laser TX3 Suzuki Swift GTi	Carlos Rolfo	30	30	-	-	-	-	20	22	102
4	Jason Veltruski	14	Suzuki Swift GTi	J Veltruski	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	16	16

References

^ ^a ^b 1997 Australian GT Production Car Championship Sporting Regulations and Registration Forms, Procar Australia Pty Ltd
^ PROCARTABLES, www.procar.com.au, as archived at web.archive.org
^ 2016 CAMS Manual of Motor Sport – Australian Titles, docs.cams.com.au, as archived at web.archive.org
^ 1997 AGT Production Car Championship Retrieved from web.archive.org on 19 November 2008
^ Motor Racing Australia, Jan / Feb 1998, page 70

External links

1997 Race Results Archive Retrieved from www.natsoft.biz on 19 November 2008

[Regs-1] 1997 Australian GT Production Car Championship Sporting Regulations and Registration Forms, Procar Australia Pty Ltd

[2] PROCARTABLES, www.procar.com.au, as archived at web.archive.org

[3] 2016 CAMS Manual of Motor Sport – Australian Titles, docs.cams.com.au, as archived at web.archive.org

[4] 1997 AGT Production Car Championship Retrieved from web.archive.org on 19 November 2008

[5] Motor Racing Australia, Jan / Feb 1998, page 70

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