1997 World Rally Championship season

1997 World Rally Championship season
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World Rally Championship
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The 1997 World Rally Championship season was the 25th season of the FIA World Rally Championship. The season saw many changes in the championship. Most notably, Group A was replaced by World Rally Car, events became shorter and more compact, event rotation system used in previous three seasons was dropped and registered manufacturers were required to contest all 14 events 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. Drivers championship was very tightly contested and in the end Tommi Mäkinen won his second drivers' world championship in a Mitsubishi Lancer Evo IV, ahead of Colin McRae and Carlos Sainz. The manufacturers' title was won by Subaru.

Calendar

Round	Dates	Race
1	19–22 January	Monte Carlo Rally
2	7–10 February	Swedish Rally
3	1–3 March	Safari Rally
4	23–26 March	Rally Portugal
5	14–16 April	Rally Catalunya
6	5–7 May	Tour de Corse
7	22–24 May	Rally Argentina
8	8–10 June	Acropolis Rally
9	2–5 August	Rally New Zealand
10	29–31 August	Rally Finland
11	19–21 September	Rally Indonesia
12	12–15 October	Rally Sanremo
13	30 October-2 November	Rally Australia
14	23–25 November	Network Q RAC Rally

Teams and drivers

Manufacturer teams
Team	Constructor	Car	Tyre	No	Drivers	Rounds
Team Mitsubishi Ralliart	Mitsubishi	Lancer Evo IV Lancer Evo III	M	1	Tommi Mäkinen	All
				2	Uwe Nittel	1–2, 5–6, 10, 12
					Richard Burns	3–4, 7–9, 11, 13–14
				10	Uwe Nittel	8
				13	Kenjiro Shinozuka	13
555 Subaru World Rally Team	Subaru	Impreza WRC 97	P	3	Colin McRae	All
				4	Piero Liatti	1, 5–6, 12
					Kenneth Eriksson	2–4, 7–11, 13–14
				8	Piero Liatti	14
Ford Motor Co	Ford	Escort WRC	M	5	Carlos Sainz	All
				6	Armin Schwarz	1–6
					Juha Kankkunen	7–14
				16	Angelo Medeghini	14
Toyota Castrol Team	Toyota	Corolla WRC	M	7	Didier Auriol	10–14
				8	Neal Bates	11, 13
				9	Marcus Grönholm	10, 14
				10	Freddy Loix	12
Peugeot Sport	Peugeot	306 Maxi	M	7	Gilles Panizzi	5–6
				9	François Delecour	5–6

Major entries not registered as manufacturers
Team	Constructor	Car	Drivers	Rounds
RAS Sport	Ford	Escort RS Cosworth	Didier Auriol	1
			Jean-Pierre Richelmi	4, 8
Mobil Ford Motorsport			Stig Blomqvist	2
Blue Rose Team			Jarmo Kytölehto	2
Mats Jonsson			Mats Jonsson	2
Gazprom Rally Team			Alexander Zheludov	14
		Escort WRC	Bruno Thiry	14
Totta Peres Competicao			Fernando Peres	4
Belgacom Turbo Team			Gregoire de Mevius	4, 8, 12, 14
Leonídas Kyrkos			Leonídas Kyrkos	8
Blue Rose Team			Jarmo Kytölehto	10
Ford Team Finland			Sebastian Lindholm	10
Jolly Club			Gianfranco Cunico	12
Motorsport Consultancy			Ari Vatanen	14
Toyota Castrol Team	Toyota	Celica GT-Four	Freddy Loix	1, 4, 8, 10, 13
			Isolde Holderied	1
			Thomas Rådström	2, 8
			Tomas Jansson	2, 10
			Marcus Grönholm	2, 4
			Ian Duncan	3
			Neal Bates	9
			Fujimoto Yoshio	11, 13
H.F. Grifone			Raúl Sufan	4–13
			Didier Auriol	6
			Marcus Grönholm	6
			Pierlorenzo Zanchi	12

Results and standings

Drivers' championship

Pos Driver MON SWE KEN POR ESP FRA ARG GRC NZL FIN INA ITA AUS GBR  Pts  1 Tommi Mäkinen 3 3 Ret 1 1 Ret 1 3 Ret 1 Ret 3 2 6 63 2 Colin McRae Ret 4 1 Ret 4 1 2 Ret Ret Ret Ret 1 1 1 62 3 Carlos Sainz 2 2 Ret Ret 10 2 Ret 1 2 Ret 1 4 Ret 3 51 4 Juha Kankkunen Ret 2 3 2 2 6 Ret 2 29 5 Kenneth Eriksson 1 Ret Ret 3 Ret 1 Ret 3 Ret Ret 28 6 Piero Liatti 1 2 5 2 7 24 7 Richard Burns 2 Ret Ret 4 4 4 4 4 21 8 Armin Schwarz 4 6 4 3 Ret 9 11 9 Freddy Loix 16 2 Ret 37 5 7 8 10 Gilles Panizzi 3 3 8 11 Didier Auriol Ret 5 8 Ret 8 3 Ret 6 12 Marcus Grönholm 8 Ret 4 Ret 5 5 13 Ian Duncan 3 4 14 Jarmo Kytölehto Ret 3 4 15 Thomas Rådström 5 5 4 16 Possum Bourne 5 5 4 17 Grégoire De Mévius 4 7 Ret Ret 3 18 François Delecour DSQ 4 3 19 Sebastian Lindholm 4 3 20 Uwe Nittel 5 Ret 8 8 6 7 Ret 3 21 Jonathan Toroitich 5 2 22 Jean-Pierre Richelmi 5 Ret 2 23 Angelo Medeghini 5 Ret 10 2 24 Tomas Jansson 7 5 2 25 Yoshio Fujimoto 5 Ret 2 26 Henrik Lundgaard 6 1 27 Frédéric Dor 6 17 11 23 29 15 1 28 Masao Kamioka 6 Ret 14 1 29 Rui Madeira 15 6 1 30 Philippe Bugalski 6 1 31 Gustavo Trelles 9 16 7 13 6 13 7 17 Ret 1 32 Neal Bates 6 Ret 8 1 33 Pasi Hagström 6 1 34 Karamjit Singh 11 6 Ret 17 1 35 Ed Ordynski 6 1 Pos Driver MON SWE KEN POR ESP FRA ARG GRC NZL FIN INA ITA AUS GBR  Pts

Colour Result Gold Winner Silver 2nd place Bronze 3rd place Green Points finish Blue Non-points finish Non-classified finish (NC) Purple Did not finish (Ret) Black Excluded (EX) White Did not start (DNS) Blank Withdrew entry before the event (WD)

Manufacturers' championship

Pos. Manufacturer No. MON SWE KEN POR ESP FRA ARG GRE NZL FIN INA ITA AUS GBR Points 1 555 Subaru World Rally Team 3 Ret 4 1 Ret 4 1 2 Ret Ret Ret Ret 1 1 1 114 4 1 1 Ret Ret 2 5 3 Ret 1 Ret 3 2 Ret Ret 2 Ford Motor Co 5 2 2 Ret Ret 10 2 Ret 1 2 Ret 1 4 Ret 3 90 6 4 6 4 3 Ret 9 Ret 2 3 2 2 6 Ret 2 3 Team Mitsubishi Ralliart 1 3 3 Ret 1 1 Ret 1 3 Ret 1 Ret 3 2 6 86 2 5 Ret 2 Ret 8 8 Ret 4 4 7 4 Ret 4 4 Pos. Manufacturer No. MON SWE KEN POR ESP FRA ARG GRE NZL FIN INA ITA AUS GBR Points

Colour Result Gold Winner Silver 2nd place Bronze 3rd place Green Points finish Blue Non-points finish Non-classified finish (NC) Purple Did not finish (Ret) Black Excluded (EX) White Did not start (DNS) Blank Withdrew entry before the event (WD)

Events

1997 World Rally Championship event map

Black = Tarmac	Brown = Gravel	Blue = Ice/Snow	Red = Mixed Surface

1997 World Rally Championship schedule and results

Rally Name	Dates Run	Podium Drivers (Finishing Time)	Podium Cars
65ème Rallye Automobile de Monte-Carlo	19 January-22 January	Piero Liatti (4h:26m:58s) Carlos Sainz (4h:27m:53s) Tommi Mäkinen (4h:29m:29s)	Subaru Impreza WRC 97 Ford Escort WRC Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution IV
46th International Swedish Rally	7 February-10 February	Kenneth Eriksson (3h:51m:49s) Carlos Sainz (3h:52m:05s) Tommi Mäkinen (3h:52m:15s)	Subaru Impreza WRC 97 Ford Escort WRC Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution IV
45th Safari Rally Kenya	1 March-3 March	Colin McRae (11h:29m:00s) Richard Burns (11h:36m:04s) Ian Duncan (11h:40m:18s)	Subaru Impreza WRC 97 Mitsubishi Carisma GT Evolution IV Toyota Celica GT-Four ST205
31º TAP Rallye de Portugal	23 March-26 March	Tommi Mäkinen (4h:53m:01s) Freddy Loix (4h:57m:06s) Armin Schwarz (4h:59m:34s)	Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution IV Toyota Celica GT-Four ST205 Ford Escort WRC
33º Rallye Catalunya-Costa Brava (Rallye de España)	14 April-16 April	Tommi Mäkinen (4h:08m:46s) Piero Liatti (4h:08m:53s) Gilles Panizzi (4h:11m:55s)	Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution IV Subaru Impreza WRC 97 Peugeot 306 Maxi
41ème Tour de Corse - Rallye de France	5 May-7 May	Colin McRae (4h:31m:08s) Carlos Sainz (4h:31m:16s) Gilles Panizzi (4h:31m:46s)	Subaru Impreza WRC 97 Ford Escort WRC Peugeot 306 Maxi
17º Rally Argentina	22 May-24 May	Tommi Mäkinen (4h:25m:38s) Colin McRae (4h:26m:39s) Kenneth Eriksson (4h:30m:06s)	Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution IV Subaru Impreza WRC 97 Subaru Impreza WRC 97
44th Acropolis Rally of Greece	8 June-10 June	Carlos Sainz (4h:56m:24s) Juha Kankkunen (4h:56m:41s) Tommi Mäkinen (5h:01m:27s)	Ford Escort WRC Ford Escort WRC Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution IV
27th Smokefree Rally New Zealand	2 August-5 August	Kenneth Eriksson (4h:14m:11s) Carlos Sainz (4h:14m:24s) Juha Kankkunen (4h:14m:30s)	Subaru Impreza WRC 97 Ford Escort WRC Ford Escort WRC
47th Neste Rally Finland	29 August-31 August	Tommi Mäkinen (3h:16m:18s) Juha Kankkunen (3h:16m:25s) Jarmo Kytölehto (3h:18m:18s)	Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution IV Ford Escort WRC Ford Escort WRC
22nd Rally Indonesia	19 September-21 September	Carlos Sainz (4h:37m:30s) Juha Kankkunen (4h:37m:46s) Kenneth Eriksson (4h:38m:49s)	Ford Escort WRC Ford Escort WRC Subaru Impreza WRC 97
39º Rallye Sanremo - Rallye d'Italia	13 October-15 October	Colin McRae (4h:08m:25s) Piero Liatti (4h:08m:31s) Tommi Mäkinen (4h:08m:37s)	Subaru Impreza WRC 97 Subaru Impreza WRC 97 Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution IV
10th API Rally Australia	30 October-2 November	Colin McRae (4h:05m:31s) Tommi Mäkinen (4h:05m:37s) Didier Auriol (4h:05m:52s)	Subaru Impreza WRC 97 Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution IV Toyota Corolla WRC
53rd Network Q Rally	23 November-25 November	Colin McRae (3h:54m:31s) Juha Kankkunen (3h:57m:18s) Carlos Sainz (3h:58m:24s)	Subaru Impreza WRC 97 Ford Escort WRC Ford Escort WRC

See also

• FIA World Rally Championship 1997 at rallybase.nl