1997 German Formula Three Championship

The 1997 German Formula Three Championship (German: 1997 Deutsche Formel-3-Meisterschaft) was the 23rd edition of the German Formula Three Championship. It commenced on 26 April 1997 and ended on 15 October. Opel Team BSR driver Nick Heidfeld won the championship title after a title battle with Benetton RTL Junior's Timo Scheider.^[1]

Teams and drivers[edit]

1997 Entry List^[2]
Team	No.	Driver	Chassis	Engine	Status	Rounds
Class A
Benetton RTL Junior Team	1	Timo Scheider	Dallara 397/002	Opel	R	All
	2	Dominik Schwager	Dallara 397/045			1–5, 7–9
	3	Alexander Müller	Dallara 397/023		R	All
Opel Team BSR	4	Nick Heidfeld	Dallara 397/049	Opel		All
	5	Sascha Bert	Dallara 397/029			All
	6	Tim Verbergt	Dallara 397/003			All
	7	Tomáš Enge	Dallara 397/030		R	All
	22	Andreas Scheld	Dallara 397/003			8–9
GM Jordan F3 Team	8	Norman Simon	Dallara 397/052	Opel	R	All
GM Jordan F3 Team	9	Steffen Widmann	Dallara 397/054	Opel		1–3
Josef Kaufmann Racing	9	Steffen Widmann	Martini MK73/05	Opel		5–9
	12	Wolf Henzler	Martini MK73/02			All
	14	Jarosław Wierczuk	Martini MK73/01			1–7
	36	Tom Schwister	Martini MK73/01			9
Trella Motorsport	10	Pierre Kaffer	Dallara 396/012	Opel	R	All
IPS Motorsport	16	Johan Stureson	Dallara 397/046	Opel		All
JB Motorsport Boxy's Jeans	17	Yves Olivier	Dallara 397/007	Opel		All
Tokmakidis Motorsport	18	Tim Coronel	Dallara 397/018	Opel	R	1–6
Van Amersfoort Racing	20	Bas Leinders	Dallara 397/009	Opel	R	All
GM Motorsport	21	Tim Bergmeister	Dallara 397/062	Opel		6–9
	25	Ronny Melkus	Dallara 395/033			4
			Dallara 397/054			5
			Dallara 397/051			6–9
KUG ELU Motorsport	22	Andreas Scheld	Dallara 397/051	Opel		1–5
MKL F3 Racing	27	Lucas Luhr	Dallara 397/056	Opel		All
Olympia Sport System	30	Riccardo Moscatelli	Dallara 397/057	Opel		6–8
Leoš Prokopec	31	Leoš Prokopec	Dallara 397/047	Fiat		9
Class B
TKF Racing	50	Luciano Crespi	Dallara 396/022	Opel		1, 3–4
	56	Marcin Biernacki				5, 7–8
	59	Jarosław Wierczuk				9
Chemopetrol Mus Team F3 Racing	51	Jaroslav Kostelecký	Dallara 396/023	Opel	R	All
Tokmakidis Motorsport	55	Michael Stelzig	Dallara 395/071	Opel	R	All
Tokmakidis Motorsport	58	Nikolaos Stremmenos	Dallara 395/071	Opel		7–8
GM Motorsport	52	Michael Becker	Dallara 395/062	Opel	R	All
GM Motorsport	53	Roman Truschev	Dallara 395/033	Opel		1–2

Icon	Class
R	Rookie

Race calendar and results[edit]

The series supported the ADAC events at all nine rounds.^[3] With the exception of round at Salzuburg in Austria, all rounds took place on German soil.

Round		Circuit	Date	Pole Position	Fastest Lap	Winning driver	Winning team	B Class Winner
1	R1	Hockenheimring	26 April	Alexander Müller	Nick Heidfeld	Nick Heidfeld	Opel Team BSR	Luciano Crespi
1	R2	Hockenheimring	27 April	Nick Heidfeld	Nick Heidfeld	Nick Heidfeld	Opel Team BSR	Michael Stelzig
2	R2	Nürburgring	24 May	Alexander Müller	Nick Heidfeld	Timo Scheider	Benetton RTL Junior Team	Jaroslav Kostelecký
2	R2	Nürburgring	24 May	Timo Scheider	Dominik Schwager	Wolf Henzler	Josef Kaufmann Racing	Jaroslav Kostelecký
3	R1	Sachsenring	14 June	Bas Leinders	Nick Heidfeld	Timo Scheider	Benetton RTL Junior Team	Jaroslav Kostelecký
3	R2	Sachsenring	15 June	Timo Scheider	Timo Scheider	Timo Scheider	Benetton RTL Junior Team	Luciano Crespi
4	R1	Norisring	28 June	Bas Leinders	Alexander Müller	Dominik Schwager	Benetton RTL Junior Team	Luciano Crespi
4	R2	Norisring	29 June	Dominik Schwager	Norman Simon	Dominik Schwager	Benetton RTL Junior Team	Jaroslav Kostelecký
5	R1	Wunstorf	12 July	Wolf Henzler	Bas Leinders	Alexander Müller	Benetton RTL Junior Team	Marcin Biernacki
5	R2	Wunstorf	13 July	Alexander Müller	Timo Scheider	Alexander Müller	Benetton RTL Junior Team	Michael Becker
6	R1	Zweibrücken	9 August	Wolf Henzler	Pierre Kaffer	Pierre Kaffer	Trella Motorsport	Michael Becker
6	R2	Zweibrücken	10 August	Pierre Kaffer	Nick Heidfeld	Wolf Henzler	Josef Kaufmann Racing	Jaroslav Kostelecký
7	R1	Salzburgring	23 August	Nick Heidfeld	Timo Scheider	Nick Heidfeld	Opel Team BSR	Michael Becker
7	R2	Salzburgring	24 August	Nick Heidfeld	Nick Heidfeld	Nick Heidfeld	Opel Team BSR	Jaroslav Kostelecký
8	R1	Regio-Ring	5 September	Tomáš Enge	Norman Simon	Alexander Müller	Benetton RTL Junior Team	Jaroslav Kostelecký
8	R2	Regio-Ring	6 September	Alexander Müller	Norman Simon	Alexander Müller	Benetton RTL Junior Team	Michael Becker
9	R1	Nürburgring	4 October	Nick Heidfeld	Nick Heidfeld	Nick Heidfeld	Opel Team BSR	Jarosław Wierczuk
9	R2	Nürburgring	5 October	Nick Heidfeld	Pierre Kaffer	Norman Simon	GM Jordan F3 Team	Jaroslav Kostelecký

Championship standings[edit]

A-Class[edit]

Points are awarded as follows:

1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10
20	15	12	10	8	6	4	3	2	1

B-Class[edit]

Points are awarded as follows:

1	2	3	4	5	6
9	6	4	3	2	1

Pos	Driver	HOC		NÜR1		SAC		NOR		WUN		ZWE		SAL		LAH		NÜR2		Pts
Class A
1	Nick Heidfeld	1	1	2	3	2	6	Ret	8	12	4	5	4	1	1	2	2	1	2	224
2	Timo Scheider	3	9	1	4	1	1	5	4	3	3	2	2	2	2	16	5	3	3	218
3	Alexander Müller	Ret	Ret	3	2	4	Ret	15	7	1	1	7	6	11	11	1	1	5	5	147
4	Wolf Henzler	Ret	3	4	1	5	3	3	3	Ret	Ret	3	1	7	4	3	Ret	Ret	Ret	144
5	Norman Simon	16†	Ret	9	5	15	15†	Ret	6	Ret	Ret	4	3	3	3	6	4	2	1	113
6	Pierre Kaffer	5	Ret	8	8	9	5	6	10	4	Ret	1	Ret	5	6	7	7	4	4	103
7	Bas Leinders	4	2	6	6	3	2	16†	Ret	8	Ret	8	Ret	6	Ret	4	3	9	11	100
8	Sascha Bert	9	8	5	Ret	14	Ret	2	2	9	8	Ret	9	4	5	12	8	8	6	80
9	Tim Verbergt	2	4	7	7	Ret	Ret	4	5	5	6	6	Ret	13	10					72
10	Dominik Schwager	Ret	5	Ret	9	7	4	1	1	Ret	9			9	Ret	17†	Ret	Ret	14	68
11	Ronny Melkus							8	Ret	2	2	14	7	DNS	DNS	9	6	13	8	48
12	Tomáš Enge	7	Ret	10	13	6	14†	14	Ret	10	7	9	Ret	Ret	7	18†	9	6	12	30
13	Steffen Widmann	Ret	13	Ret	10	18†	9			7	5	11	5	12	9	10	Ret	Ret	15	26
14	Johan Stureson	10	Ret	Ret	DNS	8	12	7	9	6	11	15	Ret	8	8	13	Ret	7	Ret	26
15	Yves Olivier	11	7	17	18†	17†	8	Ret	15	14†	10	10	8	Ret	13	Ret	DNS	11	7	16
16	Lucas Luhr											13	10	10	18	5	Ret	12	13	10
17	Tim Coronel	8	6	13	12	11	Ret	10	Ret	Ret	Ret	16	12							10
18	Luciano Crespi	6	Ret			13	10	9	Ret											9
19	Andreas Scheld	18	Ret	11	17	10	7	11	11	Ret	Ret					Ret	14	14	9	7
20	Tim Bergmeister											12	11	15	12	8	10	10	10	6
21	Michael Stelzig	13	10	15	Ret															1
22	Jaroslav Kostelecký	12	12	14	14	12	11	12	14	Ret	Ret	19†	13	18	14	11	12	17	16	0
23	Michael Becker	17	11	16	16	16	Ret	Ret	13	Ret	12	18	14	14	Ret	Ret	11	16	18	0
24	Jarosław Wierczuk	14	DNS	12	11	19†	13†	13	12	13†	Ret	17	15†	16	16			15	19†	0
25	Marcin Biernacki									11	13			19	17	14	Ret			0
26	Nikolaos Stremmenos													17	Ret	Ret	13			0
27	Riccardo Moscatelli											Ret	Ret	Ret	15	15	15			0
28	Roman Truschev	15	Ret	Ret	15															0
29	Tom Schwister																	18	17	0
30	Leoš Prokopec																	19	Ret	0
Class B
1	Jaroslav Kostelecký	12	12	14	14	12	11	12	14	Ret	Ret	19†	13	18	14	11	12	17	16	111
2	Michael Becker	17	11	16	16	16	Ret	Ret	13	Ret	12	18	14	14	Ret	Ret	11	16	18	83
3	Luciano Crespi	6	Ret			13	10	9	Ret											33
4	Marcin Biernacki									11	13			19	17	14	Ret			30
5	Michael Stelzig	13	10	15	Ret															19
6	Jarosław Wierczuk	14	DNS	12	11	19†	13†	13	12	13†	Ret	17	15†	16	16			15	19†	13
7	Nikolaos Stremmenos													17	Ret	Ret	13			10
8	Roman Truschev	15	Ret	Ret	15															9
Pos	Driver	HOC		NÜR1		SAC		NOR		WUN		ZWE		SAL		LAH		NÜR2		Pts

Junior-Pokal (Rookie) standings[edit]

	Driver	Points
1	Timo Scheider	163
2	Alexander Müller	116
3	Bas Leinders	97
4	Norman Simon	91
5	Pierre Kaffer	90
6	Tomáš Enge	62
7	Tim Coronel	21
8	Jaroslav Kostelecký	18
9	Michael Becker	10
10	Michael Stelzig	3

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)
	Withdrew (WD)
	Race cancelled (C)
Blank	Did not practice (DNP)
	Did not arrive (DNA)
	Excluded (EX)

Bold - Pole
Italics - Fastest Lap

† — Drivers did not finish the race, but were classified as they completed over 90% of the race distance.

References[edit]

^ "Biography". Pitpass.com. Retrieved 19 February 2012.
^ "Fotos 1997 Deutsche Formel 3 Meisterschaft". formel3guide.com (in German). Retrieved 19 February 2012.
^ "Saison 1997" (in German). formel3guide.com. Retrieved 19 February 2012.

External links[edit]

Official website (in English and German)

[1] "Biography". Pitpass.com. Retrieved 19 February 2012.

[2] "Fotos 1997 Deutsche Formel 3 Meisterschaft". formel3guide.com (in German). Retrieved 19 February 2012.

[3] "Saison 1997" (in German). formel3guide.com. Retrieved 19 February 2012.

[1]

[2]

[3]

v t e German Formula Three Championship
German Formula Three	1971 1972 1973 1974 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002
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See also List of German Formula Three champions