The 1997 Auto Trader RAC British Touring Car Championship was won by Alain Menu of the Williams Renault Dealer Racing team, driving a Renault Laguna. Menu dominated the year, setting a record of 12 wins during the season. The runner up was Frank Biela of Audi Sport UK in an Audi A4 Quattro. Third place was Menu's teammate, Jason Plato. In the independent class the championship was won by Robb Gravett in a Honda Accord.
Season summary
Defending manufacturers champions Audi retained the same driver line up for 1997, with defending drivers champion Frank Biela again partnering John Bintcliffe. Pre-season was not without controversy for Audi as had been announced that due to their dominance of much of 1996, a further weight penalty would be applied to both of their A4 Quattros Audi A4 Touring Car, a penalty that would subsequently be relaxed by 30kg at Oulton Park. Biela would secure 5 victories during the season to finish runner up to eventual champion Menu although he was never a serious threat for the title such was the Renault drivers dominance. Bintcliffe again finished 7th overall, scoring his first victory at Knockhill, repeating the feat at Thruxton.
Williams Renault, now into their third season running the Laguna, had a new driver in the form of future double BTCC champion Jason Plato, replacing 1991 Champion Will Hoy. Plato would drive alongside Swiss ace Alain Menu, three times a runner-up in the BTCC and now into his fifth year with Renault. Plato made history by taking pole position in his first 3 races but it was Menu who would go on to dominate the season with 12 victories, leading the standings throughout and wrapping up the title at Snetterton with 6 races to go. Plato's first victory came in that Snetterton race, the second coming in the final race of the year at Silverstone. The team wrapped up the manufacturers and teams championships.
The TWR backed Volvo squad, after an ultimately disappointing 1996 despite 5 wins, introduced a new car for 1997, replacing the 850 model with the sleek new S40. Swede Rickard Rydell, again drove alongside former Ford driver Kelvin Burt. The sole victory came for Rydell at Brands Hatch in August whilst Kelvin Burt scored just one podium in the opening race of the year
For the 1997 season, Honda’s Accord entries were operated by the Prodrive team. The driver line-up consisted of James Thompson, who joined from Vauxhall, and Gabriele Tarquini, the 1994 BTCC champion and former Formula One driver. Honda had shown improved performance toward the end of the 1996 season. In 1997, the team recorded one race victory for Thompson and one for Tarquini.
After a limited effort in 1996 Nissan re-entered the championship with a full blown manufacturer backed team. RML, who had run Vauxhall's effort since 1994, fielded a pair of brand new Primeras for David Leslie and Anthony Reid, the latter making his debut in the championship. Reliability was an issue but 5 podium finishes hinted at what was to come in 1998.
Vauxhall, after a difficult 1996 with just a solitary win for James Thompson, replaced the outgoing Yorkshireman with Derek Warwick, who joined both as a driver and team managerHarrison in control at Triple Eight, Crash.net of the new-look Triple Eight Vectras after a somewhat low-key first BTCC season with Alfa in 1995. Double champion John Cleland would drive for Vauxhall for the ninth straight year in the BTCC. The team started the season with 1996 cars re-engineered by Triple Eight before being replaced by the new cars at Knockhill. The car suffered after a miscalculation with the aerodynamics that meant it lacked down force and did not work its tyres hard enough. BTCC rules meant that unlike in STW this was unable to be rectified.
Ford elected to introduce the latest shape Mondeo, and the driver line-up looked formidable on paper, with 1991 champion Will Hoy joining twice winner of the Touring Car World Cup New Zealander Paul Radisich. The cars were again built by Reynard Motorsport and run by West Surrey Racing. Whilst results were better than 1996 the cars continued to suffer from poor reliability and Ford finished the season 7th in the manufacturer standings.
After two seasons running the Honda factory effort Motorsport Developments (MSD) joined forces with Peugeot, now into their second season running the 406. They maintained the experienced duo of Patrick Watts and 1992 champion Tim Harvey and proved to be significantly more competitive than the previous season with Harvey taking a pair of 2nd places in wet conditions at Thruxton and Donington.
The independents championship was one of the most keenly contested for years. Defending independents champion Lee Brookes switched from a Toyota to a Peugeot, whilst rookie Jamie Wall drove the Mint Motorsport Vauxhall Cavalier used by Richard Kaye in 1996.
Matt Neal would again enter in his Team Dynamics built Mondeo, however the team looking to have closer ties to a manufacturer switched to a Nissan Primera mid season. Neal won the class six times, as many as eventual champion Gravett and was often mixing it with the works cars however inconsistency meant he was never in the championship battle.
1990 Champion Robb Gravett, having run selected rounds in 1996, returned with a Honda entered by Graham Hathaway and went on to secure the title, Whilst Scot Colin Gallie ran a 1994 BMW 318i entered by Dave Cook. Ian Heward again entered his 1993 ex RML Vauxhall Cavalier but often failed to qualify. Swedish Touring Car Championship regular Jan Brunstedt entered the early rounds at Silverstone but was lapped in both races.
Former Peugeot works driver Eugene O'Brien intended to return in a Honda Accord, run by YAP Motorsport, but this plan fell through.
Tourist Trophy On October 18/19 the 1997 Tourist Trophy took place at Donington Park featuring an all-new format. One qualifying session on Saturday set the grid for the first of two 20-lap qualifying heats with the grid for the second race a reverse of the first. The grid for the 25 lap final was then decided by each driver's aggregate performance in the two heats.
Team and drivers Team Car No. Drivers Rounds Manufacturers Audi Sport UK Audi A4 quattro 1 Frank Biela All 7 John Bintcliffe All Williams Renault Dealer Racing Renault Laguna 2 Alain Menu All 22 Jason Plato All Volvo S40 Racing Volvo S40 3 Rickard Rydell All 11 Kelvin Burt All Vodafone Nissan Racing Nissan Primera GT 4 David Leslie All 23 Anthony Reid All Vauxhall Sport Vauxhall Vectra 8 John Cleland All 88 Derek Warwick All Team Mondeo with Reynard Ford Mondeo 9 Will Hoy All 15 Paul Radisich All Team Honda Sport Honda Accord 10 James Thompson All 20 Gabriele Tarquini All Esso Ultron Team Peugeot Peugeot 406 12 Tim Harvey All 14 Patrick Watts All Independents Brookes Motorsport Peugeot 406 17 Lee Brookes All Janco Motorsport Opel Vectra 18 Jan Brunstedt 2 Team DCRS BMW 318i 19 Colin Gallie All Mint Motorsport Vauxhall Cavalier 25 Jamie Wall All ProMotor Sport Vauxhall Cavalier 28 Ian Heward 6, 9–10, 12 Rock-It Cargo Honda Accord 29 Robb Gravett 2–12 Team Dynamics Ford Mondeo 77 Matt Neal 1–5 Nissan Primera eGT 6–12
RAC Tourist Trophy Team Car No. Drivers Manufacturers Williams Renault Dealer Racing Renault Laguna 1 Alain Menu 3 Jason Plato Audi Sport UK Audi A4 quattro 2 Frank Biela 7 John Bintcliffe Audi A4 18 Yvan Muller Volvo S40 Racing Volvo S40 4 Rickard Rydell 14 Armin Hahne Vodafone Nissan Racing Nissan Primera GT 8 David Leslie 11 Anthony Reid 17 Paula Cook Vauxhall Sport Vauxhall Vectra 12 John Cleland Team Mondeo Ford Mondeo 15 Paul Radisich 16 Will Hoy Team Honda Sport Honda Accord 21 Aaron Slight 22 Jonny Kane Independents Abt Sportsline Audi A4 quattro 23 Christian Abt 24 Kris Nissen Mint Motorsport Vauxhall Cavalier 25 Tim Sugden Janco Motorsport Opel Vectra 27 Jan Brunstedt Linnerud Racing Opel Vectra 28 Tord Linnerud Team Dynamics Ford Mondeo 77 Matt Neal Nissan Primera eGT 78 Kari Mäkinen
Race calendar and results All races were held in the United Kingdom. Round Circuit Date Pole position Fastest lap Winning driver Winning team Winning independent 1 R1 Donington Park (Grand Prix), Leicestershire 31 March Jason Plato Alain Menu Alain Menu Williams Renault Dealer Racing Colin Gallie R2 Jason Plato Alain Menu Alain Menu Williams Renault Dealer Racing Colin Gallie 2 R3 Silverstone Circuit (International), Northamptonshire 20 April Jason Plato Jason Plato Alain Menu Williams Renault Dealer Racing Robb Gravett R4 Alain Menu Alain Menu Alain Menu Williams Renault Dealer Racing Robb Gravett 3 R5 Thruxton Circuit, Hampshire 5 May Alain Menu James Thompson Frank Biela Audi Sport UK Matt Neal R6 Alain Menu James Thompson Gabriele Tarquini Team Honda Sport Matt Neal 4 R7 Brands Hatch (Indy), Kent 18 May Alain Menu Alain Menu Alain Menu Williams Renault Dealer Racing Robb Gravett R8 Gabriele Tarquini Alain Menu James Thompson Team Honda Sport Robb Gravett 5 R9 Oulton Park (Fosters), Cheshire 26 May Alain Menu Alain Menu Alain Menu Williams Renault Dealer Racing Colin Gallie R10 Alain Menu Alain Menu Alain Menu Williams Renault Dealer Racing Lee Brookes 6 R11 Donington Park (National), Leicestershire 15 June Alain Menu Alain Menu Frank Biela Audi Sport UK Lee Brookes R12 Alain Menu Gabriele Tarquini Alain Menu Williams Renault Dealer Racing Lee Brookes 7 R13 Croft Circuit, North Yorkshire 29 June Alain Menu1 Gabriele Tarquini Alain Menu Williams Renault Dealer Racing Matt Neal R14 Alain Menu1 Alain Menu Alain Menu Williams Renault Dealer Racing Lee Brookes 8 R15 Knockhill Racing Circuit, Fife 3 August John Bintcliffe Frank Biela John Bintcliffe Audi Sport UK Robb Gravett R16 Frank Biela Frank Biela Frank Biela Audi Sport UK Robb Gravett 9 R17 Snetterton Motor Racing Circuit, Norfolk 10 August Alain Menu Alain Menu Alain Menu Williams Renault Dealer Racing Lee Brookes R18 Alain Menu Alain Menu Jason Plato Williams Renault Dealer Racing Matt Neal 10 R19 Thruxton Circuit, Hampshire 25 August Rickard Rydell Gabriele Tarquini John Bintcliffe Audi Sport UK Lee Brookes R20 James Thompson Frank Biela Frank Biela Audi Sport UK Lee Brookes 11 R21 Brands Hatch (Indy), Kent 7 September Frank Biela2 Anthony Reid Frank Biela Audi Sport UK Lee Brookes R22 Anthony Reid3 Rickard Rydell Rickard Rydell Volvo S40 Racing Lee Brookes 12 R23 Silverstone Circuit (International), Northamptonshire 21 September Jason Plato Anthony Reid Alain Menu Williams Renault Dealer Racing Matt Neal R24 Alain Menu Alain Menu Jason Plato Williams Renault Dealer Racing Matt Neal 1Qualifying cancelled. Grids set by championship standings. 2Qualifying cancelled. Grid set by fastest times in Sunday warm-up. 3Qualifying cancelled. Grid set by fastest laps in race 1.
Championships Standings
Points system Ref 1st 2nd 3rd 4th 5th 6th 7th 8th 9th 10th Pole position15121086543211 Note: bold signifies pole position (1 point awarded all races), italics signifies fastest lap.Drivers top 20 results count towards the championship.
Drivers Championship