The 1997 Exxon World Sports Car Championship and Supreme GT Series seasons were the 27th season of the IMSA GT Championship. It consisted of open-cockpit prototypes referred to as World Sports Car (WSC) and Grand Tourer-style racing cars divided into GTS-1, GTS-2, and GTS-3 classes.
It began February 1, 1997, and ended October 26, 1997, after eleven rounds. 1997 would mark the final year in IMSA GT for the 24 Hours of Daytona and the Six Hours of Watkins Glen. In 1998, the SCCA's revived United States Road Racing Championship would acquire the events.
Schedule Most races on the schedule ran with the GTS and WSC classes running separate races, sometimes with different lengths. Races marked with Both had both classes on track at the same time for the whole race.
Rnd Race Length Class Circuit Date 1 Rolex 24 at Daytona 24 Hours Both Daytona International Speedway February 1February 2 2 Superflo 12 Hours of Sebring 12 Hours Both Sebring International Raceway March 15 3 NAPA Grand Prix of Atlanta 2 Hours GTS Road Atlanta April 19 WSC April 20 4 Dodge Dealers Grand Prix 1 Hour 45 Minutes GTS Lime Rock Park May 26 WSC 5 First Union Six Hours at the Glen 6 Hours Both Watkins Glen International June 1 6 California Grand Prix 1 Hour 45 Minutes GTS Sears Point Raceway July 13 2 Hours WSC 7 Mosport Festival 1 Hour 45 Minutes GTS Mosport International Raceway August 31 2 Hours WSC 8 Sportscar Grand Prix 1 Hour 45 Minutes GTS Las Vegas Motor Speedway September 20 2 Hours WSC 9 Festival of Road Racing 2 Hours WSC Pikes Peak International Raceway September 28 1 Hour 45 Minutes GTS 10 NAPA Sebring Octoberfest 2 Hours WSC Sebring International Raceway October 18 1 Hour 45 Minutes GTS 11 Visa Sports Car Championship 1 Hour 45 Minutes GTS Laguna Seca Raceway October 26 WSC
Season results Rnd Circuit WSC Winning Team GTS-1 Winning Team GTS-2 Winning Team GTS-3 Winning Team Results WSC Winning Drivers GTS-1 Winning Drivers GTS-2 Winning Drivers GTS-3 Winning Drivers 1 Daytona #20 Dyson Racing #01 Rohr Corp. #99 Roock Racing #10 PTG Results Elliott Forbes-Robinson John Schneider Rob Dyson John Paul Jr. Butch Leitzinger Andy Wallace James Weaver Jochen Rohr Andy Pilgrim Harald Grohs Arnd Meier Ralf Kelleners Patrice Goueslard Claudia Hürtgen André Ahrlé Javier Quiros Derek Hill Boris Said Bill Auberlen Tom Hessert 2 Sebring #3 Team Scandia #11 Robinson Racing #61 Konrad Motorsport #10 PTG Results Yannick Dalmas Stefan Johansson Fermín Vélez Andy Evans Irv Hoerr Jack Baldwin George Robinson Bob Wollek Franz Konrad Wido Rössler Javier Quiros Bill Auberlen Derek Hill Tom Hessert 3 Road Atlanta #16 Dyson Racing #66 Panoz Motorsports #99 Schumacher Racing #39 Jim Matthews Results Butch Leitzinger James Weaver Doc Bundy Andy Wallace Larry Schumacher John O'Steen Jim Matthews David Murry 4 Lime Rock #30 Moretti Racing #91 Rock Valley #99 Schumacher Racing #6 PTG Results Antônio Hermann Andrea Montermini Stu Hayner Roger Schramm Larry Schumacher John O'Steen Javier Quiros Derek Hill 5 Watkins Glen #16 Dyson Racing #66 Panoz Motorsports #61 Konrad Motorsport #77 Mattco Racing Results Elliott Forbes-Robinson Butch Leitzinger James Weaver Doc Bundy Andy Wallace David Brabham Franz Konrad Nick Ham Michel Ligonnet Pete Halsmer John Morton 6 Sears Point #16 Dyson Racing #66 Panoz Motorsports #61 Konrad Motorsport #10 PTG Results Andy Wallace James Weaver Doc Bundy Andy Wallace Franz Konrad Nick Ham Bill Auberlen Boris Said 7 Mosport #43 Central Arkansas Racing #01 Rohr Motorsport #61 Konrad Motorsport #6 PTG Results Ron Fellows Rob Morgan Jochen Rohr Dorsey Schroeder Andy Pilgrim Franz Konrad Nick Ham Javier Quiros Derek Hill 8 Las Vegas #20 Dyson Racing #01 Rohr Motosport #99 Schumacher Racing #39 Jim Matthews Results John Paul Jr. Butch Leitzinger Andy Pilgrim Allan McNish Larry Schumacher Price Cobb Jim Matthews David Murry 9 Pikes Peak #30 Moretti Racing #00 Rohr Motorsport #61 Konrad Motorsport #10 PTG Results Antônio Hermann Andrea Montermini Andy Pilgrim Allan McNish Franz Konrad Nick Ham Bill Auberlen Boris Said 10 Sebring #30 Moretti Racing #01 Rohr Motorsport #99 Schumacher Racing #10 PTG Results Antônio Hermann Andrea Montermini Andy Pilgrim Allan McNish Larry Schumacher Price Cobb Bill Auberlen Butch Leitzinger Marc Duez 11 Laguna Seca #20 Dyson Racing #96 Panoz Motorsports #61 Konrad Motorsport #7 PTG Results John Paul Jr. Butch Leitzinger Éric Bernard David Brabham Franz Konrad Nick Ham Dieter Quester Marc Duez
Teams Championship Points are awarded to the finishers in the following order: 25-21-19-17-15-14-13-12-11-10-... Exception however for the 12 Hours of Sebring, which awarded in the following order: 30-26-24-22-20-19-18-17-16-15-... And the 24 Hours of Daytona, which is awarded in the following order: 33-29-27-25-23-22-21-20-19-18-...
Teams only score the points of their highest finishing entry in each race.
WSC Standings Pos Team Chassis Engine Rd 1 Rd 2 Rd 3 Rd 4 Rd 5 Rd 6 Rd 7 Rd 8 Rd 9 Rd 10 Rd 11 Total 1 Dyson Racing Riley & Scott Mk III Ford 5.0 L V8 33 26 25 21 25 25 21 25 19 19 25 264 2 Moretti Racing Ferrari 333 SP Ferrari F130E 4.0 L V12 25 14 19 25 6 14 17 19 25 25 21 210 3 Dibos Racing Riley & Scott Mk IIIFerrari 333 SP Oldsmobile Aurora 4.0 L V8Ferrari F310E 4.0 L V12 27 24 10 19 13 19 15 15 14 17 17 190 4 Doyle/Riley & Scott Riley & Scott Mk III Oldsmobile Aurora 4.0 L V8 20 13 14 10 7 11 19 21 21 5 19 160 5 Central Arkansas Racing Ferrari 333 SP Ferrari F310E 4.0 L V12 15 14 21 17 25 17 13 13 10 145 6 Downing Atlanta Racing Kudzu DLM Mazda 2.0 L 3-Rotor 23 22 13 7 15 10 12 11 10 10 8 141 7 FAB Factory Motorsport Spice SC95Kudzu DG-2 Oldsmobile Aurora 4.0 L V8Buick 4.5 L V6 15 17 8 11 19 9 13 4 11 9 4 120 8 MSI Racing Riley & Scott Mk III Chevrolet 6.0 L V8 12 19 17 8 12 14 8 7 14 111 9 Support Net Racing Hawk C-8Riley & Scott Mk III Chevrolet 6.0 L V8Ford 5.0 L V8 21 16 3 12 12 6 2 12 96 10 Screaming Eagles Racing Riley & Scott Mk III Ford 5.0 L V8 14 18 9 13 13 12 79 11 Davin Racing Argo PKudzu DLM BMW 4.0 L V8Buick 4.5 L V6 17 4 6 5 2 7 10 8 8 2 69 12 Courage Compétition Courage C41 Oldsmobile Aurora 4.0 L V8 11 2 9 10 12 6 11 6 67 13 Team Scandia Ferrari 333 SP Ferrari F310E 4.0 L V12 29 30 59 14= Kopf Precision Products Keiler KII Ford 5.0 L V8 18 11 8 3 5 11 56 14= TRV Motorsports Kudzu DL-4 Chevrolet 6.0 L V8 13 11 8 7 12 5 56 16 URD Rennwagenbau USA URD WSC95 BMW 4.0 L V8 13 10 4 9 36 17 Target 24 Riley & Scott Mk III Oldsmobile Aurora 4.0 L V8 19 14 33 18 Team South Carolina Hawk MD3R Mazda 2.0 L 3-Rotor 6 17 23 19 Graham Williams ProSport 3000 Ford 5.0 L V8 22 22 20 Fantasy Junction Cannibal Chevrolet 6.0L V8 4 9 4 3 20 21 John Christie X-250 Ferrari F310E 4.0 L V12 10 10 22 Bill Dollahite Spice BDG-02 Chevrolet 6.0 L V8 5 5 23 Wheel Works Bennett Special MkII Pontiac 5.0 L V8 3 1 4
External links World Sports Racing Prototypes - 1997 IMSA GT Championship results