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1997 World Rally Championship

25th season of the FIA World Rally Championship

Tommi Mäkinen World Manufacturers' Champion: Subaru The 1997 World Rally Championship was the 25th season of the FIA World Rally Championship. Registered manufacturers were required to contest the expanded 14 event calendar for the first time.

The Drivers' championship was very tightly contested and in the end Tommi Mäkinen won his second drivers' world championship in a Mitsubishi Lancer Evo IV by a single point ahead of Subaru Impreza WRC driver Colin McRae after the final round in Great Britain. Carlos Sainz was third in the leading Ford Escort WRC. The Manufacturers' title was won by Subaru, with Ford second and Mitsubishi third.

Technical changes

For the 1997 season, Group A was partially replaced by the World Rally Car, with manufacturers given the option which regulations to construct to. One inherent benefit to manufacturers by adopting WRC regulations was removing the need to mass-produce road-going versions of the cars that they competed with, under the previous rules for homologation. This meant that vehicles such as the Escort RS Cosworth and Subaru Impreza Turbo no longer had to be mass-produced for general sale in order to compete at World Championship level, and thus acting as a means of attracting increased competition and involvement by manufacturers.

In due course the World Rally Car rules would bring new manufacturs into the sport, but the start of 1997 featured the same three manufacturers as the previous season. Both Ford and Subaru switched to WRC in 1997, whereas Mitsubishi stayed with Group A to maintain the links to their Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution road cars. Subaru's transition was much more gradual for similar reasons, with the early Subaru Impreza WRCs still largely Group A in nature. By mid season Toyota Team Europe were back with the new Corolla World Rally Car.

In the few years that follow, the Championship saw the added presence of WRC cars from companies such as Hyundai, Seat, Citroën, and Peugeot, who would all compete under WRC regulations without having to manufacture equivalent specialised road cars for public sale.

One major flaw in the new class system was exposed by the increasing speed of the naturally aspirated front-wheel-drive FIA 2-Litre World Rally Cup cars. The tarmac specification cars built by Peugeot and Renault that competed in the all-tarmac French and Spanish championships became major threats on WRC tarmac events Rallye Catalunya and the Tour de Corse with Gilles Panizzi defeating all but two of the WRC four-wheel-drive turbos in his Peugeot 306 Maxi, taking third place in both events.

Calendar

The 1997 championship was contested over fourteen rounds in Europe, Africa, Asia, South America and Oceania. The event rotation system used in previous three seasons was dropped.

Events also became shorter and more compact, and

Rd.	Start date	Finish date	Rally	Rally headquarters	Surface	Stages
18 January	22 January	MON 65th Rallye Automobile Monte Carlo	Monte Carlo	Mixed	18	398.30 km
7 February	10 February	SWE 46th International Swedish Rally	Karlstad, Värmland County	Snow	24	411.17 km
1 March	3 March	KEN 45th Safari Rally Kenya	Nairobi	Gravel	13	1318.0 km
23 March	26 March	POR 31st TAP Rallye de Portugal	Figueira da Foz, Coimbra	Gravel	31	419.78 km
14 April	16 April	ESP 33rd Rallye Catalunya - Costa Brava - Rallye de España	Lloret de Mar, Catalonia	Tarmac	18	387.70 km
5 May	7 May	FRA 41st Tour de Corse - Rallye de France	Ajaccio, Corsica	Tarmac	18	408.0 km
22 May	25 May	ARG 17th Rally Argentina	Carlos Paz, Córdoba	Gravel	23	413.4 km
8 June	10 June	GRC 44th Acropolis Rally	Athens	Gravel	20	402.86 km
2 August	5 August	NZL 28th Smokefree Rally New Zealand	Manukau, Auckland	Gravel	24	395.99 km
29 August	31 August	FIN 47th Neste Rally Finland	Jyväskylä, Central Finland	Gravel	22	381.55 km
19 September	21 September	INA 22nd Rally of Indonesia	Medan, North Sumatra	Gravel	22	402.17 km
12 October	15 October	ITA 39th Rallye Sanremo - Rallye d'Italia	Sanremo, Liguria	Tarmac	25	396.21 km
30 October	2 November	AUS 10th API Rally Australia	Perth, Western Australia	Gravel	24	421.42 km
23 November	25 November	GBR 54th Network Q RAC Rally	Cheltenham, Gloucestershire	Gravel	26	381.11 km
Sources:

Teams and drivers

Team	Manufacturer	Car	Tyre	No.	Driver	Co-Driver	Rounds
JPN Mitsubishi Ralliart	Lancer Evo IV		1	Finland Tommi Mäkinen	nowrap	FIN Seppo Harjanne	All
Lancer Evo III	2	GER Uwe Nittel	SWE Tina Thörner	1–2, 5–6, 10, 12
Carisma GT Evo IV	Great Britain Richard Burns	GB Robert Reid	3–4, 7–9, 11, 13–14
Lancer Evo III		11	AUS Ed Ordynski	AUS Mark Stacey	13
13	JPN Kenjiro Shinozuka	LIT Fred Gocentas	13
JPN 555 Subaru WRT	Impreza S5 WRC '97		3	Great Britain Colin McRae	GB Nicky Grist	All
4	ITA Piero Liatti	ITA Fabrizia Pons	1, 5–6, 12
SWE Kenneth Eriksson	SWE Staffan Parmander	2–4, 7–11, 13–14
8	ITA Piero Liatti	ITA Fabrizia Pons	14
Impreza 555	10	NZL Peter 'Possum' Bourne	NZL Craig Vincent	9
USA Ford Motor Co. Ltd.	Ford Escort WRC		5	Spain Carlos Sainz	Spain Luis Moya	All
6	GER Armin Schwarz	FRA Denis Giraudet	1–5
GB Phil Mills	6
Finland Juha Kankkunen	FIN Juha Repo	7–14
16	ITA Angelo Medeghini	ITA Barbara Medeghini	14
JPN Toyota Castrol Team	Corolla WRC		7	France Didier Auriol	FRA Denis Giraudet	10–14
8	Finland Marcus Grönholm	FIN Timo Rautiainen	10
9	14
9	AUS Neal Bates	AUS Coral Taylor	11
8	13
10	Belgium Freddy Loix	BEL Sven Smeets	12

Non Manufacturer Entries

Major entries not registered as manufacturers	Team	Manufacturer	Car	Tyre	Drivers
GBR R.A.S. Sport	Ford Escort RS Cosworth		France Didier Auriol	FRA Jean-Marc Andrié	1
MON Jean-Pierre Richelmi	FRA Thierry Barjou	4, 8
DEU Dieter Depping		DEU Dieter Depping	DEU Dieter Hawranke	1
SWE Bo-Be Plastindustri AB		SWE Mats Jonsson	SWE Johnny Johansson	2
GBR Mobil Ford Motorsport		SWE Stig Blomqvist	SWE Benny Melander	2
FIN Blue Rose Team		FIN Jarmo Kytölehto	FIN Arto Kapanen	2
Escort WRC	10
PRT Totta Peres Competição		PRT Fernando Peres	PRT Ricardo Caldeira	4
BEL Belgacom Turbo Team		BEL Grégoire de Mevius	BEL Jean-Marc Fortin	4, 8, 12, 14
GRC Leonídas Kirkos		GRC Leonídas Kirkos	GRC Nikos Panou	8
FIN Ford Team Finland		FIN Sebastian Lindholm	FIN Timo Hantunen	10
ITA Jolly Club		ITA Gianfranco Cunico	ITA Pierangelo Scalvini	12
GBR Motorsport Consultancy		FIN Ari Vatanen	GBR Roger Freeman	14
RUS Gazprom Rally Team		BEL Bruno Thiry	BEL Stéphane Prévot	14
Ford Escort RS Cosworth		RUS Alexander Zheludov	RUS Viktor Timkovskiy	14
BEL Marlboro Toyota Castrol Belgium	Celica GT-Four (ST205)		Belgium Freddy Loix	BEL Sven Smeets	1, 4, 8, 10, 13
GER Toyota Castrol Deutschland		GER Isolde Holderied	FRA Catherine François	1
DEN Toyota Denmark Rally Team		DNK Henrik Lundgaard	DNK Freddy Pedersen	1
SWE Toyota Castrol Team Sweden		SWE Thomas Rådström	SWE Lars Bäckman	2
FRA Denis Giraudet	8
SWE 'Gullabo'	SWE Pecka Svensson	2
FIN Marcus Grönholm	FIN Timo Rautiainen	2
KEN Toyota Kenya		KEN Ian Duncan	KEN David Williamson	3
FIN Toyota Castrol Finland		FIN Marcus Grönholm	FIN Timo Rautiainen	4
ITA H.F. Grifone SRL	ARG Raúl Sufan	ARG Martin Christie	4–5, 7–13
FIN Marcus Grönholm	FIN Timo Rautiainen	7
France Didier Auriol	FRA Denis Giraudet	7
ITA Andrea Aghini	ITA Loris Roggia	12
ITA Pier Lorenzo Zanchi	ITA Dario D'Esposito	12
AUS Toyota Team Australia		AUS Neal Bates	AUS Coral Taylor	9
FIN Shell Helix Motor Oils		FIN Pasi Hagström	FIN Tero Gardemeister	10
JPN Tein Sport		JPN Yoshio Fujimoto	SWE Arne Hertz	11, 13
KEN Jonathan Toroitich	Celica Turbo 4WD (ST185)		KEN Jonathan Toroitich	KEN Ibrahim Choge	3
SWI Olivier Burri	Impreza 555		SWI Olivier Burri	SWI Christophe Hofmann	1
FRA F.Dor Rally Team		FRA Frédéric Dor	GBR Kevin Gormley	3, 9
FRA Didier Breton	4, 8, 10
Impreza S5 WRC '97	12
JPN Subaru Allstars	Impreza 555		POR Rui Madeira	POR Nuno Rodrigues da Silva	4–5
JPN Yukihiko Sakurai	IRE Ronan Morgan	4, 8, 14
JPN Impreza Recaro Fujitsubo		JPN Masao Kamioka	GBR Kevin Gormley	4, 8, 14
ITA A.R.T Engineering		ITA Angelo Medeghini	ITA Barbara Medeghini	5, 10
ITA Andrea Navarra	ITA Renzo Casazza	8
ITA Alessandro Alessandrini	12, 14
ITA Massimo Ercolani	ITA Antonio Borri	12
GRC Armodios Vovos		GRC Armodios Vovos	GRC Ioánnis Alvanos	8
NZ Joe McAndrew		NZ Joe McAndrew	NZ Bob Haldane	9
ITA Procar Rally Team		ITA Andrea Dallavilla	ITA Danilo Fappani	12
ITA Diego Oldrati	ITA Paolo Lizzi	12
ITA Renato Travaglia	?	ITA Renato Travaglia	ITA Flavio Zanella	12
POL Mobil 1 Stomil Olsztyn		POL Krzysztof Hołowczyc	POL Maciej Wisławski	14
AUS Subaru Rally Team Australia	Impreza WRX STi RA		NZL Greg Graham	AUS Glenn Macneall	9
Impreza 555		NZL Peter 'Possum' Bourne	NZL Craig Vincent	13
DEU Mitsubishi Ralliart Germany	Lancer Evo III		GER Uwe Nittel	SWE Christina Thörner	8
NZL Ralliart New Zealand	Lancer Evo IV		NZ Geoff Argyle	NZ Raymond Bennett	9

FIA 2-Litre World Rally Cup Major Entries

Team	Manufacturer	Car	Tyre	Drivers	Co-drivers
CZE Škoda Motorsport	Felicia Kit Car		CZE Emil Triner	CZE Julius Gál	1
CZE Karel Jirátko	2, 4–5, 7–8
CZE Miloš Hůlka	10
Octavia Kit Car	12–13
Felicia Kit Car	CZE Pavel Sibera	CZE Petr Gross	1–2, 4–5, 7–8, 13
Octavia Kit Car	10, 12
Felicia Kit Car	CZE Jindřich Štolfa	CZE Miroslav Fanta	10, 12
ITA Fabio Danti	ITA Marcello Olivari	12
Belgium East Belgian Racing Team	Belgium Bernard Munster	BEL Jean-François Elst	14
Spain SEAT Sport	Ibiza Kit Car		Finland Harri Rovanperä	FIN Voitto Silander	1, 4–5, 7
Ibiza Kit Car Evo2	9–14
Ibiza Kit Car	Spain Oriol Gómez	Spain Marc Martí	1, 5, 7, 14
Ibiza Kit Car Evo2	8–13
Ibiza Kit Car	GER Erwin Weber	GER Manfred Hiemer	4
Ibiza Kit Car Evo2	8, 11
Ibiza Kit Car	BEL Bruno Thiry	BEL Stéphane Prévot	5
Belgium Renaud Verreydt	BEL Dominique Dricot	12
Ibiza Kit Car Evo2	Great Britain Gwyndaf Evans	GB Howard Davies	14
Great Britain David Higgins	Ibiza Kit Car	Great Britain David Higgins	IRE Rory Kennedy	14
GRC Technocar	Ibiza GTi 16V	?	GRC "Stratissino"	GRC Giorgos Petropoulos	8
AND Andorra Auto Club		AND Ferran Font	Andorra Eduard Andueza	4, 8
Spain Joan Sureda	11
PRT Vítor Pascoal	Ibiza GTi 16V	?	PRT Vítor Pascoal	PRT Duarte Costa	4
SWE Volkswagen Motorsport Sweden	Golf III GTi 16V	?	SWE Jörgen Jonasson	SWE Nicklas Jonasson	2
SWE Harry Joki	SWE Ingemar Karlsson	2
FIN Blue Rose Team	Golf III Kit Car	?	FIN Tapio Laukkanen	FIN Risto Mannisenmäki	2, 10
GBR S.B.G. Sport		GBR Alister McRae	GBR David Senior	2, 4, 13–14
SWE Opel Team Sweden	Astra GSi 16V		SWE Per Svan	SWE Johan Olsson	2, 10, 14
ITA Hawk Racing Club Srl	?	ITA Sandro Sottile	ITA Piero Barbieri	12
ITA Scuderia Dei Fiori	Corsa B GSi	?	ITA Andrea Maselli	ITA Nicola Arena	12
SWE Renault Team Sweden	Mégane Maxi		SWE Jonas Kruse	SWE Anders Olsson	2
SWE Håkan Ekholm	10
POR Renault Gest Galp		PRT José Carlos Macedo	PRT Miguel Borges	4
PRT Pedro Azeredo	PRT Fernando Prata	4
AUT Remus Racing		AUT Raphael Sperrer	SWE Per Carlsson	4–5, 10, 12
ESP Renault Sport España		ESP Miguel Martínez-Conde	ESP Felipe Alonso Fernández	5
FRA Société Diac		FRA Philippe Bugalski	FRA Jean-Paul Chiaroni	6
FRA Serge Jordan	FRA Jack Boyère	6
GRC "Leonidas"		GRC "Leonidas"	GRC Maria Pavli-Korre	8
ITA Italian Promotor Sport		ITA Corrado Fontana	ITA Daniele Pelliccioni	12
ITA Paolo Andreucci	ITA Simona Fedeli	12
GBR Renault Dealer Rallying UK		GBR Robbie Head	GBR Bryan Thomas	14
GBR Martin Rowe	GBR Nicky Beech	14
SWE Mikael Bonnevier	Clio Williams	?	SWE Mikael Bonnevier	SWE Peter Johansson	2
GRC "Dim"	?	GRC "Dim"	GRC Konstantinos Stefanis	8
ARG Oscar Chiaramello	18 GTX	?	ARG Oscar Chiaramello	ARG Fernando Chiaramello	7
ARG Ricardo Costanzo	ARG Ricardo Costanzo	ARG Jose Claudio Ocampo	7
FIN Promoracing Finland	Sunny GTi	?	FIN Toni Gardemeister	FIN Paavo Lukander	2, 10
GBR Nissan Motorsports Europe	Micra Kit Car		GBR Mark Higgins	GBR Phil Mills	10
JPN Masahiro Takasaki	JPN Hiroaki Hamada	9–13
GBR Geoff Jones	GBR Rhydian Welson	5–6
Almera Kit Car	GBR Mark Higgins	GBR Phil Mills	14
AUS Silverstone Rally Tyre Team	Satria Kit Car	S	AUS Russell Palmer	AUS Brian Harwood	3
KEN Azar Anwar	Cielo	?	KEN Azar Anwar	KEN Arshad Khan	3
KEN Rory Green	Elantra	?	KEN Rory Green	KEN Orson Taylor	3
KEN Jimmy Wahome	?	KEN Jimmy Wahome	KEN Tom Muriuki	3
AUS Hyundai Rally Sport	Coupé	?	AUS Robert Nicoli	AUS Jim Carlton	9, 13
AUS Wayne Bell	AUS Iain Stewart	9, 11, 13
AUS Dean Herridge		AUS Dean Herridge	AUS Lyndall Drake	13
GBR Jimmy McRae	Accent X3		GBR Jimmy McRae	GBR Rob Arthur	14
POR Peugeot Esso Competição	306 Maxi		PRT Adruzilo Lopes	PRT Luís Lisboa	4
FRA Peugeot Sport		FRA Gilles Panizzi	FRA Herve Panizzi	5–6
FRA François Delecour	FRA Daniel Grataloup	5–6
ESP Peugeot Sport España		ESP Jaime Azcona	GER Julius Billmaier	5
FRA "Fabrou"	106 XSi	?	FRA "Fabrou"	FRA Marc Boyer	4
ESP Ford España	Escort Maxi Kit Car		ESP Daniel Alonso Villarón	ESP Salvador Belzunces	5
ESP Citroën Hispania	ZX Kit Car		ESP Jesús Puras	ESP Marc Martí	5
FRA Citroën Sport	Saxo Kit Car	FRA Patrick Magaud	FRA Michel Périn	6
GRC Kostas Argiriou	Starlet EP91	?	GRC Kostas Argiriou	GRC Tzannis Vlahos	8
JPN Silverstone Suzuki Sport	Baleno Wagon Kit Car	S	JPN Nobuhiro Tajima	AUS Ross Runnalls	9
NZL Glenn Macneall	11
AUS Claire Parker	13
INA Timor Motorsport	S 515i	?	INA Andy Yachmoon	INA Ichwan Habib Nasution	11
INA Faried Thalib	INA Bambang Gunawan	11
GBR Honda UK Rally Team	Civic		GBR Neil Wearden	GBR Trevor Agnew	12, 14
AUS Daihatsu Australia	Charade GTi	?	AUS Ross Mackenzie	AUS Tony Brandon	13
AUS Rick Bates	GBR Jenny Brittan	13
KOR Kia Motorsport Korea	Sephia	?	KOR Park Jeong-Ryong	AUS Damien Long	13

Group N Cup major entries

Team	Manufacturer	Car	Tyre	Drivers	Co-drivers
GER Mitsubishi Ralliart Germany	Lancer Evo III		URU Gustavo Trelles	ARG Jorge Del Buono	1–2, 4–5, 7–10, 12
AUT Manfred Stohl	GER Dieter Schneppenheim	1
AUT Peter Müller	2, 4–5, 7
Lancer Evo IV	10, 12
Lancer Evo III	ESP Luis Climent	ESP Álex Romaní	4–6, 8, 13–14
Lancer Evo IV	10
GER Paulaner Team	Lancer Evo III		GER Armin Kremer	GER Sven Behling	1
SWE Mitsubishi Ralliart Sweden		SWE Kenneth Bäcklund	SWE Tord Andersson	2
SWE Stig-Olov Walfridsson	SWE Gunnar Barth	2
FIN Mitsubishi Ralliart Finland		FIN Juha Kangas	FIN Jani Laaksonen	2, 10
Lancer Carisma GT Evo IV	FIN Jouko Puhakka	FIN Keijo Eerola	10
SWE Bilsport Magazine	Lancer Evo II	?	SWE Gert Blomqvist	SWE Lena Lindberg	2
SWE Helmia Motorsport	Lancer Evo III	?	SWE Pernilla Solberg	SWE Sven-Olov Kvarnlöv	2
SWE Linda Walfridsson	14
POL Sobiesław Zasada	?	POL Sobiesław Zasada	POL Ewa Zasada	3
AUT Kurt Göttlicher	?	AUT Kurt Göttlicher	AUT Petra Heider	3–4, 7–10
ITA Antonello Fidanza	?	ITA Antonello Fidanza	ITA Raffaele Farina	5, 12
FRA Jacques Andreani		FRA Jacques Andreani	FRA Claude Blanc-Raffini	6
ARG Jorge Recalde	?	ARG Jorge Recalde	ARG José Garcia	7
NZL Ralliart New Zealand	Lancer Evo IV	?	NZ Reece Jones	NZ Leo Bult	9
Lancer Evo III	GBR Eurig Evans	13–14
NZ Todd Bawden	Lancer Evo IV	?	NZ Todd Bawden	NZ Jeff Grove	9
JPN Hikaru Teshigawara	?	JPN Hikaru Teshigawara	JPN Tadayoshi Sato	9
FIN Vatosua	?	FIN Olli Harkki	FIN Kari Mustalahti	10, 14
FIN Team Pomi Finland	?	FIN Marko Ipatti	FIN Kari Kajula	10
JPN Advan-Piaa Rally Team	Lancer Evo III		JPN Yoshihiro Kataoka	JPN Satoshi Hayashi	11, 13
INA Mitsubishi Ralliart Indonesia	Lancer Evo IV	?	INA Arief Indiarto	INA Firman Barototomo	11
INA Bambang Hartono	INA Agung Baskoro	11
JPN Masayuki Akaba	Lancer Evo III	?	JPN Masayuki Akaba	JPN Takako Akaba	11, 13
INA Goro Rally Team	Lancer Evo IV	?	INA Tommy Suharto	INA Jeffrey Jarang Pulang	11
INA Ricardo Gelael	INA Hervian Soejono	11
ITA Ralliart Italia	Lancer Evo V	?	ITA Mario Stagni	ITA Enrico Brazzoli	12
ITA Luca Baldini	Lancer Evo III	?	ITA Luca Baldini	ITA Massimo Agostinelli	12
SLO Boris Popovič	?	SLO Boris Popovič	SLO Roman Leljak	12
ITA Fabrizio Gallio	Lancer Evo IV	?	ITA Fabrizio Gallio	ITA Daniele De Luis	12
GBR Jeremy Easson	Lancer Evo III		GBR Jeremy Easson	GBR Alun Cook	14
GBR Julian Porter	?	GBR Julian Porter	GBR Claire Mole	14
GER Proton Kathrein Rallye Team	Wira Evo III		GER Hermann Gaßner sen.	GER Siegfried Schrankl	1, 12
MALAYSIA Petronas EON Racing Team	Wira 4WD		MALAYSIA Karamjit Singh	MALAYSIA Allen Oh	9, 11, 13
JPN Katsuhiko Taguchi	COL Fred Gocentas	9
MALAYSIA Roland Pickering	13
MALAYSIA Saladin Mazlan	MALAYSIA Jagdev Singh	11
KEN Johnny Hellier	Impreza WRX	?	KEN Johnny Hellier	ITA Stefano Rocca	3
POR Escudería Sur	?	POR Carlos Marques	POR Álvaro Ferreira	4
AUT Remus Racing	?	AUT Achim Mörtl	AUT Ilka Minor	6
ARG Roberto Sanchez	?	ARG Roberto Sanchez	ARG Edgardo Galindo	7
PAR Aurelino González	?	PAR Aurelino González	ARG Carlos Zarza	7
JPN Hiroshi Nishiyama		JPN Hiroshi Nishiyama	JPN Hisashi Yamaguchi	8, 14
NZ 'Stumpy'	?	NZ 'Stumpy'	NZ Daryll Judd	9
JPN Subaru Rally Team Japan	?	JPN Hideaki Miyoshi	JPN Yoshimasa Nakahara	9, 11, 13
JPN Yoshihiro Kataoka	JPN Satoshi Hayashi	9
JPN Toshihiro Arai	JPN Toshio Omizo	13
JPN Tein Sport Junior Team		JPN Shigeyuki Konishi	NZ Tony Sircombe	9, 11, 13
CHN Team 555 China	?	CHN Yong Zhou	CHN Xue Zhong Chen	11
?	CHN Tong Chun Xian	CHN Jia Li	11
AUS Les Walkden Racing	?	AUS Michael Guest	AUS David Green	13
AUS Rob Herridge	?	AUS Rob Herridge	AUS Chris Randell	13
GRC Vassilis Apostolou	Legacy RS	?	GRC Vassilis Apostolou	GRC Emmanouel Kalogeropoulos	8
KEN Azar Anwar	Cielo	?	KEN Azar Anwar	KEN Arshad Khan	3
GBR Mark Tilbury	Pulsar GTi-R	?	GBR Mark Tilbury	KEN Bill Kirk	3
GRC Vassilis Halkias	Sunny GTI-R	?	GRC Vassilis Halkias	GRC Mihalis Patrikoussis	8
KEN Jim Kahumbura	Celica GT-Four (ST205)	?	KEN Jim Kahumbura	KEN Dave Macharia	3
KEN Chitranjan Patel	Escort RS Cosworth	?	KEN Chitranjan Patel	KEN Shailen Shah	3
POR Horácio Franco	?	POR Horácio Franco	POR Tiago Mourão	4
FRA Jean-Marie Santoni	?	FRA Jean-Marie Santoni	FRA Jean-Marc Casamatta	6
ESP JLM Team	106 Rallye		ESP David Nafría	ESP F. Gallego	5
ESP Gamace MC Competición		ESP Jordi Grinyó	ESP Samira Lanaya	5
ESP Escudería La Coruña		ESP Amador Vidal Cernadas	ESP Roberto Mosquera López	5
FRA Philippe Fons	Clio Williams	?	FRA Philippe Fons	FRA Olivier Pieri	6
FRA Jean-Michel Pietri	?	FRA Jean-Michel Pietri	FRA Jean-Charles Mondoloni	6
FRA Erick Antona	?	FRA Erick Antona	FRA Jean-Charles Pianelli	6
GRC Pavlos Moschoutis	323 GT-R		GRC Pavlos Moschoutis	GRC Giórgos Kouris	8

Results and standings

Rally results

Rd.	Rally	Overall winners	Group N Cup Winners	2.0 L WC winners	Report
MON Monte Carlo	nowrap	JPN No. 4 555 Subaru WRT	GER No. 23 Mitsubishi Ralliart Germany	CZE No. 20 Škoda Motorsport	Report
JPN Subaru Impreza S5 WRC '97	JPN Mitsubishi Lancer Evo III	CZE Škoda Felicia Kit Car
ITA Piero Liatti
ITA Fabrizia Pons	URU Gustavo Trelles
ARG Jorge Del Buono	CZE Emil Triner
CZE Julius Gál
SWE Sweden	JPN No. 4 555 Subaru WRT	SWE No. 16 Mitsubishi Ralliart Sweden	SWE No. 28 Volkswagen Motorsport Sweden	Report
JPN Subaru Impreza S5 WRC '97	JPN Mitsubishi Lancer Evo III	GER Volkswagen Golf III GTi 16V
SWE Kenneth Eriksson
SWE Staffan Parmander	SWE Kenneth Bäcklund
SWE Tord Andersson	SWE Jörgen Jonasson
SWE Nicklas Jonasson
KEN Kenya	JPN No. 3 555 Subaru WRT	KEN No. 26 Johnny Hellier	AUS No. 41 Silverstone Rally Tyre Team	Report
JPN Subaru Impreza S5 WRC '97	JPN Subaru Impreza WRX	MALAYSIA Proton Satria
GBR Colin McRae
GBR Nicky Grist	KEN Johnny Hellier
ITA Stefano Rocca	AUS Michael Guest
AUS David Green
POR Portugal	JPN No. 1 Mitsubishi Ralliart	GER No. 24 Mitsubishi Ralliart Germany	GBR No. 12 S.B.G. Sport	Report
JPN Mitsubishi Lancer Evo IV	JPN Mitsubishi Lancer Evo III	GER Volkswagen Golf III Kit Car
FIN Tommi Mäkinen
FIN Seppo Harjanne	URU Gustavo Trelles
ARG Jorge Del Buono	GBR Alister McRae
GBR David Senior
ESP Spain	JPN No. 1 Mitsubishi Ralliart	GER No. 24 Mitsubishi Ralliart Germany	FRA No. 11 Peugeot Sport	Report
JPN Mitsubishi Lancer Evo IV	JPN Mitsubishi Lancer Evo III	FRA Peugeot 306 Maxi
FIN Tommi Mäkinen
FIN Seppo Harjanne	URU Gustavo Trelles
ARG Jorge Del Buono	FRA Gilles Panizzi
FRA Hervé Panizzi
FRA France	JPN No. 3 555 Subaru WRT	FRA No. 17 Jean-Marie Santoni	FRA No. 7 Peugeot Sport	Report
JPN Subaru Impreza S5 WRC '97	USA Ford Escort RS Cosworth	FRA Peugeot 306 Maxi
GBR Colin McRae
GBR Nicky Grist	FRA Jean-Marie Santoni
FRA Jean-Marc Casamatta	FRA Gilles Panizzi
FRA Hervé Panizzi
ARG Argentina	JPN No. 1 Mitsubishi Ralliart	GER No. 24 Mitsubishi Ralliart Germany	ESP No. 11 Seat Sport	Report
JPN Mitsubishi Lancer Evo IV	JPN Mitsubishi Lancer Evo III	ESP Seat Ibiza Kit Car
FIN Tommi Mäkinen
FIN Seppo Harjanne	URU Gustavo Trelles
ARG Jorge Del Buono	FIN Harri Rovanperä
FIN Voitto Silander
GRC Greece	USA No. 5 Ford Motor Co. Ltd.	GER No. 15 Mitsubishi Ralliart Germany	ESP No. 22 Seat Sport	Report
USA Ford Escort WRC	JPN Mitsubishi Lancer Evo III	ESP Seat Ibiza Kit Car Evo2
ESP Carlos Sainz
ESP Luis Moya	URU Gustavo Trelles
ARG Jorge Del Buono	ESP Oriol Gómez
ESP Marc Martí
NZL New Zealand	JPN No. 4 555 Subaru WRT	GER No. 7 Mitsubishi Ralliart Germany	ESP No. 11 Seat Sport	Report
JPN Subaru Impreza S5 WRC '97	JPN Mitsubishi Lancer Evo III	ESP Seat Ibiza Kit Car Evo2
SWE Kenneth Eriksson
SWE Staffan Parmander	URU Gustavo Trelles
ARG Jorge Del Buono	ESP Oriol Gómez
ESP Marc Martí
FIN Finland	JPN No. 1 Mitsubishi Ralliart	FIN No. 17 Mitsubishi Ralliart Finland	ESP No. 21 Seat Sport	Report
JPN Mitsubishi Lancer Evo IV	JPN Mitsubishi Carisma GT Evo IV	ESP Seat Ibiza Kit Car Evo2
FIN Tommi Mäkinen
FIN Seppo Harjanne	FIN Jouko Puhakka
FIN Keijo Eerola	FIN Harri Rovanperä
FIN Voitto Silander
INA Indonesia	USA No. 5 Ford Motor Co. Ltd.	MALAYSIA No. 19 Petronas EON Racing Team	ESP No. 11 Seat Sport	Report
USA Ford Escort WRC	MALAYSIA Proton Wira 4WD	ESP Seat Ibiza Kit Car Evo2
ESP Carlos Sainz
ESP Luis Moya	MALAYSIA Karamjit Singh
MALAYSIA Allen Oh	FIN Harri Rovanperä
FIN Voitto Silander
ITA Italy	JPN No. 3 555 Subaru WRT	ITA No. 47 Ralliart Italia	ESP No. 25 Seat Sport	Report
JPN Subaru Impreza S5 WRC '97	JPN Mitsubishi Lancer Evo V	ESP Seat Ibiza Kit Car Evo2
GBR Colin McRae
GBR Nicky Grist	ITA Mario Stagni
ITA Enrico Brazzoli	FIN Harri Rovanperä
FIN Voitto Silander
AUS Australia	JPN No. 3 555 Subaru WRT	JPN No. 25 Tein Sport Junior Team	ESP No. 16 Seat Sport	Report
JPN Subaru Impreza S5 WRC '97	JPN Subaru Impreza WRX	ESP Seat Ibiza Kit Car Evo2
GBR Colin McRae
GBR Nicky Grist	JPN Shigeyuki Konishi
NZL Tony Sircombe	FIN Harri Rovanperä
FIN Voitto Silander
GBR Britain	JPN No. 3 555 Subaru WRT	GER No. 29 Mitsubishi Ralliart Germany	ESP No. 27 Seat Sport	Report
JPN Subaru Impreza S5 WRC '97	JPN Mitsubishi Lancer Evo III	ESP Seat Ibiza Kit Car Evo2
GBR Colin McRae
GBR Nicky Grist	ESP Luis Climent
ESP Álex Romaní	FIN Harri Rovanperä
FIN Voitto Silander
Source:

Drivers' championship

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

Manufacturers' championship

Pos.	Manufacturer	No.	MON
MON	SWE
SWE	KEN
KEN	POR
POR	ESP
ESP	FRA
FRA	ARG
ARG	GRE
GRE	NZL
NZL	FIN
FIN	INA
INA	ITA
ITA	AUS
AUS	GBR
GBR	Points	1	114	2	91	3	86	Pos.	Manufacturer	No.	MON
MON	SWE
SWE	KEN
KEN	POR
POR	ESP
ESP	FRA
FRA	ARG
ARG	GRE
GRE	NZL
NZL	FIN
FIN	INA
INA	ITA
ITA	AUS
AUS	GBR
GBR	Points
JPN 555 Subaru World Rally Team	3	Ret	4	1	Ret	4	1	2	Ret	Ret	Ret	Ret	1	1	1
4	1	1	Ret	Ret	2	5	3	Ret	1	Ret	3	2	Ret	Ret
USA Ford Motor Co	5	2	2	Ret	Ret	10	2	Ret	1	2	Ret	1	4	Ret	3
6	4	6	4	3	Ret	9	Ret	2	3	2	2	6	Ret	2
JPN Team Mitsubishi Ralliart	1	3	3	Ret	1	1	Ret	1	3	Ret	1	Ret	3	2	6
2	5	Ret	2	Ret	8	8	Ret	4	4	7	4	Ret	4	4
Sources:

Group N Cup

Pos.	Driver	MON
MON	SWE
SWE	KEN
KEN	POR
POR	ESP
ESP	FRA
FRA	ARG
ARG	GRE
GRE	NZL
NZL	FIN
FIN	INA
INA	ITA
ITA	AUS
AUS	GBR
GBR	Pts	1	2	4	6	12	13	14	23	Pos.	Driver	MON
MON	SWE
SWE	KEN
KEN	POR
POR	ESP
ESP	FRA
FRA	ARG
ARG	GRE
GRE	NZL
NZL	FIN
FIN	INA
INA	ITA
ITA	AUS
AUS	GBR
GBR	Pts
URU Gustavo Trelles	1	4		1	1		1	1	1	4		Ret			84
Spain Luís Climent				3	Ret	Ret		2		7			Ret	1	26
AUT Manfred Stohl	3	6		2	5		3			6		4			26
Japan Shigeyuki Konishi									Ret		2		1		21
Malaysia Karamjit Singh									3		1		Ret	4	21
SWE Kenneth Bäcklund		1													13
Kenya Johnny Hellier			1												13
France Jean-Marie Santoni						1									13
Finland Jouko Puhakka										1					13
ITA Mario Stagni												1			13
New Zealand Reece Jones									2				Ret	3	13
Japan Hideaki Miyoshi									Ret		3		3		10
Germany Armin Kremer	2														8
Sweden Stig-Olov Walfridsson		2													8
Poland Sobiesław Zasada			2												8
Italy Antonello Fidanza					2										8
France Jacques Andreani						2									8
ARG Roberto Sanchez							2								8
Finland Olli Harkki										2				Ret	8
Italy Luca Baldini												2			8
Japan Yoshihiro Kataoka									Ret		Ret		2		8
GBR Jeremy Easson														2	8
Finland Juha Kangas		3								5					7
KEN Anwar Azar			3												5
Spain David Nafría					3										5
AUT Achim Mörtl						3									5
GRE Pavlos Moschoutis								3							5
Finland Marko Ipatti										3					5
Slovenia Boris Popovič												3			5

Events

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

Rally Name	Dates Run	Podium Drivers (Finishing Time)	Podium Cars
Monaco Monte Carlo Rally	19 January–22 January
Sweden Swedish Rally	7 February–10 February
Kenya Safari Rally	1 March–3 March
Portugal Rally Portugal	23 March–26 March
Spain Rally Catalunya	14 April–16 April
France Tour de Corse	5 May–7 May
Argentina Rally Argentina	22 May–24 May
Greece Acropolis Rally	8 June–10 June
New Zealand Rally New Zealand	2 August–5 August
Finland Rally Finland	29 August–31 August
Indonesia Rally Indonesia	19 September–21 September
Italy Rally Sanremo	13 October–15 October
Australia Rally Australia	30 October–2 November
Great Britain RAC Rally	23 November–25 November
Source:

References

"WRC 1997". [[eWRC-results.com]].
"1997 WRC calendar". Jonkka's World Rally Archive.
"Season 1997 rally - eWRC-results".
"Season 1997 – Championship standings". Jonkka's World Rally Archive.
"FIA World Rally Championship Standings 1997". Motorsport Stats.

Info: Wikipedia Source

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