1997 World Rally Championship

The 1997 World Rally Championship was the 25th season of the FIA World Rally Championship. The season saw many changes in the championship. Most notably, 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 the few years that follow, the Championship saw the added presence of WRC cars from companies such as Hyundai, Seat, Citroen, and Peugeot, who would all compete under WRC regulations without having to manufacture equivalent specialised road cars for public sale. Both Ford and Subaru switched to WRC in 1997, except Mitsubishi who 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.

1997 World Rally Championship
World Drivers' Champion:
Tommi Mäkinen
World Manufacturers' Champion:
Subaru
Previous: 1996 Next: 1998
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Events also became shorter and more compact, event rotation system used in previous three seasons was dropped and registered manufacturers were required to contest the expanded 14 event calendar 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. 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.

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.

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 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
11 Ed Ordynski 13
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 Ltd 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
Major entries not registered as manufacturers
Team Constructor Car Drivers Rounds
R.A.S. 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
Bo-Be Plastindustri AB 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
Ford Motor Hellas 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 ST205 Freddy Loix 1, 4, 8, 10, 13
Isolde Holderied 1
Henrik Lundgaard 1
Thomas Rådström 2, 8
Tomas Jansson 2, 10
Marcus Grönholm 2, 4, 7
Mats Thorszelius 2
Ian Duncan 3
Neal Bates 9
Fujimoto Yoshio 11, 13
H.F. Grifone SRL Raúl Sufan 4–5, 7–13
Didier Auriol 7
Andrea Aghini 12
Pierlorenzo Zanchi 12
Mitsubishi Ralliart Germany Mitsubishi Lancer Evo III
Lancer Evo IV		 Gustavo Trelles 1–2, 4–5, 7–10, 12
Manfred Stohl 1–2, 4–5, 7, 10, 12
Luis Climent 4–6, 8, 10, 13–14
Kris Rosenberger 12, 14
Mitsubishi Ralliart Sweden Kenneth Bäcklund 2
Stig-Olov Walfridson 2
Mitsubishi Ralliart Finland Juha Kangas 2, 10
Jouko Puhakka 10
Ralliart New Zealand Geoff Argyle 9
Reece Jones 9
Marty Roestenburg 9
Craig Marshall 9
Renault Team Sweden Renault Mégane Maxi Jonas Kruse 2, 10
Renault Gest Galp José Carlos Macedo 4
Pedro Azeredo 4
Renault Elf Team Raphael Sperrer 4–5, 10, 12
Renault Sport España Miguel Martínez 5
Société Diac Philippe Bugalski 6
Serge Jordan 6
Claude Balesi 6
Italian Promotor Sport Paolo Andreucci 12
Corrado Fontana 12
Renault Dealer Rallying UK Robbie Head 14
Martin Rowe 14
Subaru Allstars Subaru Impreza WRC 97 Frédéric Dor 12
Impreza 555 3–4, 8–10
Rui Madeira 4–5
Yukihiko Sakurai 4, 8, 14
A.R.T. Engineering Angelo Medeghini 5, 10
Andrea Navarra 8, 12, 14
Massimo Ercolani 12
Subaru Rally Team Australia Peter 'Possum' Bourne 9, 13
Greg Graham 9, 13
Subaru Rally Team Japan Yoshihiro Kataoka 9
Hideaki Miyoshi 9, 11, 13
Toshihiro Arai 13
Peugeot Esso Competição Peugeot 306 Maxi Adruzilo Lopes 4
Peugeot Sport François Delecour 5–6
Gilles Panizzi 5–6
Peugeot Sport España Jaime Azcona 5

Results and standings

Drivers' championship
Pos. Driver MON
 SWE
 KEN
 POR
 ESP
 FRA
 ARG
 GRE
 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
 GRE
 NZL
 FIN
 INA
 ITA
 AUS
 GBR
  Pts 
Key
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)
Disqualified (DSQ)
White Did not start (DNS)
Cancelled (C)
Blank Withdrew entry from
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 91
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
Key
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)
Disqualified (DSQ)
White Did not start (DNS)
Cancelled (C)
Blank Withdrew entry from
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
Monte Carlo Rally19 January–22 January
  1. Piero Liatti (4h:26m:58s)
  2. Carlos Sainz (4h:27m:53s)
  3. Tommi Mäkinen (4h:29m:29s)
  1. Subaru Impreza WRC 97
  2. Ford Escort WRC
  3. Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution IV
Swedish Rally7 February–10 February
  1. Kenneth Eriksson (3h:51m:49s)
  2. Carlos Sainz (3h:52m:05s)
  3. Tommi Mäkinen (3h:52m:15s)
  1. Subaru Impreza WRC 97
  2. Ford Escort WRC
  3. Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution IV
Safari Rally1 March–3 March
  1. Colin McRae (11h:29m:00s)
  2. Richard Burns (11h:36m:04s)
  3. Ian Duncan (11h:40m:18s)
  1. Subaru Impreza WRC 97
  2. Mitsubishi Carisma GT Evolution IV
  3. Toyota Celica GT-Four ST205
Rally Portugal23 March–26 March
  1. Tommi Mäkinen (4h:53m:01s)
  2. Freddy Loix (4h:57m:06s)
  3. Armin Schwarz (4h:59m:34s)
  1. Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution IV
  2. Toyota Celica GT-Four ST205
  3. Ford Escort WRC
Rally Catalunya14 April–16 April
  1. Tommi Mäkinen (4h:08m:46s)
  2. Piero Liatti (4h:08m:53s)
  3. Gilles Panizzi (4h:11m:55s)
  1. Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution IV
  2. Subaru Impreza WRC 97
  3. Peugeot 306 Maxi
Tour de Corse5 May–7 May
  1. Colin McRae (4h:31m:08s)
  2. Carlos Sainz (4h:31m:16s)
  3. Gilles Panizzi (4h:31m:46s)
  1. Subaru Impreza WRC 97
  2. Ford Escort WRC
  3. Peugeot 306 Maxi
Rally Argentina22 May–24 May
  1. Tommi Mäkinen (4h:25m:38s)
  2. Colin McRae (4h:26m:39s)
  3. Kenneth Eriksson (4h:30m:06s)
  1. Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution IV
  2. Subaru Impreza WRC 97
  3. Subaru Impreza WRC 97
Acropolis Rally8 June–10 June
  1. Carlos Sainz (4h:56m:24s)
  2. Juha Kankkunen (4h:56m:41s)
  3. Tommi Mäkinen (5h:01m:27s)
  1. Ford Escort WRC
  2. Ford Escort WRC
  3. Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution IV
Rally New Zealand2 August–5 August
  1. Kenneth Eriksson (4h:14m:11s)
  2. Carlos Sainz (4h:14m:24s)
  3. Juha Kankkunen (4h:14m:30s)
  1. Subaru Impreza WRC 97
  2. Ford Escort WRC
  3. Ford Escort WRC
Rally Finland29 August–31 August
  1. Tommi Mäkinen (3h:16m:18s)
  2. Juha Kankkunen (3h:16m:25s)
  3. Jarmo Kytölehto (3h:18m:18s)
  1. Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution IV
  2. Ford Escort WRC
  3. Ford Escort WRC
Rally Indonesia19 September–21 September
  1. Carlos Sainz (4h:37m:30s)
  2. Juha Kankkunen (4h:37m:46s)
  3. Kenneth Eriksson (4h:38m:49s)
  1. Ford Escort WRC
  2. Ford Escort WRC
  3. Subaru Impreza WRC 97
Rally Sanremo13 October–15 October
  1. Colin McRae (4h:08m:25s)
  2. Piero Liatti (4h:08m:31s)
  3. Tommi Mäkinen (4h:08m:37s)
  1. Subaru Impreza WRC 97
  2. Subaru Impreza WRC 97
  3. Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution IV
Rally Australia30 October–2 November
  1. Colin McRae (4h:05m:31s)
  2. Tommi Mäkinen (4h:05m:37s)
  3. Didier Auriol (4h:05m:52s)
  1. Subaru Impreza WRC 97
  2. Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution IV
  3. Toyota Corolla WRC
RAC Rally23 November–25 November
  1. Colin McRae (3h:54m:31s)
  2. Juha Kankkunen (3h:57m:18s)
  3. Carlos Sainz (3h:58m:24s)
  1. Subaru Impreza WRC 97
  2. Ford Escort WRC
  3. Ford Escort WRC
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