The 1997 FIA GT Championship was the inaugural season of FIA GT Championship, an auto racing series endorsed by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA) and organized by the Stéphane Ratel Organisation (SRO). The FIA GT Championship replaced the BPR Global GT Series which had been held races and championships from 1994 to 1996 after the series was promoted by the FIA, while Stéphane Ratel took over as promoter and organizer of the new championship, replaced the former BPR Organisation after the departure of partners Jürgen Barth and Patrick Peter. The races featured grand touring cars conforming to two categories of regulations, GT1 and GT2, and awarded driver and team championships in each category. The season began on 13 April 1997 and ended on 26 October 1997 after 11 rounds, visiting Europe, Japan, and the United States.

Bernd Schneider and his AMG Mercedes team won the GT1 Drivers' and Teams' Championships, while Justin Bell and Viper Team Oreca secured the GT2 titles.

Schedule For the new international championship, much of the calendar was new. The Nürburgring, Spa, Silverstone, and Suzuka's endurance event were all retained, but much of the European calendar was new to the series. Donington Park replaced Brands Hatch as the second British round, while Hockenheimring was added as a second German event. Mugello took over from Monza in Italy, and A1-Ring also brought the series to Austria for the first time. A street circuit in Helsinki was unique to the calendar, and served as the first race of a shorter three-hour duration. Two American events of a three-hour duration replaced the former season-ending fly-away race in China, visiting Sebring and Laguna Seca.

Rnd Race Circuit Date 1 Hockenheim 4 Hours Hockenheimring, Hockenheim, Germany 13 April 2 British Empire Trophy Silverstone Circuit, Silverstone, United Kingdom 11 May 3 Helsinki 3 Hours Helsinki Thunder, Helsinki, Finland 25 May 4 Nürburgring 4 Hours Nürburgring, Nürburg, Germany 29 June 5 Spa 4 Hours Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps, Spa, Belgium 20 July 6 Zeltweg 4 Hours A1-Ring, Spielberg, Austria 3 August 7 POKKA Suzuka 1000 km Suzuka Circuit, Suzuka, Japan 24 August 8 Donington 4 Hours Donington Park, Leicestershire, United Kingdom 14 September 9 Mugello 4 Hours Mugello Circuit, Scarperia e San Piero, Italy 28 September 10 Sebring 3 Hours Sebring International Raceway, Florida, United States 18 October 11 Laguna Seca 3 Hours Laguna Seca Raceway, California, United States 26 OctoberSource:

Entries GT1 Entrant Car Engine Tyre Drivers Rounds Gulf Team Davidoff McLaren F1 GTR BMW S70/2 6.0 L V12 1 Andrew Gilbert-Scott 1–7 Ray Bellm 1–2 Pierre-Henri Raphanel 2–3 Jean-Marc Gounon 3 Anders Olofsson 4–5, 8–11 Geoff Lees 6–11 John Nielsen 7 2 Thomas Bscher 1–7, 9–11 John Nielsen 1–7, 9–11 3 Pierre-Henri Raphanel 1–2, 4–11 Jean-Marc Gounon 1–2, 4–5, 7–11 Anders Olofsson 6–7 David Price Racing Panoz GTR-1 Ford-Roush 6.0 L V8 4 Andy Wallace 1–2, 4–10 James Weaver 1–2, 4–8 Butch Leitzinger 7 Olivier Grouillard 9–11 Perry McCarthy 11 5 David Brabham 1–2, 4–11 Perry McCarthy 1–2, 4–10 Olivier Grouillard 7 Andy Wallace 11 Porsche AG Porsche 911 GT1Porsche 911 GT1 Evo Porsche 3.2 L Turbo Flat-6 6 Thierry Boutsen 1–2, 4–11 Hans-Joachim Stuck 1–2, 4–5, 7–8, 10–11 Bob Wollek 6–7 Ralf Kelleners 9 7 Yannick Dalmas 4–11 Bob Wollek 4–5, 8–11 Thierry Boutsen 5 Allan McNish 6–7 Pedro Lamy 7 47 Ralf Kelleners 11 Allan McNish 11 Team BMW Motorsport McLaren F1 GTR BMW S70/2 6.0 L V12 8 Steve Soper All JJ Lehto 1–10 Roberto Ravaglia 11 9 Peter Kox All Roberto Ravaglia 1–10 JJ Lehto 11 AMG-Mercedes Mercedes-Benz CLK GTR Mercedes-Benz GT112 6.0 L V12 10 Alessandro Nannini All Marcel Tiemann 1–2, 4–11 Klaus Ludwig 3 Bernd Schneider 7 11 Bernd Schneider All Alexander Wurz 1–3, 5–9 Klaus Ludwig 4, 10–11 Aguri Suzuki 7 12 Bernd Mayländer 4, 6–9 Klaus Ludwig 4–9 Ralf Schumacher 5 Bernd Schneider 6 Alexander Wurz 10–11 Greg Moore 10–11 GT1 Lotus Racing Franck Muller Lotus GT1 Chevrolet LT5 6.0 L V8 13 Fabien Giroix 1–2, 4–6, 8, 10–11 Jean-Denis Délétraz 1–2, 4–6, 8, 10–11 14 Jan Lammers 1–2, 4–6, 8–11 Mike Hezemans 1–2, 4–6, 8–11 Max Angelelli 10–11 GT1 Lotus Racing Franck Muller First Racing Project 15 Maurizio Sandro Sala 1–2 Jérôme Policand 1, 5, 7 Ratanakul Prutirat 2–5, 7 Fabien Giroix 3, 7 Jean-Denis Délétraz 3 Alexander Grau 4 Roock Racing Porsche 911 GT1 Porsche 3.2 L Turbo Flat-6 16 Ralf Kelleners 1–7 Yannick Dalmas 1–2 Stéphane Ortelli 3–5 Pedro Chaves 4–6 Christophe Bouchut 7 Carl Rosenblad 7 JB Racing Porsche 911 GT1 Porsche 3.2 L Turbo Flat-6 17 Emmanuel Collard 1–2, 4–7, 9–11 Jürgen von Gartzen 1–2, 4–5 Mauro Baldi 6–7, 9–11 Alain Ferté 7 Schübel Rennsport Porsche 911 GT1 Porsche 3.2 L Turbo Flat-6 18 Pedro Lamy 1–2 Bob Wollek 1–2 Martin Veyhle Racing McLaren F1 GTRLotus GT1 BMW S70/2 6.1 L V12Lotus Type-918 3.5 L Turbo V8 19 Alexander Grau 1–2, 5–6, 8–9 Gerd Ruch 1–2 Alexander Burgstaller 1 Kurt Thiim 5–6 Marco Werner 8–9 DAMS Panoz Panoz GTR-1 Ford-Roush 6.0 L V8 20 Éric Bernard 1–2, 4–11 Franck Lagorce 1–2, 4–11 Kremer Racing Porsche 911 GT1 Porsche 3.2 L Turbo Flat-6 21 Christophe Bouchut 1, 4–5, 8–9 Carl Rosenblad 1, 4–5, 8–9 Klaus Ludwig 1 BMS Scuderia Italia Porsche 911 GT1 Porsche 3.2 L Turbo Flat-6 22 Pierluigi Martini 1–6, 8–9 Christian Pescatori 1–6, 8–9 GBF UK Ltd. Lotus GT1 Lotus Type-918 3.5 L Turbo V8 23 Mimmo Schiattarella 1–4, 6, 8–9 Luca Badoer 1–4, 6, 8–9 Mauro Martini 1 24 Andrea Boldrini 2–4, 6 Mauro Martini 2–3 Martin Stretton 4 Ralf Kalaschek 6, 8–9 Max Angelelli 8–9 Jason Yeomans 8 Davide Campana 9 BBA Compétition McLaren F1 GTR BMW S70/2 6.1 L V12 25 Jean-Luc Maury-Laribière 1, 4–5, 7 Olivier Thévenin 1 David Velay 4–5 Bernard Chauvin 5 Jun Harada 7 Tomiko Yoshikawa 7 Konrad Motorsport Porsche 911 GT1 Porsche 3.2 L Turbo Flat-6 26 Mauro Baldi 2–5 Franz Konrad 2–3 Max Angelelli 3, 5 Gerd Ruch 4 Ivan Capelli 4 Parabolica Motorsport McLaren F1 GTR BMW S70/2 6.0 L V12 27 Chris Goodwin 2, 4–9, 11 Gary Ayles 2, 4–9, 11 Stefan Johansson 7 Newcastle United Lister Lister Storm GTL Jaguar 7.0 L V12 29 Eric van de Poele 10–11 Julian Bailey 10–11 G-Force Strandell Porsche 911 GT1 Porsche 3.2 L Turbo Flat-6 30 Geoff Lister 8, 10–11 John Greasley 8, 10–11 Magnus Wallinder 8, 10–11 Karl Augustin Porsche 911 GT2 Evo Porsche 3.6 L Turbo Flat-6 31 Stefano Buttiero 1–6, 8–9 Horst Felbermayr 1–3, 5–6, 8–9 Karl Augustin 1–3 Hans-Jörg Hofer 4–5, 9 Stefan Roitmayer 4 Horst Felbermayr Jr. 6, 8 Graham Racing Venturi 600LM Renault PRV 3.0 L Turbo V6 32 Éric Graham 1 David Velay 1 IDC Ootsukakagu SARD SARD MC8-R Toyota 1UZ-FE 4.0 L Turbo V8 39 Tatsuya Tanigawa 7 Yuji Tachikawa 7 Yasutaki Hinoi 7 Team Menicon SARD 46 Masami Kageyama 7 Tetsuya Tanaka 7 Team Lark McLaren McLaren F1 GTR BMW S70/2 6.0 L V12 44 Keiichi Tsuchiya 7 Masanori Sekiya 7 Akihiko Nakaya 7Sources:

GT2