1997 F1 Challenge Championship season

The 1997 F1 Challenge Championship season was the first season of F1 Challenge Championship. It was won by Daniel Melrose, driving for Jordan, while Williams took the constructors title. The online F1CC series was formed mainly for F1RWRS drivers to have something to do away from the races, with guest drivers and a select few who took up the challenge of discovering the server to have a chance of racing against the big boys.

Teams and Drivers

Three categories

Due to the nature of the series, previous racing experience wasn't necessary. However, the championship was created mainly for F1RWRS drivers, specifically by Jeroen Krautmeir. With a reasonable number of drivers accepting, the names on the entry list were impressive: Daniel Melrose, James Davies, Nathanael Spencer, Damon Cannon, Thomas De Bock, Hagane Shizuka, Giovanni Roda, Phoenix McAllister, Pippa Mann, Douglas Mann, David Koczo, Tristan Jung and Darren Older Jr all accepting the offer and competing in the first race weekend.

More drivers would be invited to the series to make up an even more interesting grid including drivers that were not competing in the F1RWRS at the time, such as John Zimmer, who had just retired from racing, 1997 World Champion Jack Christopherson and GT racer Warren Hughes.

Finally, with places left on the grid, Krautmeir had the idea of offering the remaining seats to the average Joes of the world. This wouldn't be easy though. The spots would be awarded on a first-come-first-served basis to the people who could bypass the virtual obstacles to connect to the protected server used to run the series. The five available spots went to James Chapman, Ed Kevin (not related to Edward Kevin), Mitch Herrtz, Emil Klok and Miguel Zapatero.

Chart

Team	Constructor	Chassis	Engine	#	Race Drivers	Rounds
Danka Yamaha Arrows	Arrows	A18	Yamaha	0	Darren Older Jr	All
				2	Damon Cannon	All
Rothmans Williams Renault	Williams	FW19	Renault	3	Douglas Mann	All
				4	Barii Mori	3-17
Scuderia Ferrari Marlboro	Ferrari	F310B	Ferrari	5	Miguel Zapatero	All
				6	Nick Nurmester	2-17
Mild Seven Benetton Renault	Benetton	B197	Renault	7	Hagane Shizuka	All
				8	James Chapman	All
West McLaren Mercedes	McLaren	MP4/12	Mercedes	9	Phoenix McAllister	All
				10	Ed Kevin	All
Benson & Hedges Jordan Peugeot	Jordan	197	Peugeot	11	Daniel Melrose	All
				12	Jack Christopherson	All
Prost Gauloises Blondes	Prost	JS45	Mugen-Honda	14	Jeroen Krautmeir	All
				15	James Davies	All
Red Bull Sauber Petronas	Sauber	C16	Petronas	16	John Zimmer	All
				17	Thomas De Bock	All
PIAA Tyrrell Ford	Tyrrell	025	Ford	18	Mitch Herrtz	All
				19	Emil Klok	All
Minardi Team	Minardi	M197	Hart	20	Nathanael Spencer	All
				21	Tristan Jung	All
HSBC Malaysia Stewart Ford	Stewart	SF01	Ford	22	David Koczo	All
				23	Warren Hughes	All
MasterCard Lola F1 Team	Lola	T97/30	Ford	24	Giovanni Roda	All
				25	Pippa Mann	All

Calendar

Races

Race	Track	Pole position	Winning driver	Winning constructor
Australian Grand Prix	Melbourne Grand Prix Circuit	Douglas Mann	Douglas Mann	Williams-Renault
Brazilian Grand Prix	Autódromo José Carlos Pace	Miguel Zapatero	Darren Older Jr	Arrows-Yamaha
Argentine Grand Prix	Autódromo Oscar Alfredo Gálvez	David Koczo	Daniel Melrose	Jordan-Peugeot
San Marino Grand Prix	Autodromo Enzo e Dino Ferrari	Douglas Mann	Barii Mori	Williams-Renault
Monaco Grand Prix	Circuit de Monaco	Mitch Herrtz	Damon Cannon	Arrows-Yamaha
Spanish Grand Prix	Circuit de Catalunya	Miguel Zapatero	Damon Cannon	Arrows-Yamaha
Canadian Grand Prix	Circuit Gilles Villeneuve	Miguel Zapatero	Ed Kevin	McLaren-Mercedes
French Grand Prix	Circuit de Nevers Magny-Cours	Hagane Shizuka	Damon Cannon	Arrows-Yamaha
British Grand Prix	Silverstone Circuit	Daniel Melrose	Douglas Mann	Williams-Renault
German Grand Prix	Hockenheimring	Douglas Mann	Barii Mori	Williams-Renault
Hungarian Grand Prix	Hungaroring	Miguel Zapatero	Damon Cannon	Arrows-Yamaha
Belgian Grand Prix	Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps	Damon Cannon	Jeroen Krautmeir	Prost-Mugen-Honda
Italian Grand Prix	Autodromo Nazionale Monza	Hagane Shizuka	Douglas Mann	Williams-Renault
Austrian Grand Prix	A-1 Ring	Daniel Melrose	Daniel Melrose	Jordan-Peugeot
Luxembourg Grand Prix	Nürburgring	Damon Cannon	Damon Cannon	Arrows-Yamaha
Japanese Grand Prix	Suzuka Circuit	Damon Cannon	Douglas Mann	Williams-Renault
European Grand Prix	Circuito Permanente de Jerez	Jack Christopherson	Daniel Melrose	Jordan-Peugeot

Championship standings

Drivers

Pos	Driver	AUS	BRA	ARG	SMR	MON	ESP	CAN	FRA	GBR	GER	HUN	BEL	ITA	AUT	LUX	JPN	EUR	Pts
1	Daniel Melrose	2	Ret	1	4	3	6	Ret	2	3	4	Ret	8	2	1	2	2	1	75
2	Douglas Mann	1	Ret	3	Ret	4	4	5	3	1	Ret	2	Ret	1	4	Ret	1	2	71
3	Damon Cannon	Ret	Ret	Ret	Ret	1	1	6	1	2	Ret	1	Ret	3	2	1	Ret	6	68
4	Barii Mori			11	1	Ret	Ret	7	Ret	Ret	1	3	Ret	5	10	3	Ret	Ret	30
5	Hagane Shizuka	Ret	Ret	4	5	Ret	13	4	4	Ret	3	5	Ret	6	Ret	Ret	8	5	20
6	Phoenix McAllister	7	Ret	Ret	6	8	Ret	2	Ret	5	Ret	4	Ret	Ret	3	Ret	4	Ret	19
7	Jeroen Krautmeir	3	Ret	Ret	8	12	Ret	Ret	9	7	7	Ret	1	Ret	Ret	Ret	5	7	16
8	Miguel Zapatero	Ret	2	10	3	Ret	2	Ret	Ret	Ret	Ret	Ret	Ret	Ret	12	7	Ret	Ret	16
9	Thomas De Bock	4	Ret	6	7	Ret	3	3	Ret	10	9	8	Ret	8	Ret	4	11	8	15
10	Nick Nurmester		Ret	5	2	Ret	Ret	Ret	7	4	Ret	Ret	6	Ret	Ret	6	9	Ret	13
11	Ed Kevin	Ret	6	Ret	Ret	11	8	1	10	8	Ret	7	Ret	Ret	7	Ret	6	Ret	12
12	James Chapman	6	Ret	Ret	Ret	Ret	10	Ret	Ret	9	2	14	5	Ret	8	8	10	4	12
13	Darren Older Jr	Ret	1	7	Ret	Ret	Ret	10	6	Ret	Ret	Ret	7	Ret	Ret	9	Ret	Ret	11
14	Jack Christopherson	11	8	Ret	Ret	Ret	15	Ret	Ret	Ret	5	Ret	Ret	Ret	6	Ret	3	3	11
15	James Davies	Ret	5	12	Ret	7	16	9	Ret	Ret	8	10	2	Ret	5	10	Ret	Ret	10
16	Mitch Herrtz	Ret	4	Ret	10	Ret	14	Ret	Ret	Ret	Ret	13	3	Ret	11	Ret	Ret	9	7
17	Emil Klok	8	11	Ret	9	6	9	Ret	Ret	Ret	Ret	Ret	4	4	Ret	Ret	Ret	Ret	7
18	Pippa Mann	Ret	Ret	2	Ret	10	Ret	11	11	Ret	10	Ret	Ret	Ret	15	11	14	Ret	6
19	Nathanael Spencer	10	Ret	13	11	2	12	Ret	Ret	Ret	Ret	Ret	Ret	Ret	Ret	Ret	12	Ret	6
20	John Zimmer	5	7	Ret	Ret	Ret	Ret	Ret	Ret	6	6	9	Ret	10	9	5	7	11	6
21	David Koczo	12	3	Ret	Ret	Ret	Ret	8	8	Ret	Ret	6	Ret	Ret	Ret	Ret	Ret	Ret	5
22	Warren Hughes	9	Ret	9	Ret	5	7	Ret	5	Ret	Ret	12	Ret	7	13	Ret	13	Ret	4
23	Tristan Jung	Ret	10	8	Ret	9	5	Ret	Ret	Ret	Ret	11	Ret	9	14	Ret	Ret	10	2
24	Giovanni Roda	Ret	9	Ret	Ret	Ret	11	12	Ret	11	11	Ret	Ret	Ret	16	12	15	Ret	0

Constructors

Pos	Constructor	#	AUS	BRA	ARG	SMR	MON	ESP	CAN	FRA	GBR	GER	HUN	BEL	ITA	AUT	LUX	JPN	EUR	Points
1	Williams-Renault	3	1	Ret	3	Ret	4	4	5	3	1	Ret	2	Ret	1	4	Ret	1	2	101
		4			11	1	Ret	Ret	7	Ret	Ret	1	3	Ret	5	10	3	Ret	Ret
2	Jordan-Peugeot	11	2	Ret	1	4	3	6	Ret	2	3	4	Ret	8	2	1	2	2	1	86
		12	11	8	Ret	Ret	Ret	15	Ret	Ret	Ret	5	Ret	Ret	Ret	6	Ret	3	3
3	Arrows-Yamaha	0	Ret	1	7	Ret	Ret	Ret	10	6	Ret	Ret	Ret	7	Ret	Ret	9	Ret	Ret	79
		2	Ret	Ret	Ret	Ret	1	1	6	1	2	Ret	1	Ret	3	2	1	Ret	6
4	Benetton-Renault	7	Ret	Ret	4	5	Ret	13	4	4	Ret	3	5	Ret	6	Ret	Ret	8	5	32
		8	6	Ret	Ret	Ret	Ret	10	Ret	Ret	9	2	14	5	Ret	8	8	10	4
5	McLaren-Mercedes	9	7	Ret	Ret	6	8	Ret	2	Ret	5	Ret	4	Ret	Ret	3	Ret	4	Ret	31
		10	Ret	6	Ret	Ret	11	8	1	10	8	Ret	7	Ret	Ret	7	Ret	6	Ret
6	Ferrari	5	Ret	2	10	3	Ret	2	Ret	Ret	Ret	Ret	Ret	Ret	Ret	12	7	Ret	Ret	29
		6		Ret	5	2	Ret	Ret	Ret	7	4	Ret	Ret	6	Ret	Ret	6	9	Ret
7	Prost-Mugen-Honda	14	3	Ret	Ret	8	12	Ret	Ret	9	7	7	Ret	1	Ret	Ret	Ret	5	7	26
		15	Ret	5	12	Ret	7	16	9	Ret	Ret	8	10	2	Ret	5	10	Ret	Ret
8	Sauber-Petronas	16	5	7	Ret	Ret	Ret	Ret	Ret	Ret	6	6	9	Ret	10	9	5	7	11	21
		17	4	Ret	6	7	Ret	3	3	Ret	10	9	8	Ret	8	Ret	4	11	8
9	Tyrrell-Ford	18	Ret	4	Ret	10	Ret	14	Ret	Ret	Ret	Ret	13	3	Ret	11	Ret	Ret	9	14
		19	8	11	Ret	9	6	9	Ret	Ret	Ret	Ret	Ret	4	4	Ret	Ret	Ret	Ret
10	Stewart-Ford	22	12	3	Ret	Ret	Ret	Ret	8	8	Ret	Ret	6	Ret	Ret	Ret	Ret	Ret	Ret	9
		23	9	Ret	9	Ret	5	7	Ret	5	Ret	Ret	12	Ret	7	13	Ret	13	Ret
11	Minardi-Hart	20	10	Ret	13	11	2	12	Ret	Ret	Ret	Ret	Ret	Ret	Ret	Ret	Ret	12	Ret	8
		21	Ret	10	8	Ret	9	5	Ret	Ret	Ret	Ret	11	Ret	9	14	Ret	Ret	10
12	Lola-Ford	24	Ret	9	Ret	Ret	Ret	11	12	Ret	11	11	Ret	Ret	Ret	16	12	15	Ret	6
		25	Ret	Ret	2	Ret	10	Ret	11	11	Ret	10	Ret	Ret	Ret	15	11	14	Ret