1997 Formula 1 Rejects Grand Prix 2 Championship season
From Formula Rejects Wiki
The 1997 Formula 1 Rejects Grand Prix 2 Championship season is the fourth season of the F1RGP2C. The season is based upon the 1997 F1 season.
Contents
Drivers and teams
| Team | Constructor | Chassis | Engine | Seat holder | # | Race Drivers | Rounds | Test/Reserve Drivers |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 Rothmans Williams Renault
|
Williams | FW19 | Renault RS9 3.0 V10 |  Prince Walik Herrmann Mann
|
1 |  Daniel Moreno
|
1 |  Clivio Durand
|
| 2 |  Pieter Kickert
|
1 | ||||||
 Mild Seven Benetton Renault
|
Benetton | B197 | Renault RS9 3.0 V10 |  John Zimmer
|
3 | Andrew Spokes
|
1 | None |
| 4 | John Zimmer
|
1 | ||||||
| Scuderia Ferrari Marlboro
|
Ferrari | F310B | Ferrari 046 3.0 V10 | Andreas Stefano
|
5 | Tom Douglas
|
1 | None |
| 6 |  Kazuhiko Takagi
|
1 | ||||||
| West McLaren Mercedes
|
McLaren | MP4/12 | Mercedes FO 110/3 3.0 V10 | Don Rennis
|
7 | James Davies
|
1 | None |
| 8 |  Rory McAllister
|
1 | ||||||
 Benson & Hedges Jordan Peugeot
|
Jordan | 197 | Peugeot A14 EV5 3.0 V10 | Leonhard von Gottorp
|
9 | Leonhard von Gottorp
|
1 | None |
| 10 | Damon Cannon
|
1 | ||||||
 Red Bull Sauber Petronas
|
Sauber | C16 | Petronas SPE-01 3.0 V10 |  Chris Forbes
|
11 |  Pablo da Silva
|
1 | Giovanni Roda
|
| 12 |  Bernhard Pech
|
1 | ||||||
| Ligier Gauloises Blondes
|
Ligier | JS45 | Mugen-Honda MF-301 HA 3.0 V10 | Dennis Mignolet
|
14 |  Masta Valsattis
|
1 | Martin McFry
|
| 15 | Reiko Megumi
|
1 | ||||||
| Minardi Team
|
Minardi | M197 | Hart 830 AV7 3.0 V8 | Masta Valsattis
|
16 | Gio van Dycke
|
1 | 25px Ivan Lopez |
| 17 |  Miko Fäkkinen
|
1 | ||||||
| PIAA Gauthier Team Tyrrell Ford
|
Tyrrell | 025 | Ford EDM4 3.0 V8 | Guillaume Gauthier
|
18 | Lawrence Tucker
|
1-5 | None |
| Martin McFry
|
6- | |||||||
| 19 | Samael Meerwick
|
1-5 | ||||||
| Robert Anderson
|
6- | |||||||
| Danka von Hegel Arrows Yamaha
|
Arrows | A18 | Yamaha OX11A 3.0 V10 | Max von Hegel
|
20 | Jorg Scrattenheim
|
1 |  Alejandrina Rodriguez
|
| 21 | Stephano Baroncelli
|
1 | ||||||
| TF1 DAMS Peugeot
|
DAMS | DA-03 | Peugeot A14 EV5 3.0 V10 | Thomas Kretzhaagel
|
22 | Niko Nurminen
|
1 | Robert Anderson
|
| 23 | James Allen
|
1 | ||||||
 Volga Grand Prix
|
Volga | CHAD-03 | Volga VG1 3.0 V8 | Petr Chaddeev
|
24 | Anton Kaliniczenko
|
1 | None |
| 25 | 25px Siergiej Rozvadoskij | 1 | ||||||
| HBSC Malaysia Stewart Ford
|
Stewart | SF01 | Ford VJ Zetec-R 3.0 V10 | Eddie Stewart
|
26 | Ben Fleet
|
1 | None |
| 27 | Jan van der Maeyede
|
1 | ||||||
| MasterCard Lola F1 Team
|
Lola | T97/30 | Melling Lola-1 V10 | Clint Mort
|
28 | Poppy Whitechapel
|
1 | None |
| 29 | Massimiliano Patrese
|
1 |
Team Changes
- Forti bowed out of the sport at the end of 1996 after the team went into administration following the 1996 German Grand Prix. They were replaced by Clint Mort's MasterCard Lola team.
- Stewart also entered the sport in 1997 which mean that two cars would not qualify for every race.
- After Keith Wiggins parted ways with Petr Chaddev during the off-season, Wiggins revoked Chaddev's licence to use the Pacific Grand Prix name and so the team became Volga Grand Prix.
- DAMS signed a deal for Peugeot engines.
- Hermann Mann became joint seat-holder at Williams, the first time that joint seat-holders had been implemented since the incarnation of the rule. He would have control over the second Williams seat, while Prince Walik kept control of the first seat, with both seat-holders having input into the test/reserve driver position.
- Guillame Gauthier took over Tyrrell after Eadbhard O'Caiohmin left at the last minute. Gauthier renamed the team to Gauthier, but it was done only partially following Comission's considerations despite unsuccessful protest from Ferrari.
Driver changes
Pre-season
- Tyrrell refugee Poppy Whitechapel signed for Lola along with Italian Massimiliano Patrese who was backed by Italian football club Empoli FC.
- Jan van der Maeyede, no longer using the psuedonym Martin (coincidentally the name of his son, Martin van der Maeyede), was signed by the new Stewart team. Ben Fleet signed with Stewart after two disheartening years at DAMS.
- Pay driver James Allen replaced the outgoing Ben Fleet at DAMS.
- The Mann siblings of Douglas and Pippa retired from the sport. This meant that Pieter Kickert, who impressed new Williams seat-holder Hermann Mann enough to be offered a drive, replaced Pippa at Williams, while Ligier drivers Masta Valsattis and Reiko Megumi drove full-time after Douglas Mann's retirement.
- Clivio Durand was ousted from Tyrrell/Gauthier to become Williams' reserve driver. Samael Meerwick and Lawrence Tucker took the seats from Durand and Éadbhard Ó'Caoimhín, the latter having left Tyrrell at the last minute and too signed as Ferrari's test driver.
Mid-season
- After Monaco GP, Gauthier/Tyrrell sacked both drivers and replaced them with Martin McFry and Robert Anderson.
Calendar
| Previous season | This season | Next season |
|---|---|---|
| 1996 F1RGP2C season | 1997 F1RGP2C season | 1998 F1RGP2C season |
