1997 ATCC Lakeside round
| Event Information | ||||||||||||||
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| Round 7 of 10 in the 1997 Australian Touring Car Championship | ||||||||||||||
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| Date | 13–15 June 1997 | |||||||||||||
| Location | Kurwongbah, Queensland | |||||||||||||
| Venue | Lakeside International Raceway | |||||||||||||
| Weather | Sunny | |||||||||||||
| Results | ||||||||||||||
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The 1997 ATCC Lakeside round was the seventh round of the 1997 Australian Touring Car Championship. It was held on the weekend of 13 to 15 June at Lakeside International Raceway in Kurwongbah, Queensland.
The front-running Ford's of Glenn Seton and the Dick Johnson Racing cars of Dick Johnson and John Bowe set the pace throughout the weekend. Bowe won the pole position and won the second race en route to claiming overall round honours. Championship leader Seton won the first race but a crash in the second race crippled his points tally for the weekend.
Russell Ingall was the best performing Holden driver of the weekend, winning the third race and claiming second overall for the weekend. This result allowed him to close the gap to Seton in the championship standings.
Background
The event was held on the weekend of 13 to 15 June 1997. It was the 28th ATCC/V8 Supercar event to be held at Lakeside International Raceway and consisted of three 50 km sprint races.
Entry list
A total of 22 drivers were entered into the weekend; ten of whom were entered as privateers.
Two notable absentees from this round were Wayne Gardner and Mark Skaife, both failing to make the grid owing to budgetary constraints for their respective teams.
Multiple drivers would return to the series for this round including Paul Romano, Danny Osbourne and John Trimble. Kerryn Brewer would make her first appearance in the series for Perkins Engineering in this round.
Race report
Qualifying
Privateers Cup
Trevor Ashby led away from the start while Kevin Heffernan scythed through to second, immediately applying pressure to Ashby. However, he strayed wide at the first corner sweeper and spun down the order. Terry Finnigan passed Darren Hossack for third and began to chase down Danny Osbourne for second. Hossack then fell into the clutches of John Faulkner, who was hindered by drawing a low grid number. Ashby remained untroubled to the flag to claim victory.
| Pos. | No. | Name | Team | Vehicle | Laps | Time | Grid |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 3 |  Trevor Ashby |
Lansvale Racing Team | Holden Commodore (VS) | 4 | 3:38.9187 | 2 |
| 2 | 22 | Danny Osbourne |
Colourscan Motorsport | Ford Falcon (EL) | 4 | + 0.655 | 1 |
| 3 | 27 | Terry Finnigan |
Terry Finnigan | Holden Commodore (VS) | 4 | + 1.024 | 6 |
| 4 | 45 | Darren Hossack |
Wynn's Racing | Holden Commodore (VR) | 4 | + 3.430 | 8 |
| 5 | 46 |  John Faulkner |
John Faulkner Racing | Holden Commodore (VS) | 4 | + 3.575 | 9 |
| 6 | 47 | John Trimble |
Daily Planet Racing | Holden Commodore (VS) | 4 | + 8.900 | 11 |
| 7 | 79 | Mike Conway |
Cadillac Productions | Ford Falcon (EB) | 4 | + 9.040 | 4 |
| 8 | 20 | Ian Palmer |
Palmer Promotions | Holden Commodore (VS) | 4 | + 13.076 | 10 |
| 9 | 19 | Kerryn Brewer |
Perkins Engineering | Holden Commodore (VS) | 4 | + 13.612 | 7 |
| 10 | 74 | Kevin Heffernan |
PACE Racing | Holden Commodore (VS) | 4 | + 14.943 | 3 |
| DNS | 24 | Paul Romano |
Romano Racing | Holden Commodore (VS) | Did not start | ||
| Fastest Lap: John Faulkner (John Faulkner Racing) - 51.8293 on lap 3 | |||||||
| Source: | |||||||
Race 1
Alan Jones was forced to start the race from pitlane owing to tyre issues. Paul Romano was a non-starter after a crash at The Karrussell in practice inflicted significant damage to his car.
Coming out of The Karrussell, Mark Larkham was spun by Russell Ingall and was subsequently broadsided by an unsighted Ian Palmer. The extensive damage to the two cars left them stranded in the middle of the track and the red flag was displayed.
The race was restarted with the lap count reduced from 23 to 18. Ingall started from the pitlane after encountering clutch issues while Terry Finnigan pulled off the side of the track shortly before the starting grid. Seton led off the line from Bowe and Jones, who was able to restart the race from his original grid position. Danny Osbourne crashed out of the race on the exit of The Karrussell.
Jones began to fall through the pack with Johnson dispatching of him through Dunlop Bridge, and the 1980 Formula One World Champion soon found himself under threat from the chasing pack. Jones continued to struggle with tyres and eventually, on lap 14, he retired from the race. Bowe kept within range of Seton but the championship leader kept the race under control to take victory. Hometown hero Dick Johnson rounded out the podium.
Race 2
Larkham and Palmer would not make the start owing to the extensive damage inflicted on their cars in the race one crash.
Seton led away from the start with the Dick Johnson Racing duo of Johnson and Bowe in hot pursuit. Darren Hossack's race came to an end on lap four after spinning at The Karrussell and became beached in the gravel trap.
Seton extended his lead gradually over the course of the race but with a handful of laps to go, Bowe began to lay down some fast lap times, breaking the track lap record in the process. At the top of the Eastern Loop, Seton's foot slipped off the brake pedal and speared off the circuit, into the tyre barrier and ended his race. The damage inflicted would render him out of the third and final race as well.
Bowe subsequently enjoyed a trouble-free run to the chequered flag to take his first win of the season ahead of Johnson. Greg Murphy withheld the Castrol Perkins duo behind him to claim a hard-fought podium.
Race 3
Johnson suffered a slow getaway and was flanked either side by Ingall and Murphy. In an attempt to cover his position, Johnson made contact with Murphy merely yards off the starting line. This broke the steering in the Holden Racing Team car and was sent off into the gravel trap at The Karrussell, taking Johnson and Steven Richards off the track in process. Murphy pitted at the end of the lap to retire from the race.
Ingall meanwhile had worked his way into the lead and began to defend vigorously from Bowe. Johnson recovered from his earlier issues to scythe through the pack en route to a sixth-place finish. Bowe gradually lost touch with Ingall as the Holden driver went on to win the race and claim second overall for the round. Bowe, by virtue of finishing second, secured enough points to win the overall round.
Championship points
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References
- ↑ "1997 Australian Touring Car Lakeside (Race 1) - Qualifying". Racing Years. Retrieved 2026-10-29.
- ↑ "1997 Australian Touring Car Lakeside (Race 1)". Racing Years. Retrieved 2026-10-29.
- ↑ "1997 Australian Touring Car Lakeside (Race 2)". Racing Years. Retrieved 2026-10-29.
- ↑ "1997 Australian Touring Car Lakeside (Race 3)". Racing Years. Retrieved 2026-10-29.
External links
| Supercars Championship | ||
|---|---|---|
| Previous race: 1997 ATCC Eastern Creek round |
1997 Supercars Championship | Next race: 1997 ATCC Perth round |
| Previous year: 1996 ATCC Lakeside round |
Lakeside International Raceway | Next year: 1998 ATCC Lakeside round |