FIA GT Championship: Schneider and Bell 1997 Champions
26 October 1997
Laguna Seca, CA--The outcome for the FIA driver's championship was decided in the early part of this three-hour race. The championship fight came down to three drivers: Mercedes driver Bernd Schneider and McLaren drivers JJ Lehto and Steve Soper. The two McLaren teammates, who have co-driven all year long, were placed into different cars for this race. Soper remained in the #8 McLaren, while Lehto was switched to the #9. The strategy behind the driver change was to give the two driver's an equal shot at winning the driver's championship on their own. However, the strategy was never put to the test: Lehto's BMW McLaren retired 12 laps into the race with engine failure. Soper's day appeared to be going ok. At the one hour mark Soper came into the pits to switch with Roberto Ravaglia. On the return to racing, Ravaglia tangled in the fourth turn with the Parabolica McLaren. By the time that the safety crew retrieved the McLaren, five laps had elapsed. Their day to challenge for the championship was over. For Lehto and Soper the day had started with a glimmer of hope of keeping up with the Mercedes of Bernd Schneider and Klaus Ludwig. It ended five laps down to the eventual winners, Schneider and Ludwig. The team that gave the Mercedes drivers the real test today were the three factory works Porsches. Yannick Dalmas and Bob Wollek in the #7 Porsche finished second, 14.07 seconds behind the #11 Mercedes. The #47 Porsche of Allan McNish and Ralf Kelleners came in third. It was the #47 Porsche of McNish and Kelleners that set the early tone for the race. Grabbing the lead from the pole sitting Mercedes of Alex Wurz and Greg Moore, McNish kept the lead for the first 41 laps until the Porsche needed fuel and tires. An extended pit stop by the Porsche crew lost any chance that the Porsche team had of catching Mercedes. On the next lap Schneider brought the #11 Mercedes into the pits for tires, fuel and a driver change. While momentarily losing the lead during the remaining two pit stops, the #11 Mercedes was never challenged for the lead. The most interesting battle of the day was in GT2. Five drivers arrived to Laguna with a chance to win the driver's championship. Team Oreca Viper driver Justin Bell came into the day four points (60 points) ahead of fellow Viper teammates Philippe Gache and Olivier Beretta, each with 56 points. Following just one point behind Gache and Beretta were Porsche driver's Claudia Hurtgen and Bruno Eichmann. Gache and Beretta dominated the first two-third's of the race. Bell and Archer were battling handling problems. It looked like Gache and Beretta were going to vault past Bell to clinch the championship. Then disaster struck: on the team's last pit stop the officials assessed a 10 second penalty for a pit lane violation (speeding) on lap 90. The penalty handed the lead to Bruno Eichmann in the Porsche. With time running out the Team Oreca manager determined that Gache and Beretta could not make up the difference to catch Eichmann. With six laps left the word went out to let Bell pass so that he could take second place and win the driver's championship. Justin Bell summed it up "I've had excellent teammates, and without them it wouldn't have happened. This victory is also thanks to Olivier and Philippe, who have done such an excellent job, bringing the team and car on." Eichmann, who won the race but lost the championship was graceful in his remarks."I think we had a chance, but it didn't come. We did the best job we could and won the race. It's been a happy season." Results (Top Five) Pos Car# Drivers Marque Laps 1 11 Schneider/Ludwig Mercedes 130 2 7 Dalmas/Wollek Porsche 130 -14.787 3 47 Kelleners/McNish Porsche 130 -49.603 4 3 Gounon/Raphanel McLaren 130 -1.15.315 5 6 Stuck/Boutsen Porsche 129 GT2 1(16) 56 Eichmann/Ortelli Porsche 121 2(17) 52 Bell/Archer Viper 120 3(18) 51 Gache/Beretta Viper 120 -02.925 4(19) 54 Dean/O'Kennedy Viper 116 5(20) 63 Trunk/Miller Porsche 115