1997 Speedway Grand Prix
3rd season of the Speedway Grand Prix
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The 1997 Speedway Grand Prix was the 52nd edition of the official World Championship.[1][2] It was the third season in the Speedway Grand Prix era used to determine the Speedway World Champion.[3]
| 1997 Speedway Grand Prix | |
|---|---|
| Season details | |
| Dates | May 17 - September 20 |
| Events | 6 |
| Cities | 6 |
| Countries | 6 |
| Riders | 17 permanents 1 wild card(s) |
| Heats | 144 (in 6 events) |
| Winners | |
| Champion |  USA Greg Hancock |
| Runner-up | USA Billy Hamill |
| 3rd place |  POL Tomasz Gollob |
Greg Hancock from the United States became the World Champion with 118 points beating fellow American Billy Hamill into second place. The bronze medal went to Pole Tomasz Gollob.[4]
Event format
During 1997 the initial SGP scoring system was used for the final time. Each rider raced every other in the meeting with the top 4 qualifying for a final - the points for all other riders determined their finishing position in the meeting and therefore their championship Grand Prix points. The 4 finalists scored 25, 20, 18 and 16 points, with the remainder scoring 14, 13, 12, 11, 9, 8, 7, 6, 4, 3, 2, 1.
Qualification for Grand Prix
The 1997 season had 17 permanent riders and one wild card at each event. The permanent riders are highlighted in the results table below.
Calendar
| Round | Date | City and venue | Winner | Runner-up | 3rd placed | 4th placed | Results |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | May 17 |  Prague , Czech Republic Markéta Stadium |
Greg Hancock |
Billy Hamill |
Tomasz Gollob |
Slawomir Drabik |
results |
| 2 | June 14 |  Linköping , Sweden Motorstadium |
Tomasz Gollob |
Greg Hancock |
Tony Rickardsson |
 Hans Nielsen |
results |
| 3 | July 5 |  Landshut , Germany Stadion Ellermühle |
Hans Nielsen |
Brian Andersen |
Greg Hancock |
Billy Hamill |
results |
| 4 | August 9 |  Bradford , Great Britain Odsal Stadium |
Brian Andersen |
Billy Hamill |
Jimmy Nilsen |
Mark Loram |
results |
| 5 | August 30 | Wrocław , Poland Olympic Stadium |
Greg Hancock |
Billy Hamill |
Tomasz Gollob |
Piotr Protasiewicz |
results |
| 6 | September 20 | Vojens , Denmark Speedway Center |
Mark Loram |
Tony Rickardsson |
Greg Hancock |
Tomasz Gollob |
results |
Final standings
| Qualifies for next season's Grand Prix series |
| Full-time Grand Prix rider |
| Wild card, track reserve or qualified reserve |
| Pos. | Rider | Points | CZE | SWE | GER | GBR | POL | DEN |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 |
(3) Greg Hancock
|
118 | 25 | 20 | 18 | 12 | 25 | 18 |
 |
(1) Billy Hamill
|
101 | 20 | 12 | 16 | 20 | 20 | 13 |
 |
(13) Tomasz Gollob
|
92 | 18 | 25 | 1 | 14 | 18 | 16 |
| 4 | (4) Tony Rickardsson
|
90 | 11 | 18 | 14 | 13 | 14 | 20 |
| 5 | (7) Mark Loram
|
81 | 7 | 13 | 8 | 16 | 12 | 25 |
| 6 | (12) Brian Andersen
|
80 | 9 | 14 | 20 | 25 | 4 | 8 |
| 7 | (2) Hans Nielsen
|
75 | 8 | 16 | 25 | 7 | 7 | 12 |
| 8 | (11) Jimmy Nilsen
|
71 | 13 | 7 | 13 | 18 | 9 | 11 |
| 9 | (8) Chris Louis
|
59 | 12 | 4 | 12 | 4 | 13 | 14 |
| 10 |  (10) Leigh Adams
|
42 | 6 | 6 | 9 | 9 | 3 | 9 |
| 11 | (14) Sławomir Drabik
|
38 | 16 | 2 | 6 | 2 | 11 | 1 |
| 12 | (6) Peter Karlsson
|
37 | 4 | 11 | 3 | 6 | 6 | 7 |
| 13 | (15) Piotr Protasiewicz
|
31 | 1 | ns | 11 | 0 | 16 | 3 |
| 14 | (18) Andy Smith
|
22 | ns | 9 | 4 | 3 | ns | 6 |
| 15 | (5) Henrik Gustafsson
|
20 | 14 | 3 | – | 1 | 2 | ns |
| 16 | (17) Mikael Karlsson
|
14 | ns | 1 | ns | 11 | ns | 2 |
| 17 | (9) Simon Wigg
|
13 | 3 | ns | 2 | ns | 8 | ns |
| 18 | (16) Jason Crump
|
8 | – | 8 | – | – | – | – |
| 19 | (16) Joe Screen
|
8 | – | – | – | 8 | – | – |
| 20 | (16) Robert Barth
|
7 | – | – | 7 | – | – | – |
| 21 | (16) Jesper B. Jensen
|
4 | – | – | – | – | – | 4 |
| 22 | (16) Tomáš Topinka
|
2 | 2 | – | – | – | – | – |
| 23 | (16) Rafał Dobrucki
|
1 | – | – | – | – | 1 | – |
| Rider(s) not classified | ||||||||
| (19) Sam Ermolenko
|
— | – | – | ns | – | – | – | |
| Pos. | Rider | Points | CZE | SWE | GER | GBR | POL | DEN |