Season 1997 was one to remember whether it the first to be run under the V8 Supercars moniker or Wayne Gardner’s one and only round win or Glenn Seton’s title win as an owner/driver.
Seton won his first Australian Touring Car Championship in 1993 backed by cigarette brand Peter Jackson, but this all changed at the end the 1995 when teammate Alan Jones took the sponsorship to a new entity for 1996.
This entity was a new team spearheaded by Jones and featuring the technical knowhow of the Stone Brothers – Ross and Jim.
It was known as Pack Leader Racing as a way to circumnavigate the recently imposed cigarette advertising ban imposed by the Australian Government starting from 1996.
With this loss of sponsorship, Seton downsized to a single entry for himself backed by Ford Credit and finished third in the 1996 ATCC, despite failing to win a round.
It was then off to Sandown and Bathurst for the endurance events where Seton took pole and on the way broke the 300km/h barrier at the Mountain in GSR7. Seton’s luck failed to come good at Mount Panorama in 1996 as paired with David ‘Skippy’ Parsons, the duo scored 15th nine laps down.
For 1997, Glenn Seton Racing was down to just six full-time staff and was continuing on a modest budget thanks to major sponsor Ford Credit.
At the first round won by Gardner at Calder Park, Seton won the final race and took victory in the opening event next time out at Phillip Island.
The big play by Seton came at Sandown where he won all three races to secure maximum points before replicating this at Eastern Creek at Round 4.
Continuing his winning streak at Lakeside with victory in Race 1, Seton’s foot slipped off the brake in the second event to hit the tyre wall heavily at Eastern Loop causing irreparable damage.
After the weekend ended early at Lakeside, Seton’s troubles continued at Wanneroo before the tide turned at Mallala for the penultimate round. But his lead had been cut to four by Dick Johnson Racing’s John Bowe.
Joining Seton and Bowe as contenders was Castrol Perkins driver Russell Ingall as the only Holden hope.
Seton’s two title rivals endured tough rounds leaving the single-entry operation to win the title and the last owner/driver to win the Supercars Championship.
“It’s been a sensational year,” said Seton after his success.
“For the guys in the team, thank you very much because it’s been their hard work and without them there’s definitely no chance I’d be here.
“My sponsors Ford Credit, Ford Motor Company, Bridgestone Tyres, Mobil, Ingersoll Rand and all the associated supporters involved with the team, thank you very much.
“Thank you to all the public and all the teams that actually supported me to try and win the championship.
“I’m just glad it’s all over as I was putting a lot of pressure on myself this weekend to perform and I really felt relieved at the end of the second race when I was able to get on with it in the finale.”
It was Seton’s second title after 1993 and was his last despite Ford investing in his team entering the 2000s.
Seton remains the last owner/driver to win the title in an industry now that has moved well away from this structure.