Jacques Villeneuve wins his only F1 title, after surviving Michael Schumacher's infamous assault at Jerez • Schumacher is disqualified from second place in the championship • Mika Hakkinen wins his first GP, at Jerez, after coming back from serious injury at the end of 1995 • Gerhard Berger scores his final victory at Hockenheim and retires at the end of the season • Jarno Trulli, Alex Wurz and Ralf Schumacher make their F1 debuts • Alex Zanardi and Tony Stewart win their first CART and IRL titles • Tom Kristensen scores the first of his eight Le Mans 24 Hours victories for Porsche • New FIA GT series gets off to promsing start with Mercedes beating BMW • Alain Menu and Renault win BTCC • Tommi Makinen once again dominates the WRC • AUTOSPORT launches www.autosportmag.com, the predecessor to your favourite website • Andy Green sets the world land speed record at 763mph in Thrust SSC
1997
Jacques Villeneuve wins the F1 title after surviving an assault from Michael Schumacher at the finale
Gerhard Berger claims his final F1 win at Hockenheim before retiring at the end of the year
Michele Alboreto, Stefan Johansson and Tom Kristensen win Le Mans for Porsche
Alex Zanardi wins the first Champ Car title after the split with the IRL
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