 Doohan started on pole but crashed out of the race, allowing Crivillé to win the race by 2.268 seconds from second place Takuma Aoki.Crivillé finished fourth in the championship with 172 points, 168 points behind the champion and teammate Mick Doohan and 25 points behind runner-up Tadayuki Okada.Despite losing out on a title chance in 1997, Crivillé continued with the Repsol Honda team for 1998.