Despite the apparent success of the Euro Open Championship the Superbike class was abolished for 1997 and instead the European Championship points were awarded, as in 1992 and 1993, to European-licensed competitors in the European rounds of the World Championship. Never more than a dozen riders entered for the European class at these events and the season ended up being dominated by Suzuki Deutschland's Udo Mark, who only appeared in 10 of the 16 races but won every single one. Best of the rest were Giorgio Cantalupo and Anton Gruschka, who lacked the funding of Mark's Suzuki-supported team but fought between themselves for 2nd and 3rd in the standings. The on-track highlight of their battle came at Monza when they were enveloped in the World Championship slipstream battle (albeit a lap down) and crossed the line with 0.001 seconds between them.