The 1997 Individual Long Track/Grasstrack World Championship was the 27th edition of the FIM speedway Individual Long Track World Championship.
[1] For the first time the Championship was decided on a Grand Prix system (a series of races) and also contained races on grasstrack.
[2] The new system combined with the relatively new Speedway World Championship Grand Prix which started in 1995, effectively resulted in a separation of speedway riders.
The leading speedway riders (with the exception of several Long Track specialists) could not commit to the Longtrack/Grasstrack schedule and therefore competed in the Speedway World Championship.
The world title was won by Tommy Dunker of Germany.