1997 Indy Lights season


1997 Indy Lights season
PPG/Firestone Indy Lights Championship
Season
Races14
Start dateMarch 2
End dateSeptember 27
Awards
Drivers' championBrazil Tony Kanaan

The 1997 PPG/Firestone Indy Lights Championship Powered By Buick consisted of 13 races. Tony Kanaan edged out good friend and teammate Hélio Castro-Neves to the title by only four points.[1]

This was the first season where all teams used the Lola T97/20-Buick spec car.

The scoring system was 20-16-14-12-10-8-6-5-4-3-2-1 points awarded to the first 12 (twelve) finishers, with 1 (one) extra point given to the driver who took pole-position, and another extra point given to the driver who led most laps in the race.

Team and driver chart

The following drivers and teams competed in the series:

Team No. Drivers Round(s)
Autosport Racing 5 Canada Eric Jensen 9
57 France Didier André 1–12
75 France Jean-Philippe Belloc 12
Bordin Racing 56 Canada Andrew Bordin 1–2, 6–12
Brian Stewart Racing 2 Brazil Airton Daré All
3 Brazil Cristiano da Matta All
34 United States Jaques Lazier 2–7
France Frédéric Gosparini 9–13
63 United States Brian Cunningham 1
Conquest Racing 21 France Christophe Tinseau All
Dorricott Racing 31 Brazil Luiz Garcia Jr. All
32 United States Bob Dorricott Jr. All
Eclipse Racing 20 Canada John Jones 1–4, 7–8
Canada Claude Bourbonnais 9–12
FRE Racing 4 Brazil Sérgio Paese 1–2, 4–12
Forsythe Racing 33 Canada David Empringham All
99 Canada Lee Bentham All
Genoa Racing 97 Brazil Oswaldo Negri Jr. 2, 4, 8–12
Indy Regency Racing 28 Japan Hideki Noda 1–12
77 Mexico Rodolfo Lavín All
Johansson Motorsports 36 Sweden Fredrik Larsson 1–9
70 United States Jeff Ward 11–13
Leading Edge Motorsports 5 United States Chris Bingham 1–3, 8
Lucas Place Motorsports 5 United States Brian Cunningham 11–13
16 Japan Shigeaki Hattori 2–13
24 United States David DeSilva All
PacWest Lights 18 United States Robby Unser All
Project Indy 15 Austria Philipp Sager 1
France Frédéric Gosparini 2
Tasman Motorsports 7 Brazil Tony Kanaan All
8 Brazil Hélio Castroneves All
Team Green 25 Japan Naoki Hattori All
26 United States Chris Simmons All
27 United States Mark Hotchkis All
Team Mears 10 United States Casey Mears All
11 United States Clint Mears All
Team Medlin 12 United States Geoff Boss 1–12

Schedule

Rd. Date Track Location
1 March 2  O  Homestead-Miami Speedway Homestead, Florida
2 April 13  R  Long Beach Street Circuit Long Beach, California
3 April 27  O  Nazareth Speedway Nazareth, Pennsylvania
4 May 18  R  Grand Prize of America Road Course Savannah, Georgia
5 May 24  O  Gateway International Raceway Madison, Illinois
6 June 1  O  Milwaukee Mile West Allis, Wisconsin
7 June 8  R  The Raceway at Belle Isle Park Detroit, Michigan
8 June 22  R  Portland International Raceway Portland, Oregon
9 July 20  R  Exhibition Place Toronto, Ontario
10 August 3  R  Circuit Trois-Rivières Trois-Rivières, Quebec
11 August 31  R  Streets of Vancouver Vancouver, British Columbia
12 September 7  R  Laguna Seca Raceway Monterey, California
13 September 27  O  California Speedway Fontana, California

Race results

Round Circuit Pole position Fastest lap Most laps led Race Winner
Driver Team
1 United States Homestead-Miami Speedway Brazil Hélio Castroneves United States Mark Hotchkis United States Mark Hotchkis Canada David Empringham Forsythe Racing
2 United States Long Beach Street Circuit Brazil Hélio Castroneves Brazil Cristiano da Matta Brazil Hélio Castroneves Brazil Hélio Castroneves Tasman Motorsports
3 United States Nazareth Speedway United States Chris Simmons United States David DeSilva United States Chris Simmons Brazil Cristiano da Matta Brian Stewart Racing
4 United States Grand Prize of America Road Course Brazil Hélio Castroneves Not announced Brazil Hélio Castroneves Brazil Hélio Castroneves Tasman Motorsports
5 United States Gateway International Raceway United States Chris Simmons Brazil Cristiano da Matta Canada Lee Bentham Canada Lee Bentham Forsythe Racing
6 United States Milwaukee Mile United States Clint Mears United States Clint Mears United States Clint Mears United States Clint Mears Team Mears
7 United States The Raceway at Belle Isle Park Brazil Tony Kanaan Brazil Hélio Castroneves Brazil Tony Kanaan Brazil Tony Kanaan Tasman Motorsports
8 United States Portland International Raceway Brazil Hélio Castroneves Brazil Oswaldo Negri Jr. Brazil Hélio Castroneves Japan Hideki Noda Indy Regency Racing
9 Canada Exhibition Place Brazil Tony Kanaan France Christophe Tinseau Brazil Hélio Castroneves Brazil Hélio Castroneves Tasman Motorsports
10 Canada Circuit Trois-Rivières United States Mark Hotchkis United States Mark Hotchkis Brazil Tony Kanaan Brazil Tony Kanaan Tasman Motorsports
11 Canada Streets of Vancouver Brazil Cristiano da Matta Japan Hideki Noda Brazil Cristiano da Matta Brazil Cristiano da Matta Brian Stewart Racing
12 United States Laguna Seca Raceway Brazil Tony Kanaan Brazil Cristiano da Matta Brazil Cristiano da Matta Brazil Cristiano da Matta Brian Stewart Racing
13 United States California Speedway United States Clint Mears Brazil Cristiano da Matta Brazil Hélio Castroneves United States Clint Mears Team Mears

    Championship standings

    Drivers' championship

    Scoring system
    Position  1st   2nd   3rd   4th   5th   6th   7th   8th   9th   10th   11th   12th 
    Points 20 16 14 12 10 8 6 5 4 3 2 1
    • The driver who qualifies on pole is awarded one additional point.
    • An additional point is awarded to the driver who leads the most laps in a race.
    Pos Driver HMS
    United States     		LBH
    United States     		NAZ
    United States     		SAV
    United States     		GAT
    United States     		MIL
    United States     		DET
    United States     		POR
    United States     		TOR
    Canada     		TRO
    Canada     		VAN
    Canada     		LAG
    United States     		FON
    United States     		Points
    1 Brazil Tony Kanaan 6 5 5 23 10 3 1* 3 2 1* 2 2 9 156
    2 Brazil Hélio Castroneves 14 1* 4 1* 3 12 2 2* 1* 20 19 3 5* 152
    3 Brazil Cristiano da Matta 21 2 1 21 2 4 26 5 18 4 1* 1* 4 141
    4 Canada David Empringham 1 10 9 14 4 2 4 7 3 5 5 26 13 107
    5 Canada Lee Bentham 5 14 22 3 1* 9 22 8 27 8 8 5 3 88
    6 United States Chris Simmons 3 4 2* 16 5 17 8 13 21 15 4 28 2 88
    7 United States Mark Hotchkis 4* 3 23 17 22 7 6 16 17 2 11 4 11 74
    8 United States Clint Mears 12 18 7 18 11 1* 18 DNS 13 12 14 DNS 1 53
    9 Japan Hideki Noda 18 19 16 6 16 14 14 1 15 6 3 12 51
    10 Brazil Airton Daré 11 6 8 8 6 11 13 20 9 9 7 11 8 51
    11 France Christophe Tinseau 25 26 14 12 12 21 11 4 5 3 18 6 12 49
    12 Sweden Fredrik Larsson 2 22 3 10 24 5 25 22 28 43
    13 Brazil Luiz Garcia Jr. 16 15 24 4 17 19 9 6 25 23 6 10 10 38
    14 France Didier André 22 8 25 9 20 18 21 25 4 7 10 8 35
    15 United States Robby Unser 8 7 10 22 7 6 12 14 7 19 21 22 16 35
    16 Japan Naoki Hattori 13 DNS 15 5 14 13 7 24 6 24 15 20 6 32
    17 United States Geoff Boss 10 24 17 20 21 20 3 10 14 11 9 9 30
    18 Brazil Sérgio Paese DNS 20 2 18 24 5 12 23 25 27 13 27
    19 United States David DeSilva 17 12 6 DNQ 8 25 10 26 24 26 17 17 17
    20 Brazil Oswaldo Negri Jr. 27 7 9 8 21 20 27 15
    21 United States Brian Cunningham 7 25 7 14 12
    22 United States Jaques Lazier 11 12 24 9 8 23 12
    23 United States Casey Mears 9 17 13 13 13 10 25 11 20 17 16 19 15 9
    24 United States Jeff Ward 22 15 7 6
    25 Japan Shigeaki Hattori 9 20 15 23 16 24 23 26 14 12 14 18 5
    26 France Frédéric Gosparini DNS 12 10 24 23 19 4
    27 United States Bob Dorricott Jr. 24 21 18 11 19 23 16 15 11 16 13 21 20 4
    28 Canada Andrew Bordin 23 23 15 17 17 10 13 23 16 3
    29 United States Chris Bingham 15 13 11 21 2
    30 Mexico Rodolfo Lavín 20 16 21 25 15 22 19 19 22 22 26 25 17 0
    31 Canada Eric Jensen 16 0
    32 Canada Claude Bourbonnais 19 18 28 18 0
    33 Canada John Jones 19 25 19 19 20 18 0
    34 France Jean-Philippe Belloc 24 0
    35 Austria Philipp Sager DNS 0
    Pos Driver HMS
    United States     		LBH
    United States     		NAZ
    United States     		SAV
    United States     		GAT
    United States     		MIL
    United States     		DET
    United States     		POR
    United States     		TOR
    Canada     		TRO
    Canada     		VAN
    Canada     		LAG
    United States     		FON
    United States     		Points
    Color Result
    Gold Winner
    Silver 2nd place
    Bronze 3rd place
    Green 4th & 5th place
    Light Blue 6th–10th place
    Dark Blue Finished

    (Outside Top 10)

    Purple Did not finish
    Red Did not qualify

    (DNQ)

    Brown Withdrawn

    (Wth)

    Black Disqualified

    (DSQ)

    White Did not start

    (DNS)

    Blank Did not

    participate (DNP)

    Not competing
    In-line notation
    Bold Pole position(1 point)
    Italics Ran fastest race lap
    * Led most race laps

    (2 points)

    1 Qualifying cancelled

    no bonus point awarded

    • Ties in points broken by number of wins, or best finishes.

    References

    1. ^ "Standings".
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