1997 CART PPG World Series

1997 CART season
1997 CART season
PPG CART World Series
Season
Races	17
Start date	March 2
End date	September 28
Awards
Drivers' champion	Alex Zanardi
Constructors' Cup	Reynard
Manufacturers' Cup	Mercedes
Nations' Cup	United States
Rookie of the Year	Patrick Carpentier
	← 1996 (CART) 1998 →

The 1997 CART PPG World Series season, the nineteenth in the CART era of U.S. open-wheel racing, consisted of 17 races, beginning in Homestead, Florida on March 2 and concluding in Fontana, California on September 28. The PPG CART World Series Drivers' Champion was Alex Zanardi. Rookie of the Year was Patrick Carpentier.

After a settlement with the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, CART relinquished its license of the "IndyCar" trademark for 1997 and beyond. As a result, the series was renamed for the first time since 1980. The CART term, which had been mostly eschewed since 1992, was brought back and embraced, a new logo was unveiled, and participants were encouraged to refer to the machines of the CART series as "Champ Cars". The revival of the historic term (and curtailing the use of the mostly generic term "Indy cars") helped to differentiate the machines from those of the rival Indy Racing League, and was part of a concerted and necessary effort to distance the series from the Indianapolis 500, to which it no longer had any link.^[1] This was also the last year of title sponsorship by PPG Industries, although the Driver's Championship continued to be known as the PPG Cup until 1999.

This is the first season since 1983 not to featuring Emerson Fittipaldi.

Drivers and constructors[]

The following teams and drivers competed in the 1997 CART World Series season.

Team	Chassis	Engine	Tires	No	Drivers	Rounds	Primary Sponsors
Target Chip Ganassi	Reynard 97i	Honda HRR	F	1	Jimmy Vasser	All	Target
				4	Alex Zanardi	1–16
				4	Arie Luyendyk	17
Marlboro Team Penske	Penske PC-26-97	Ilmor-Mercedes IC108D	G	2	Al Unser Jr.	All	Marlboro
Marlboro Team Penske	Penske PC-26-97	Ilmor-Mercedes IC108D	G	3	Paul Tracy	All	Marlboro
Walker Racing	Reynard 97i	Honda HRR	G	5	Gil de Ferran	All	Valvoline
Newman-Haas Racing	Swift 007.i	Ford XD	G	6	Michael Andretti	All	Texaco-Havoline
				11	Christian Fittipaldi	1–2, 9–17	Budweiser
				11	Roberto Moreno	3–8	Budweiser
Team Rahal	Reynard 97i	Ford XD	G	7	Bobby Rahal	All	Miller Lite
Team Rahal	Reynard 97i	Ford XD	G	8	Bryan Herta	All	Shell
Hogan Racing	Reynard 97i	Mercedes IC108D	F	9	Dario Franchitti (R)	1–16	Hogan Racing
Hogan Racing	Reynard 97i	Mercedes IC108D	F	9	Robby Gordon	17	Hogan Racing
Bettenhausen Racing	Reynard 97i	Mercedes IC108D	G	16	Patrick Carpentier (R)	1–14, 17	Alumax
Bettenhausen Racing	Reynard 97i	Mercedes IC108D	G	16	Roberto Moreno	15–16	Alumax
PacWest	Reynard 97i	Mercedes IC108D	F	17	Maurício Gugelmin	All	Hollywood Cigarettes
PacWest	Reynard 97i	Mercedes IC108D	F	18	Mark Blundell	All	Motorola
Payton/Coyne Racing	Reynard 97i	Ford XD	G	19	Michel Jourdain Jr.	11, 14, 16	Herdez
	Lola T97/00			19	Michel Jourdain Jr.	1–10, 12–13, 15, 17	Herdez
				34	Roberto Moreno	1	Data Control
					Paul Jasper (R)	2–7	Hype
					Christian Danner	8–9	Payton/Coyne Racing
					Charlie Nearburg (R)	10, 13	Nearburg Exploration
					Dennis Vitolo	11–12	Payton/Coyne Racing
	Reynard 97i				Charlie Nearburg (R)	14, 16	Nearburg Exploration
					Christian Danner	15	Payton/Coyne Racing
					Dennis Vitolo	17	SmithKline Beecham
Patrick Racing	Reynard 97i	Ford XB	F	20	Scott Pruett	All	Brahma
Patrick Racing	Reynard 97i	Ford XD	F	40	Raul Boesel	All	Brahma
Della Penna Motorsports	Lola T97/00	Ford XD	G	21	Richie Hearn	All	Ralphs
Arciero-Wells Racing	Reynard 97i	Toyota RV8B	F	24	Hiro Matsushita	All	Panasonic
Arciero-Wells Racing	Reynard 97i	Toyota RV8B	F	25	Max Papis	All	MCI
Team KOOL Green	Reynard 97i	Honda HRR	F	27	Parker Johnstone	All	KOOL
Tasman Motorsports	Reynard 97i	Honda HRR	F	31	André Ribeiro	10–17	LCI
	Lola T97/00			31	André Ribeiro	1–9	LCI
	Lola T97/00			32	Adrian Fernández	All	Tecate
All American Racing	Reynard 96i Reynard 97i	Toyota RV8B	G	36	Juan Manuel Fangio II	All	Castrol
All American Racing	Reynard 96i Reynard 97i	Toyota RV8B	G	98	P. J. Jones	All	Castrol
Project Indy	Lola T97/00	Ford XD	G	64	Dennis Vitolo	1, 3–4, 15–16	SmithKline Beecham
Project Indy	Lola T97/00	Ford XD	G	64	Arnd Meier (R)	2, 5–6, 8–14, 17	Hasseröder
Davis Racing	Reynard 97i	Ford XD	G	77	Gualter Salles (R)	All	Davis Racing 2 Indusval 15
Forsythe Racing	Reynard 97i	Mercedes IC108D	F	99	Greg Moore	All	Player's

Season summary[]

Schedule[]

Rnd	Date	Race Name	Circuit	Location
1	March 2	Marlboro Grand Prix of Miami	O Homestead-Miami Speedway	Homestead, Florida
2	April 6	Sunbelt Indy Carnival	S Surfers Paradise Street Circuit	Surfers Paradise, Australia
3	April 13	Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach	S Streets of Long Beach	Long Beach, California
4	April 27	Bosch Spark Plug Grand Prix	O Nazareth Speedway	Nazareth, Pennsylvania
5	May 11	Rio 400K	O Autódromo de Jacarepaguá	Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
6	May 24	Motorola 300	O Gateway International Raceway	Madison, Illinois
7	June 1	Miller 200	O Milwaukee Mile	West Allis, Wisconsin
8	June 8	ITT Automotive Detroit Grand Prix	S The Raceway on Belle Isle Park	Detroit, Michigan
9	June 22	Budweiser/G. I. Joe's 200	R Portland International Raceway	Portland, Oregon
10	July 13	Medic Drug Grand Prix of Cleveland	S Cleveland Burke Lakefront Airport	Cleveland, Ohio
11	July 20	Molson Indy Toronto	S Exhibition Place	Toronto, Ontario
12	July 27	U.S. 500	O Michigan International Speedway	Brooklyn, Michigan
13	August 10	Miller 200	R Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course	Lexington, Ohio
14	August 17	Texaco/Havoline 200	R Road America	Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin
15	August 31	Molson Indy Vancouver	S Streets of Vancouver	Vancouver, British Columbia
16	September 7	Toyota Grand Prix of Monterey	R Laguna Seca Raceway	Monterey, California
17	September 28	Marlboro 500	O California Speedway	Fontana, California

– The Australian Indy Grand Prix was supposed to run 182 miles, but was shortened due to time constraints.
– Portland was supposed to be 193 miles, but was shortened due to rain.
O Oval/Speedway
R Dedicated road course
S Temporary street circuit

Race results[]

Rnd	Race	Pole position	Fastest lap	Race Winner				Race time	Report
Rnd	Race	Pole position	Fastest lap	Driver	Team	Chassis	Engine	Race time	Report
1	Marlboro Grand Prix of Miami	Alex Zanardi	Michael Andretti	Michael Andretti	Newman/Haas Racing	Swift	Ford	1:38:45
2	Sunbelt Indy Carnival Australia	Alex Zanardi	Alex Zanardi	Scott Pruett	Patrick Racing	Reynard	Ford	2:01:04	Report
3	Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach	Gil de Ferran	Alex Zanardi	Alex Zanardi	Target Chip Ganassi	Reynard	Honda	1:46:17
4	Bosch Spark Plug Grand Prix	Paul Tracy	Paul Tracy	Paul Tracy	Marlboro Team Penske	Penske	Mercedes	1:53:31
5	Hollywood Rio 400k	Maurício Gugelmin	Gil de Ferran	Paul Tracy	Marlboro Team Penske	Penske	Mercedes	2:10:47
6	Motorola 300	Raul Boesel	Dario Franchitti	Paul Tracy	Marlboro Team Penske	Penske	Mercedes	2:37:54
7	Miller 200	Paul Tracy	Paul Tracy	Greg Moore	Forsythe Racing	Reynard	Mercedes	1:43:32
8	ITT Automotive Detroit Grand Prix	Gil de Ferran	Dario Franchitti	Greg Moore	Forsythe Racing	Reynard	Mercedes	1:52:45
9	Budweiser/G.I. Joe's 200	Scott Pruett	Raul Boesel	Mark Blundell	PacWest	Reynard	Mercedes	2:00:12
10	Medic Drug Grand Prix of Cleveland	Alex Zanardi	Alex Zanardi	Alex Zanardi	Target Chip Ganassi	Reynard	Honda	1:41:40
11	Molson Indy	Dario Franchitti	Mark Blundell	Mark Blundell	PacWest	Reynard	Mercedes	1:45:43
12	U.S. 500	Scott Pruett	Maurício Gugelmin	Alex Zanardi	Target Chip Ganassi	Reynard	Honda	2:59:35
13	Miller 200	Bryan Herta	Alex Zanardi	Alex Zanardi	Target Chip Ganassi	Reynard	Honda	1:41:16
14	Texaco/Havoline 200	Maurício Gugelmin	Alex Zanardi	Alex Zanardi	Target Chip Ganassi	Reynard	Honda	1:57:54
15	Molson Indy Vancouver	Alex Zanardi	Alex Zanardi	Maurício Gugelmin	PacWest	Reynard	Mercedes	1:47:17	Report
16	Toyota Grand Prix of Monterey	Bryan Herta	Mark Blundell	Jimmy Vasser	Target Chip Ganassi	Reynard	Honda	1:41:38
17	Marlboro 500 Presented by Toyota	Maurício Gugelmin	Greg Moore	Mark Blundell	PacWest	Reynard	Mercedes	3:02:42	Report

(R) Dedicated road course, (O) Oval/Speedway, (S) Temporary street circuit

Final driver standings[]

Pos	Driver	MIA	SUR	LBH	NAZ	RIO	GAT	MIL	DET	POR	CLE	TOR	MIC	MDO	ROA	VAN	LAG	FON	Pts
1	Alex Zanardi	7	4	1*	11	4	4	13	26	11	1	2	1*	1*	1	4	3	Wth	195
2	Gil de Ferran	22	5	21	4	11	3	7	3*	2	2*	25	3	6	3	3	5	6	162
3	Jimmy Vasser	3	12	9	5	9	5	3	4	19	13	7	24	5	8	2*	1*	2	144
4	Maurício Gugelmin	6	17	2	9	22	6	5	16	6*	15	6	6	7	2	1	9	4	132
5	Paul Tracy	2	19*	7	1*	1	1	6	DNS	7	7	10	4	27	28	28	26	26	121
6	Mark Blundell	14	8	13	19	8	24	12	17	1	9	1*	2	26	16*	7	2	1	115
7	Greg Moore	4	2	23	16	2	13	1*	1	5	24	23	27	2	18	17	24	13	111
8	Michael Andretti	1*	3	22	2	21	11*	2	2	8	23	4	21	8	26	16	27	19	108
9	Scott Pruett	5	1	3	10	3	19	9	24	17	8	5	14	9	5	18	16	7	102
10	Raul Boesel	17	7	8	8	5	14	4	6	3	16	8	18	4	21	6	8	20	91
11	Bryan Herta	10	22	6	7	6	22	15	7	21	3	17	5	24	11	8	6	21	72
12	Bobby Rahal	16	10	10	6	10*	20	11	9	24	5	9	17	3	6	24	19	5	70
13	Al Unser Jr.	27	27	4	3	7	18	20	8	25	4	20	20	22	7	5	11	22	67
14	André Ribeiro	12	6	14	26	15	10	26	25	13	14	3	23	10	22	10	4	17*	45
15	Christian Fittipaldi	26	28							4	6	11	16	21	4	9	21	9	42
16	Parker Johnstone	8	21	5	17	12	7	25	20	9	10	12	25	12	23	11	12	11	36
17	Patrick Carpentier RY	9	15	15	12	28	2	8	15	16	12	16	15	15	27			Wth	27
18	Adrián Fernández	13	11	11	23	26	8	24	27	10	17	14	26	23	12	19	23	3	27
19	Roberto Moreno	24		24	14	18	25	10	5							15	10		16
20	Gualter Salles R	15	24	18	24	19	12	22	21	23	19	18	10	20	13	26	7	14	10
21	Richie Hearn	11	13	27	18	14	9	23	23	14	28	27	22	13	9	22	25	15	10
22	Dario Franchitti R	25	9	12	13	27	17	16	13	26	11	26	19	11	25	13	13		10
23	Juan Manuel Fangio II	20	20	26	15	20	23	21	10	22	21	19	11	25	10	12	15	27	9
24	Max Papis	19	14	25	22	13	26	19	11	28	27	15	8	14	15	20	14	12	8
25	Dennis Vitolo	23		DNS	DNQ							28	7			27	20	16	6
26	Robby Gordon																	8	5
27	Hiro Matsushita	21	25	20	25	23	15	17	19	15	20	22	9	19	24	14	28	23	4
28	P. J. Jones	28	26	16	21	16	21	14	14	20	25	21	28	17	14	25	17	10	3
29	Michel Jourdain Jr.	18	18	17	20	17	16	27	22	12	18	13	13	18	20	21	22	18	1
30	Arnd Meier R		16			25	DNS		18	18	22	24	12	16	19			25	1
31	Christian Danner								12	27						23			1
32	Charlie Nearburg R										26			28	17		18		0
33	Paul Jasper R		23	19	DNQ	24	Wth	18											0
34	Arie Luyendyk																	24	0
Pos	Driver	MIA	SUR	LBH	NAZ	RIO	GAT	MIL	DET	POR	CLE	TOR	MIC	MDO	ROA	VAN	LAG	FON	Pts

Color	Result
Gold	Winner
Silver	2nd place
Bronze	3rd place
Green	4th–6th place
Light Blue	7th–12th place
Dark Blue	Finished (Outside Top 12)
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)
Blank	Not competing

In-line notation
Bold	Pole position
Italics	Ran fastest race lap
*	Led most race laps
RY	Rookie of the Year
R	Rookie

Nation's Cup[]

Top result per race counts towards Nation's Cup.

Pos	Country	Pts
1	United States	252
2	Brazil	238
3	Italy	198
4	Canada	190
5	England	115
6	Mexico	27
7	Scotland	10
8	Argentina	9
9	Japan	4
10	Germany	2
11	Netherlands	0
Pos	Country	Pts

Chassis Constructor's Cup[]

Pos	Chassis	Pts	Wins
1	Reynard 97I/96I	346	13
2	Penske PC-26	156	3
3	Swift 007.i	143	1
4	Lola T9700	45	0
Pos	Chassis	Pts	Wins

Engine Manufacturer's Cup[]

Pos	Engine	Pts	Wins
1	Mercedes	316	9
2	Honda	290	6
3	Ford XD/XB	230	2
4	Toyota	15	0
Pos	Engine	Pts	Wins

References[]

^ [1]

Åberg, Andreas. "CART FedEx Champ Car World Series 1997 (sic)". Driver Database. Archived from the original on 2009-05-28. Retrieved 2009-05-19.
"1997 CART FedEx Champ Car World Series (sic)". Champ Car Stats. Archived from the original on 2009-05-28. Retrieved 2009-05-19.
"PPG Helps Penske Racing Go "Green" with ENVIROBASE High Performance Coatings" (Press release). PPG Industries. 2009-03-09. Archived from the original on 2009-05-28. Retrieved 2009-05-20.
"Standings after California". Champ Car World Series. Archived from the original on 2009-05-28. Retrieved 2009-05-19.

[1] [1]

[1]

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