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

The 1997 CART PPG World Series season was the nineteenth in the Championship Auto Racing Teams (CART) era of American open-wheel car racing. It 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. Mercedes-Benz won their first and only CART engine-manufacturer's title.

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. 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 was the first season since 1983 not to feature 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 XD	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 96i Reynard 97i	Mercedes IC108D	F	99	Greg Moore	All	Player's

Season summary

Schedule

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

– 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 Road/Street course

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	Homestead	Alex Zanardi	Michael Andretti	Michael Andretti	Newman/Haas Racing	Swift	Ford	1:38:45	Report
2	Surfers Paradise	Alex Zanardi	Alex Zanardi	Scott Pruett	Patrick Racing	Reynard	Ford	2:01:04	Report
3	Long Beach	Gil de Ferran	Alex Zanardi	Alex Zanardi	Target Chip Ganassi	Reynard	Honda	1:46:17	Report
4	Nazareth	Paul Tracy	Paul Tracy	Paul Tracy	Marlboro Team Penske	Penske	Mercedes	1:53:31	Report
5	Rio	Maurício Gugelmin	Gil de Ferran	Paul Tracy	Marlboro Team Penske	Penske	Mercedes	2:10:47	Report
6	Gateway	Raul Boesel	Dario Franchitti	Paul Tracy	Marlboro Team Penske	Penske	Mercedes	2:37:54	Report
7	Milwaukee	Paul Tracy	Paul Tracy	Greg Moore	Forsythe Racing	Reynard	Mercedes	1:43:32	Report
8	Belle Isle	Gil de Ferran	Dario Franchitti	Greg Moore	Forsythe Racing	Reynard	Mercedes	1:52:45	Report
9	Portland	Scott Pruett	Raul Boesel	Mark Blundell	PacWest	Reynard	Mercedes	2:00:12	Report
10	Cleveland	Alex Zanardi	Alex Zanardi	Alex Zanardi	Target Chip Ganassi	Reynard	Honda	1:41:40	Report
11	Toronto	Dario Franchitti	Mark Blundell	Mark Blundell	PacWest	Reynard	Mercedes	1:45:43	Report
12	Michigan	Scott Pruett	Maurício Gugelmin	Alex Zanardi	Target Chip Ganassi	Reynard	Honda	2:59:35	Report
13	Mid-Ohio	Bryan Herta	Alex Zanardi	Alex Zanardi	Target Chip Ganassi	Reynard	Honda	1:41:16	Report
14	Road America	Maurício Gugelmin	Alex Zanardi	Alex Zanardi	Target Chip Ganassi	Reynard	Honda	1:57:54	Report
15	Vancouver	Alex Zanardi	Alex Zanardi	Maurício Gugelmin	PacWest	Reynard	Mercedes	1:47:17	Report
16	Laguna Seca	Bryan Herta	Mark Blundell	Jimmy Vasser	Target Chip Ganassi	Reynard	Honda	1:41:38	Report
17	Fontana	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

Nations' Cup

Top result per race counts towards Nations' 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 Constructors' 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 Manufacturers' 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