1997 CART PPG World Series

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.

1997 CART season
PPG CART World Series
Season
Races17
Start dateMarch 2
End dateSeptember 28
Awards
Drivers' champion Alex Zanardi
Constructors' Cup Reynard
Manufacturers' Cup Mercedes
Nations' Cup United States
Rookie of the Year 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.

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
Arie Luyendyk 17
Marlboro Team Penske Penske PC-26-97 Ilmor-Mercedes
IC108D		 G 2 Al Unser Jr. All Marlboro
3 Paul Tracy All
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
Roberto Moreno 3–8
Team Rahal Reynard 97i Ford XD G 7 Bobby Rahal All Miller Lite
8 Bryan Herta All Shell
Hogan Racing Reynard 97i Mercedes IC108D F 9 Dario Franchitti (R) 1–16 Hogan Racing
Robby Gordon 17
Bettenhausen Racing Reynard 97i Mercedes IC108D G 16 Patrick Carpentier (R) 1–14, 17 Alumax
Roberto Moreno 15–16
PacWest Reynard 97i Mercedes IC108D F 17 Maurício Gugelmin All Hollywood Cigarettes
18 Mark Blundell All Motorola
Payton/Coyne Racing Reynard 97i Ford XD G 19 Michel Jourdain Jr. 11, 14, 16 Herdez
Lola T97/00 1–10, 12–13, 15, 17
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
Ford XD 40 Raul Boesel All
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
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 1–9
32 Adrian Fernández All Tecate
All American Racing Reynard 96i
Reynard 97i		 Toyota RV8B G 36 Juan Manuel Fangio II All Castrol
98 P. J. Jones All
Project Indy Lola T97/00 Ford XD G 64 Dennis Vitolo 1, 3–4, 15–16 SmithKline Beecham
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
Driver Team Chassis Engine
1 Marlboro Grand Prix of Miami Alex Zanardi Michael Andretti Michael Andretti Newman/Haas Racing Swift Ford 1:38:45 Report
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 Report
4 Bosch Spark Plug Grand Prix Paul Tracy Paul Tracy Paul Tracy Marlboro Team Penske Penske Mercedes 1:53:31 Report
5 Hollywood Rio 400k Maurício Gugelmin Gil de Ferran Paul Tracy Marlboro Team Penske Penske Mercedes 2:10:47 Report
6 Motorola 300 Raul Boesel Dario Franchitti Paul Tracy Marlboro Team Penske Penske Mercedes 2:37:54 Report
7 Miller 200 Paul Tracy Paul Tracy Greg Moore Forsythe Racing Reynard Mercedes 1:43:32 Report
8 ITT Automotive Detroit Grand Prix Gil de Ferran Dario Franchitti Greg Moore Forsythe Racing Reynard Mercedes 1:52:45 Report
9 Budweiser/G.I. Joe's 200 Scott Pruett Raul Boesel Mark Blundell PacWest Reynard Mercedes 2:00:12 Report
10 Medic Drug Grand Prix of Cleveland Alex Zanardi Alex Zanardi Alex Zanardi Target Chip Ganassi Reynard Honda 1:41:40 Report
11 Molson Indy Dario Franchitti Mark Blundell Mark Blundell PacWest Reynard Mercedes 1:45:43 Report
12 U.S. 500 Scott Pruett Maurício Gugelmin Alex Zanardi Target Chip Ganassi Reynard Honda 2:59:35 Report
13 Miller 200 Bryan Herta Alex Zanardi Alex Zanardi Target Chip Ganassi Reynard Honda 1:41:16 Report
14 Texaco/Havoline 200 Maurício Gugelmin Alex Zanardi Alex Zanardi Target Chip Ganassi Reynard Honda 1:57:54 Report
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 Report
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 DNS 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 Wth 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 DNS 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 Wth DNS 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 DNS 17 18 0
33 Paul Jasper  R  23 19 DNS 24 DNS 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)
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

See also

References
  • 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.
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