1997 Indy Lights season
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]
Calendar
Race summaries
Homestead race
Held March 2 at Homestead-Miami Speedway. Hélio Castro-Neves won the pole.
Top Five Results
Long Beach race
Held April 13 at Long Beach, California Street Course. Hélio Castro-Neves won the pole.
Top Five Results
Gateway race
Held May 24 at Gateway International Raceway. Chris Simmons won the pole.
Top Five Results
Portland race
Held June 22 at Portland International Raceway. Hélio Castro-Neves won the pole.
Top Five Results
- Hideki Noda
- Hélio Castro-Neves
- Tony Kanaan
- Cristophe Tinseau
- Cristiano da Matta
Toronto race
Held July 20 at Exhibition Place. Tony Kanaan won the pole.
Top Five Results
- Hélio Castro-Neves
- Tony Kanaan
- David Empringham
- Didier André
- Cristophe Tinseau
Trois-Rivières race
Held August 3 at the Trois-Rivières, Quebec Street Circuit. Mark Hotchkis won the pole.
Top Five Results
- Tony Kanaan
- Mark Hotchkis
- Cristophe Tinseau
- Cristiano da Matta
- David Empringham
Laguna Seca race
Held September 7 at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca. Tony Kanaan won the pole.
Top Five Results
Fontana race
Held September 27 at The California Speedway. Clint Mears won the pole.
Top Five Results
Final points standings
Driver
For every race the points were awarded: 20 points to the winner, 16 for runner-up, 14 for third place, 12 for fourth place, 10 for fifth place, 8 for sixth place, 6 seventh place, winding down to 1 points for 12th place. Additional points were awarded to the pole winner (1 point) and to the driver leading the most laps (1 point).
| Place | Name | Country | Team | Total Points |  | | | | | | | | .svg.png.webp){kind=small} | | | | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Tony Kanaan |  Brazil | Tasman Motorsports | 156 | 8 | 10 | 10 | - | 3 | 14 | 22 | 14 | 17 | 21 | 16 | 17 | 4 |
| 2 | Hélio Castro-Neves | Brazil | Tasman Motorsports | 152 | 1 | 22 | 12 | 22 | 14 | 1 | 16 | 18 | 21 | - | - | 14 | 11 |
| 3 | Cristiano da Matta | Brazil | Brian Stewart Racing | 141 | - | 16 | 20 | - | 16 | 12 | - | 10 | - | 12 | 22 | 21 | 12 |
| 4 | David Empringham | Canada | Forsythe Racing | 107 | 20 | 3 | 4 | - | 12 | 16 | 12 | 6 | 14 | 10 | 10 | - | - |
| 5 | Chris Simmons | United States | Team Green | 88 | 14 | 12 | 18 | - | 11 | - | 5 | - | - | - | 12 | - | 16 |
| Lee Bentham | Canada | Forsythe Racing | 88 | 10 | - | - | 14 | 21 | 4 | - | 5 | - | 5 | 5 | 10 | 14 | |
| 7 | Mark Hotchkis | United States | Team Green | 74 | 13 | 14 | - | - | - | 6 | 8 | - | - | 17 | 2 | 12 | 2 |
| 8 | Clint Mears | United States | Team Mears | 53 | 1 | - | 6 | - | 2 | 22 | - | - | - | 1 | - | - | 21 |
| 9 | Hideki Noda |  Japan | Indy Regency Racing | 51 | - | - | - | 8 | - | - | - | 20 | - | 8 | 14 | 1 | - |
| Airton Daré | Brazil | Brian Stewart Racing | 51 | 2 | 8 | 5 | 5 | 8 | 2 | - | - | 4 | 4 | 6 | 2 | 5 | |
| 11 | Christophe Tinseau |  France | Conquest Racing | 49 | - | - | - | 1 | 1 | - | 2 | 12 | 10 | 14 | - | 8 | 1 |
| 12 | Fredrik Larsson |  Sweden | Johansson Motorsports | 43 | 16 | - | 14 | 3 | - | 10 | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| 13 | Luiz Garcia Jr. | Brazil | Dorricott Racing | 38 | - | - | - | 12 | - | - | 4 | 8 | - | - | 8 | 3 | 3 |
| 14 | Robby Unser | United States | PacWest Lights | 35 | 5 | 6 | 3 | - | 6 | 8 | 1 | - | 6 | - | - | - | - |
| Didier André | France | Autosport Racing | 35 | - | 5 | - | 4 | - | - | - | - | 12 | 6 | 3 | 5 | - | |
| 16 | Naoki Hattori | Japan | Team Green | 32 | - | - | - | 10 | - | - | 6 | - | 8 | - | - | - | 8 |
| 17 | Geoff Boss | United States | Team Medlin | 30 | 3 | - | - | - | - | - | 14 | 3 | - | 2 | 4 | 4 | - |
| 18 | Sérgio Paese | Brazil | FRE Racing | 27 | - | - | - | 16 | - | - | 10 | 1 | - | - | - | - | - |
| 19 | David DeSilva | United States | Lucas Place Motorsports | 17 | - | 1 | 8 | - | 5 | - | 3 | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| 20 | Oswaldo Negri Jr. | Brazil | Genoa Racing | 15 | - | - | - | 6 | - | - | - | 4 | 5 | - | - | - | - |
| 21 | Jaques Lazier | United States | Brian Stewart Racing | 12 | - | 2 | 1 | - | 4 | 5 | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| Brian Cunningham | United States | Brian Stewart Racing | 12 | 6 | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | |||
| Lucas Place Motorsports | 6 | - | |||||||||||||||
| 23 | Casey Mears | United States | Team Mears | 9 | 4 | - | - | - | - | 3 | - | 2 | - | - | - | - | - |
| 24 | Jeff Ward | United States | Johansson Motorsports | 6 | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | 6 |
| 25 | Shigeaki Hattori | Japan | Lucas Place Motorsports | 5 | - | 4 | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | 1 | - | - |
| 26 | Bob Dorrichott Jr. | United States | Dorricott Racing | 4 | - | - | - | 2 | - | - | - | - | 2 | - | - | - | - |
| Frédéric Gosparini | France | Brian Stewart Racing | 4 | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | 1 | 3 | - | - | - | |
| 28 | Andrew Bordin | Canada | Bordin Racing | 3 | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | 3 | - | - | - | - |
| 29 | Chris Bingham | United States | Leading Edge Motorsports | 2 | - | - | 2 | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
Complete Overview
| first column of every race | 10 | = grid position |
| second column of every race | 10 | = race result |
R23=retired, but classified NS=did not start NQ=did not qualify
| Place | Name | Country | Team | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |||||||||||||
| 1 | Tony Kanaan | Brazil | Tasman Motorsports | 10 | 6 | 8 | 5 | 10 | 5 | 2 | R23 | 5 | 10 | 5 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 4 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 1 | 6 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 9 |
| 2 | Hélio Castro-Neves | Brazil | Tasman Motorsports | 1 | 14 | 1 | 1 | 8 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 6 | 3 | 6 | 12 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 7 | R20 | 3 | R19 | 3 | 3 | 4 | 5 |
| 3 | Cristiano da Matta | Brazil | Brian Stewart Racing | 9 | 21 | 3 | 2 | 3 | 1 | 19 | R21 | 7 | 2 | 8 | 4 | 10 | R26 | 8 | 5 | 3 | R18 | 8 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 10 | 4 |
| 4 | David Empringham | Canada | Forsythe Racing | 5 | 1 | 2 | 10 | 25 | 9 | 6 | R14 | 10 | 4 | 14 | 2 | 5 | 4 | 11 | 7 | 6 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 8 | 5 | 4 | R26 | 2 | R13 |
| 5 | Chris Simmons | United States | Team Green | 3 | 3 | 4 | 4 | 1 | 2 | 14 | 16 | 1 | 5 | 19 | 17 | 6 | 8 | 19 | 13 | 5 | R21 | 2 | 15 | 4 | 4 | 8 | R28 | 6 | 2 |
| Lee Bentham | Canada | Forsythe Racing | 6 | 5 | 7 | 14 | 9 | R22 | 10 | 3 | 4 | 1 | 17 | 9 | 16 | 22 | 9 | 8 | 13 | R27 | 17 | 8 | 14 | 8 | 7 | 5 | 5 | 3 | |
| 7 | Mark Hotchkis | United States | Team Green | 2 | 4 | 5 | 3 | 12 | R23 | 11 | 17 | 2 | R22 | 25 | 7 | 9 | 6 | 12 | 16 | 4 | R17 | 1 | 2 | 5 | 11 | 5 | 4 | 11 | 11 |
| 8 | Clint Mears | United States | Team Mears | 18 | 12 | 27 | 18 | 5 | 7 | 25 | R18 | 13 | 11 | 1 | 1 | 23 | 18 | - | NS | 26 | 13 | 22 | 12 | 28 | 14 | 26 | NS | 1 | 1 |
| 9 | Hideki Noda | Japan | Indy Regency Racing | 21 | 18 | 11 | R19 | 22 | 16 | 7 | 6 | 19 | 16 | 12 | 14 | 22 | 14 | 2 | 1 | 8 | R15 | 5 | 6 | 2 | 3 | 20 | 12 | - | - |
| Airton Daré | Brazil | Brian Stewart Racing | 13 | 11 | 18 | 6 | 11 | 8 | 12 | 8 | 8 | 6 | 2 | 11 | 15 | 13 | 15 | 20 | 19 | 9 | 14 | 9 | 17 | 7 | 24 | 11 | 12 | 8 | |
| 11 | Christophe Tinseau | France | Conquest Racing | 15 | R25 | 17 | R26 | 15 | 14 | 9 | 12 | 11 | 12 | 20 | 21 | 12 | 11 | 5 | 4 | 12 | 5 | 6 | 3 | 7 | R18 | 6 | 6 | 13 | 12 |
| 12 | Fredrik Larsson | Sweden | Johansson Motorsports | 8 | 2 | 16 | R22 | 4 | 3 | 13 | 10 | 14 | R24 | 16 | 5 | 4 | R25 | 22 | 22 | 22 | R28 | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| 13 | Luiz Garcia Jr. | Brazil | Dorricott Racing | 23 | 16 | 6 | 15 | 13 | R24 | 3 | 4 | 18 | 17 | 21 | 19 | 11 | 9 | 3 | 6 | 17 | R25 | 15 | R23 | 9 | 6 | 12 | 10 | 16 | 10 |
| 14 | Robby Unser | United States | PacWest Lights | 14 | 8 | 15 | 7 | 21 | 10 | 18 | R22 | 9 | 7 | 4 | 6 | 17 | 12 | 20 | 14 | 14 | 7 | 16 | R19 | 18 | R21 | 19 | R22 | 19 | R16 |
| Didier André | France | Autosport Racing | 19 | 22 | 13 | 8 | 17 | R25 | 5 | 9 | 16 | 20 | 24 | 18 | 19 | 21 | 6 | R25 | 7 | 4 | 11 | 7 | 15 | 10 | 11 | 8 | - | - | |
| 16 | Naoki Hattori | Japan | Team Green | 7 | 13 | - | NS | 18 | 15 | 15 | 5 | 17 | 14 | 18 | 13 | 7 | 7 | 13 | R24 | 15 | 6 | 13 | R24 | 10 | R15 | 13 | R20 | 9 | 6 |
| 17 | Geoff Boss | United States | Team Medlin | 17 | 10 | 9 | R24 | 20 | 17 | 20 | R20 | 22 | 21 | 13 | 20 | 3 | 3 | 21 | 10 | 27 | 14 | 21 | 11 | 21 | 9 | 22 | 9 | - | - |
| 18 | Sérgio Paese | Brazil | FRE Racing | - | NS | 22 | R20 | - | - | 4 | 2 | 15 | 18 | 23 | R24 | 8 | 5 | 7 | 12 | 9 | R23 | 10 | R25 | 20 | R27 | 9 | 13 | - | - |
| 19 | David DeSilva | United States | Lucas Place Motorsports | 4 | 17 | 20 | 12 | 2 | 6 | 26 | NQ | 3 | 8 | 2 | R25 | 13 | 10 | 14 | R26 | 16 | R24 | 9 | R26 | 11 | R17 | 23 | 17 | - | - |
| 20 | Oswaldo Negri Jr. | Brazil | Genoa Racing | - | - | 12 | R27 | - | - | 17 | 7 | - | - | - | - | - | - | 10 | 9 | 20 | 8 | 25 | R21 | 19 | R20 | 17 | R27 | - | - |
| 21 | Jaques Lazier | United States | Brian Stewart Racing | - | - | 19 | 11 | 19 | 12 | 21 | R24 | 23 | 9 | 7 | 8 | 20 | 23 | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| Brian Cunningham | United States | Brian Stewart Racing | 11 | 7 | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | |||||||
| Lucas Place Motorsports | 23 | R25 | 10 | 7 | 8 | R14 | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| 23 | Casey Mears | United States | Team Mears | 12 | 9 | 23 | 17 | 24 | 13 | 24 | 13 | 24 | 13 | 10 | 10 | 21 | 25 | 23 | 11 | 21 | R20 | 26 | 17 | 27 | R16 | 29 | 19 | 15 | R15 |
| 24 | Jeff Ward | United States | Johansson Motorsports | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | 22 | R22 | 27 | 15 | 17 | 7 |
| 25 | Shigeaki Hattori | Japan | Lucas Place Motorsports | - | - | 10 | 9 | 6 | 20 | 8 | R15 | 12 | R23 | 9 | 16 | 14 | 24 | 16 | 23 | 11 | R26 | 12 | 14 | 12 | 12 | 18 | 14 | 18 | R18 |
| 26 | Bob Dorrichott Jr. | United States | Dorricott Racing | 25 | R24 | 14 | R21 | - | - | 16 | 11 | 20 | 19 | 3 | R23 | 18 | 16 | 17 | 15 | 25 | 11 | 18 | 16 | 13 | 13 | 14 | R21 | 7 | R20 |
| Frédéric Gosparini | France | Project Indy | - | - | - | NS | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | |||||||||||
| Brian Stewart Racing | 23 | 12 | 19 | 10 | 16 | R24 | 15 | R23 | 14 | R19 | |||||||||||||||||||
| 28 | Andrew Bordin | Canada | Bordin Racing | 22 | R23 | 26 | R23 | - | - | - | - | - | - | 11 | 15 | 24 | 17 | 18 | 17 | 10 | 10 | 24 | 13 | 26 | R23 | 21 | 16 | - | - |
| 29 | Chris Bingham | United States | Leading Edge Motorsports | 20 | 15 | 25 | 13 | 14 | 11 | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | 26 | 21 | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| - | Rodolfo Lavín Jr. |  Mexico | Indy Regency Racing | 16 | 20 | 21 | 16 | 16 | R21 | 22 | R25 | 21 | 15 | 15 | 22 | 25 | 19 | 24 | 19 | 24 | R22 | 23 | R22 | 24 | R26 | 25 | R25 | 20 | R17 |
| - | Eric Jensen | Canada | Auto Sport Racing | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | 28 | R16 | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| - | Claude Bourbonnais | Canada | Eclipse Racing | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | 18 | R19 | 20 | 18 | 25 | R28 | 28 | 18 | - | - |
| - | John Jones | Canada | Eclipse Racing | 24 | 19 | 24 | R25 | 23 | 19 | 23 | 19 | - | - | - | - | 26 | 20 | 25 | 18 | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| - | Jean-Philippe Belloc | France | Auto Sport Racing | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | 16 | R24 | - | - |
| - | Philipp Sager |  Austria | Project Indy | - | NS | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
References
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