Jump to content

1998 Indy Lights season

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
(Redirected from 1998 in Indy Lights)
1998 Indy Lights season
PPG/Dayton Indy Lights Championship
Season
Races14
Start dateMarch 15
End dateOctober 31
Awards
Drivers' championBrazil Cristiano da Matta
← 1997
1999 →

The 1998 CART PPG/Dayton Indy Lights Championship consisted of 14 races. Future 2002 CART champion and Formula One driver Cristiano da Matta captured four wins on his way to the championship.

Team and driver chart

[edit]

The following drivers and teams competed in the series:

Team No. Drivers Round(s)
Brian Stewart Racing 4 Brazil Sérgio Paese 14
3 1–11
Belgium Wim Eyckmans 12–14
5 Sweden Mattias Andersson 1–3
Brazil Luiz Garcia Jr. 4–14
Conquest Racing 11 United States Andy Boss All
21 Brazil Felipe Giaffone All
Dorricott Racing 30 United States Bud Kaeding 4–5, 10, 14
31 Austria Philipp Peter All
32 Spain Oriol Servià All
Genoa Racing 61 Canada Eric Jensen 2
United States Cory Witherill 7, 12–14
Indy Regency Racing 16 Japan Shigeaki Hattori All
28 Mexico Rodolfo Lavín 1–7, 9–10, 12–13
Irish Motorsports / Bordin Racing 56 United States Tim Moser 2
Johansson Motorsports 6 United Kingdom Guy Smith All
7 Brazil Luiz Garcia Jr. 1–2
Lucas Place Motorsports 14 United States Geoff Boss All
15 United States Brian Cunningham All
Mattco Raceworks 77 United States Tony Renna 1–11, 13–14
United States Mark Hotchkis 12
78 3–6
United States Chris Simmons 1–2, 7–14
79 United States Mark Hotchkis 14
Mears Racing Team 8 United States Clint Mears 1, 3–6, 8, 10, 13–14
9 United States Casey Mears 1–6, 8, 10, 13–14
PacWest Lights 17 Australia Paul Morris 1–12
United States Paul Jasper 14
18 France Didier André All
Quaker State Team Go

Herdez Competition Team

87 Mexico Jorge Goeters 1–11, 14
Mexico Mario Domínguez 12–13
88 Republic of Ireland Derek Higgins All
Tasman Motorsports 1 Brazil Airton Daré All
2 Brazil Cristiano da Matta All
Team KOOL Green 26 United States Mark Hotchkis 11
27 Japan Naoki Hattori All
Team Rahal 41 United States Mike Borkowski All

Schedule

[edit]
Rd. Date Track Location
1 March 15  O  Homestead-Miami Speedway Homestead, Florida
2 April 5  R  Long Beach Street Circuit Long Beach, California
3 April 27  O  Nazareth Speedway Nazareth, Pennsylvania
4 May 23  O  Gateway International Raceway Madison, Illinois
5 May 31  O  Milwaukee Mile West Allis, Wisconsin
6 June 7  R  The Raceway at Belle Isle Park Detroit, Michigan
7 June 21  R  Portland International Raceway Portland, Oregon
8 July 12  R  Cleveland Burke Lakefront Airport Cleveland, Ohio
9 July 19  R  Exhibition Place Toronto, Ontario
10 July 25  O  Michigan International Speedway Brooklyn, Michigan
11 August 2  R  Circuit Trois-Rivières Trois-Rivières, Quebec
12 September 6  R  Streets of Vancouver Vancouver, British Columbia
13 September 13  R  Laguna Seca Raceway Monterey, California
14 October 31  O  California Speedway Fontana, California

Race results

[edit]
Round Circuit Pole position Fastest lap Most laps led Race Winner
Driver Team
1 United States Homestead-Miami Speedway Brazil Sérgio Paese Japan Shigeaki Hattori Japan Shigeaki Hattori Japan Shigeaki Hattori Indy Regency Racing
2 United States Long Beach Street Circuit France Didier André Brazil Cristiano da Matta Brazil Cristiano da Matta Brazil Cristiano da Matta Tasman Motorsports
3 United States Nazareth Speedway Brazil Cristiano da Matta Brazil Cristiano da Matta Brazil Cristiano da Matta Brazil Cristiano da Matta Tasman Motorsports
4 United States Gateway International Raceway Mexico Jorge Goeters[a] Japan Shigeaki Hattori Japan Shigeaki Hattori Japan Shigeaki Hattori Indy Regency Racing
5 United States Milwaukee Mile Brazil Sérgio Paese Republic of Ireland Derek Higgins Republic of Ireland Derek Higgins Republic of Ireland Derek Higgins Herdez Competition Team
6 United States The Raceway at Belle Isle Park Brazil Airton Daré Brazil Airton Daré Brazil Airton Daré Brazil Airton Daré Tasman Motorsports
7 United States Portland International Raceway United Kingdom Guy Smith France Didier André United Kingdom Guy Smith United Kingdom Guy Smith Johansson Motorsports
8 United States Cleveland Burke Lakefront Airport Brazil Luiz Garcia Jr. Brazil Sérgio Paese Brazil Luiz Garcia Jr. Brazil Luiz Garcia Jr. Brian Stewart Racing
9 Canada Exhibition Place United Kingdom Guy Smith Brazil Luiz Garcia Jr. United Kingdom Guy Smith United Kingdom Guy Smith Johansson Motorsports
10 United States Michigan International Speedway United States Tony Renna Brazil Sérgio Paese United States Tony Renna United States Tony Renna Mattco Raceworks
11 Canada Circuit Trois-Rivières Brazil Cristiano da Matta Brazil Cristiano da Matta Brazil Cristiano da Matta Brazil Cristiano da Matta Tasman Motorsports
12 Canada Streets of Vancouver Brazil Cristiano da Matta Brazil Cristiano da Matta Brazil Cristiano da Matta Brazil Cristiano da Matta Tasman Motorsports
13 United States Laguna Seca Raceway France Didier André United States Chris Simmons France Didier André France Didier André PacWest Lights
14 United States California Speedway United States Tony Renna Brazil Airton Daré United States Tony Renna United States Mark Hotchkis Mattco Raceworks

Race summaries

[edit]

Homestead race

[edit]
Top Five Finishers
Fin.
Pos
St.
Pos
Car
No.
Driver Team Laps Time Laps
Led
Points
1 2 16 Japan Shigeaki Hattori Indy Regency Racing 67 52:35.077 64 21
2 4 2 Brazil Cristiano da Matta Tasman Motorsports 67 +0.468 0 16
3 7 6 United Kingdom Guy Smith Johansson Motorsports 67 +1.420 0 14
4 6 32 Spain Oriol Servià Dorricott Racing 67 +5.534 0 12
5 9 78 United States Chris Simmons Mattco Raceworks 67 +6.853 0 10
Race average speed: 114.825 mph (184.793 km/h)
Lead changes: 1 between 2 drivers
Cautions: 3 for 21 laps

Long Beach race

[edit]
Top Five Finishers
Fin.
Pos
St.
Pos
Car
No.
Driver Team Laps Time Laps
Led
Points
1 2 2 Brazil Cristiano da Matta Tasman Motorsports 47 49:20.748 47 21
2 4 14 United States Geoff Boss Lucas Place Motorsports 47 +0.459 0 16
3 6 27 Japan Naoki Hattori Team KOOL Green 47 +1.083 0 14
4 5 31 Austria Philipp Peter Dorricott Racing 47 +3.378 0 12
5 1 18 France Didier André PacWest Lights 47 +7.317 0 11
Race average speed: 89.951 mph (144.762 km/h)
Lead changes: none
Cautions: 2 for 6 laps

Nazareth race

[edit]
Top Five Finishers
Fin.
Pos
St.
Pos
Car
No.
Driver Team Laps Time Laps
Led
Points
1 1 2 Brazil Cristiano da Matta Tasman Motorsports 100 55:56.268 100 22
2 9 18 France Didier André PacWest Lights 100 +14.174 0 16
3 8 9 United States Casey Mears Mears Racing Team 100 +14.745 0 14
4 5 15 United States Brian Cunningham Lucas Place Motorsports 100 +17.914 0 12
5 11 1 Brazil Airton Daré Tasman Motorsports 100 +18.725 0 10
Race average speed: 101.470 mph (163.300 km/h)
Lead changes: none
Cautions: 2 for 30 laps

Gateway race

[edit]

Held May 23 at Gateway International Raceway. Jorge Goeters won the pole. No qualifying held due to rain. The line up was based on combined practice times.

Top Five Results

  1. Shigeaki Hattori
  2. Philipp Peter
  3. Cristiano da Matta
  4. Felipe Giaffone
  5. Jorge Goeters

Milwaukee race

[edit]

Held May 31 at The Milwaukee Mile. Sérgio Paese won the pole.

Top Five Results

  1. Derek Higgins
  2. Felipe Giaffone
  3. Sérgio Paese
  4. Geoff Boss
  5. Tony Renna

Detroit race

[edit]

Held June 7 at Belle Isle Raceway. Airton Daré won the pole.

Top Five Results

  1. Airton Daré
  2. Cristiano da Matta
  3. Geoff Boss
  4. Mark Hotchkis
  5. Didier André

Portland race

[edit]

Held June 21 at Portland International Raceway. Guy Smith won the pole.

Top Five Results

  1. Guy Smith
  2. Felipe Giaffone
  3. Luiz Garcia Jr.
  4. Airton Daré
  5. Brian Cunningham

Cleveland race

[edit]

Held July 12 at Burke Lakefront Airport. Luiz Garcia Jr. won the pole.

Top Five Results

  1. Luiz Garcia Jr.
  2. Derek Higgins
  3. Didier André
  4. Guy Smith
  5. Tony Renna

Toronto race

[edit]

Held July 19 at Exhibition Place. Guy Smith won the pole.

Top Five Results

  1. Guy Smith
  2. Naoki Hattori
  3. Chris Simmons
  4. Philipp Peter
  5. Didier André

Michigan race

[edit]

Held July 25 at Michigan International Speedway. Tony Renna won the pole.

Top Five Results

  1. Tony Renna
  2. Cristiano da Matta
  3. Sérgio Paese
  4. Andy Boss
  5. Oriol Servià

Trois-Rivières race

[edit]

Held August 2 at the Trois-Rivières, Quebec Street Circuit. Cristiano da Matta won the pole.

Top Five Results

  1. Cristiano da Matta
  2. Oriol Servià
  3. Naoki Hattori
  4. Guy Smith
  5. Didier André

Vancouver race

[edit]

Held September 6 at Pacific Place. Cristiano da Matta won the pole.

Top Five Results

  1. Cristiano da Matta
  2. Derek Higgins
  3. Airton Daré
  4. Mike Borkowski
  5. Felipe Giaffone

Laguna Seca race

[edit]

Held September 13 at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca. Didier André won the pole.

Top Five Results

  1. Didier André
  2. Oriol Servià
  3. Derek Higgins
  4. Geoff Boss
  5. Naoki Hattori

Fontana race

[edit]

Held October 31 at The California Speedway. Tony Renna won the pole.

Top Five Results

  1. Mark Hotchkis
  2. Felipe Giaffone
  3. Tony Renna
  4. Cory Witherill
  5. Didier André


Championship standings

[edit]

Drivers' championship

[edit]
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
GAT
United States
MIL
United States
DET
United States
POR
United States
CLE
United States
TOR
Canada
MIC
United States
TRO
Canada
VAN
Canada
LAG
United States
FON
United States
Points
1 Brazil Cristiano da Matta 2 1* 1* 3 10 2 20 22 15 2 1* 1* 22 11 154
2 France Didier André 14 5 2 12 15 5 8 3 5 7 5 6 1* 5 123
3 United Kingdom Guy Smith 3 8 21 11 22 8 1* 4 1* 6 4 8 15 10 110
4 Brazil Felipe Giaffone 19 24 8 4 2 9 2 8 6 9 6 5 18 2 104
5 Republic of Ireland Derek Higgins 7 21 15 6 1* 12 10 2 17 13 10 2 3 7 94
6 Brazil Airton Daré 17 9 5 9 8 1* 4 13 8 19 21 3 11 15 78
7 Spain Oriol Servià 4 19 13 16 14 6 21 6 10 5 2 19 2 25 73
8 United States Tony Renna DNS 12 10 22 5 15 12 5 21 1* 20 8 3* 68
9 United States Geoff Boss 9 2 12 15 4 3 11 20 19 14 19 7 4 18 67
10 Japan Naoki Hattori 18 3 7 8 12 23 16 17 2 16 3 17 5 17 66
11 Austria Philipp Peter 11 4 19 2 9 10 22 7 4 23 11 9 16 12 62
12 Brazil Luiz Garcia Jr. 22 10 20 11 21 3 1* 11 15 12 16 6 6 60
13 Brazil Sérgio Paese 21 6 20 10 3 22 6 18 9 3 13 26 53
14 Japan Shigeaki Hattori 1* 11 14 1* 21 20 18 21 16 20 16 13 9 9 52
15 United States Mark Hotchkis 9 21 7 4 7 11 1 50
16 Mexico Jorge Goeters 16 15 11 51 6 16 9 9 7 21 15 20 34
17 United States Casey Mears 10 13 3 7 16 19 10 11 21 8 33
18 United States Brian Cunningham 12 22 4 23 20 7 5 12 14 22 18 10 20 24 33
19 United States Chris Simmons 5 23 14 15 3 10 8 18 13 14 32
20 United States Andy Boss 13 16 6 13 17 14 19 11 13 4 14 22 14 13 22
21 Australia Paul Morris 6 20 22 18 24 13 7 19 20 Wth 9 20 18
22 United States Mike Borkowski 20 25 16 19 18 11 15 14 12 18 17 4 17 23 15
23 United States Cory Witherill 13 15 12 4 13
24 United States Clint Mears DNS 18 17 19 17 16 8 10 22 8
25 Sweden Mattias Andersson 15 7 17 6
26 Mexico Mario Domínguez 14 7 6
27 Mexico Rodolfo Lavín 8 18 DNS 24 13 18 17 18 17 21 23 5
28 United States Bud Kaeding 14 23 12 16 1
29 Belgium Wim Eyckmans 12 19 19 1
30 United States Tim Moser 14 0
31 Canada Eric Jensen 17 0
32 United States Paul Jasper 21 0
Pos Driver HMS
United States
LBH
United States
NAZ
United States
GAT
United States
MIL
United States
DET
United States
POR
United States
CLE
United States
TOR
Canada
MIC
United States
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.

Footnotes

[edit]
  1. ^ Qualifying was cancelled due to rain. The grid was set by practice times, and no bonus point was awarded.