1997 Molson Indy Vancouver

The 1997 Molson Indy Vancouver was the 15th round of the 1997 CART season. At that time, the Italian driver Alex Zanardi was the leader of the standings with 39 points in front of the French-Brazilian driver Gil de Ferran.

Starting Grid

1. Alex Zanardi 54.025 seconds
2. Bobby Rahal 54.351 seconds
3. Jimmy Vasser 54.386 seconds
4. Michael Andretti 54.419 seconds
5. Maurício Gugelmin 54.505 seconds
6. Bryan Herta 54.542 seconds
7. Gil de Ferran 54.553 seconds
8. Mark Blundell 54.600 seconds
9. Greg Moore 54.614 seconds
10. Dario Franchitti 54.655 seconds
11. Scott Pruett 54.750 seconds
12. Raul Boesel 55.052 seconds
13. André Ribeiro 55.090 seconds
14. Christian Fittipaldi 55.118 seconds
15. Michel Jourdain, Jr. 55.183 seconds
16. Adrian Fernandez 55.315 seconds
17. Paul Tracy 55.535 seconds
18. Parker Johnstone 55.635 seconds
19. Max Papis 55.930 seconds
20. Roberto Moreno 55.962 seconds
21. Richie Hearn 56.027 seconds
22. Al Unser, Jr. 56.028 seconds
23. Christian Danner 56.068 seconds
24. Juan Manuel Fangio II 56.241 seconds
25. PJ Jones 56.373 seconds
26. Hiro Matsushita 58.508 seconds
27. Dennis Vitolo 1:02:557
28. Gualter Salles No time

Race

First 30 laps

At the start, Dennis Vitolo stalled his engine at turn 3. But he continued in the race. The Penske Racing driver Paul Tracy had a collision with a driver at the chicane. The driver, probably, was André Ribeiro. First caution came out, as Dennis Vitolo had a contact with a tyre wall. PJ Jones went to the pits at the time of the full course caution. Restart came out very soon, but Michel Jourdain, Jr. was spun by Al Unser, Jr. in the final corner. But he was back on the field. After 9 laps, the top 6 was: Alex Zanardi, Bobby Rahal, Jimmy Vasser, Maurício Gugelmin, Michael Andretti and Bryan Herta. At lap 16, Zanardi missed the hairpin. When he would come back to the race, his engine had stalled. But he remained in the race, although, lost many positions. At lap 20, PJ Jones retired due to an engine failure. At lap 26, Vasser took the lead after overtaking Rahal at turn 10.

Lap 31 - Lap 60

At lap 35, Bobby Rahal retired after a transmission failure. At lap 47, Richie Hearn was hit by Michel Jourdain, Jr. at turn 10. This caused a full course caution. Restart came out at lap 53. At lap 54, Alex Zanardi hit Bryan Herta at turn 10, and, at the chicane, Scott Pruett had hit the back of the car of Adrian Fernandez. Another catuion. Restart came out at lap 57.

Lap 61 - Lap 80

Then, Greg Moore had some damages in his right-front suspension at lap 64. At lap 68, Zanardi did an amazing overtaking manoeuvre on Michael Andretti at Turn 3 (The hairpin). Right after this, Andretti suffered problems on his suspension, and retired from the race.

Last 20 laps

With 18 laps to go, Alex Zanardi stalled his engine at the hairpin (Turn 3) again. He came back to the race at 10th place. The top 6 at the following lap was: Bryan Herta, Maurício Gugelmin, Jimmy Vasser, Al Unser, Jr., Gil de Ferran and Mark Blundell. With 14 laps to go, Zanardi knocked Herta out at the chicane, right after the hairpin. Despite the collision, Herta did not retire. At the last lap, Christian Fittipaldi crashed at turn 10 and retired, but was classified 9th.

Final Results

1. Maurício Gugelmin
2. Jimmy Vasser
3. Gil de Ferran
4. Alex Zanardi
5. Al Unser, Jr.
6. Raul Boesel
7. Mark Blundell
8. Bryan Herta
9. Christian Fittipaldi retired, but was classified
10. André Ribeiro +1 lap
11. Parker Johnstone +1 lap
12. Juan Manuel Fangio II +2 laps
13. Dario Franchitti retired, but was classified
14. Hiro Matsushita +6 laps
15. Roberto Moreno Steering
16. Michael Andretti Contact
17. Greg Moore Contact
18. Scott Pruett Contact
19. Adrian Fernandez Contact
20. Max Papis Clutch
21. Michel Jourdain, Jr. Contact
22. Richie Hearn Contact
23. Christian Danner Engine
24. Bobby Rahal Transmission
25. PJ Jones Engine
26. Gualter Salles Contact
27. Dennis Vitolo Contact
28. Paul Tracy Contact

Notes

1. After his collision with Bryan Herta, Alex Zanardi was fined after the race.
2. This was the last time that CART had run in Vancouver's original track. From 1998, CART had used another track.
3. Maurício Gugelmin won for the first and only time in his CART career.

References