# 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.

## Team and driver chart

The following drivers and teams competed in the series:
| Team | No. | Drivers | Round(s) |
| Autosport Racing | 5 | Eric Jensen | 9 |
| Autosport Racing | 57 | Didier André | 1–12 |
| Autosport Racing | 75 | Jean-Philippe Belloc | 12 |
| Bordin Racing | 56 | Andrew Bordin | 1–2, 6–12 |
| Brian Stewart Racing | 2 | Airton Daré | All |
| Brian Stewart Racing | 3 | Cristiano da Matta | All |
| Brian Stewart Racing | 34 | Jaques Lazier | 2–7 |
| Brian Stewart Racing | 34 | Frédéric Gosparini | 9–13 |
| Brian Stewart Racing | 63 | Brian Cunningham | 1 |
| Conquest Racing | 21 | Christophe Tinseau | All |
| Dorricott Racing | 31 | Luiz Garcia Jr. | All |
| Dorricott Racing | 32 | Bob Dorricott Jr. | All |
| Eclipse Racing | 20 | John Jones | 1–4, 7–8 |
| Eclipse Racing | 20 | Claude Bourbonnais | 9–12 |
| FRE Racing | 4 | Sérgio Paese | 1–2, 4–12 |
| Forsythe Racing | 33 | David Empringham | All |
| Forsythe Racing | 99 | Lee Bentham | All |
| Genoa Racing | 97 | Oswaldo Negri Jr. | 2, 4, 8–12 |
| Indy Regency Racing | 28 | Hideki Noda | 1–12 |
| Indy Regency Racing | 77 | Rodolfo Lavín | All |
| Johansson Motorsports | 36 | Fredrik Larsson | 1–9 |
| Johansson Motorsports | 70 | Jeff Ward | 11–13 |
| Leading Edge Motorsports | 5 | Chris Bingham | 1–3, 8 |
| Lucas Place Motorsports | 5 | Brian Cunningham | 11–13 |
| Lucas Place Motorsports | 16 | Shigeaki Hattori | 2–13 |
| Lucas Place Motorsports | 24 | David DeSilva | All |
| PacWest Lights | 18 | Robby Unser | All |
| Project Indy | 15 | Philipp Sager | 1 |
| Project Indy | 15 | Frédéric Gosparini | 2 |
| Tasman Motorsports | 7 | Tony Kanaan | All |
| Tasman Motorsports | 8 | Hélio Castroneves | All |
| Team Green | 25 | Naoki Hattori | All |
| Team Green | 26 | Chris Simmons | All |
| Team Green | 27 | Mark Hotchkis | All |
| Team Mears | 10 | Casey Mears | All |
| Team Mears | 11 | Clint Mears | All |
| Team Medlin | 12 | Geoff Boss | 1–12 |

## Schedule

| Rd. | Date | Track | Location |
| 1 | March 2 | O Homestead-Miami Speedway | Homestead, Florida |
| 2 | April 13 | R Long Beach Street Circuit | Long Beach, California |
| 3 | April 27 | O Nazareth Speedway | Nazareth, Pennsylvania |
| 4 | May 18 | R Grand Prize of America Road Course | Savannah, Georgia |
| 5 | May 24 | O Gateway International Raceway | Madison, Illinois |
| 6 | June 1 | O Milwaukee Mile | West Allis, Wisconsin |
| 7 | June 8 | R The Raceway at Belle Isle Park | Detroit, Michigan |
| 8 | June 22 | R Portland International Raceway | Portland, Oregon |
| 9 | July 20 | R Exhibition Place | Toronto, Ontario |
| 10 | August 3 | R Circuit Trois-Rivières | Trois-Rivières, Quebec |
| 11 | August 31 | R Streets of Vancouver | Vancouver, British Columbia |
| 12 | September 7 | R Laguna Seca Raceway | Monterey, California |
| 13 | September 27 | O California Speedway | Fontana, California |

## Race results

| Round | Circuit | Pole position | Fastest lap | Most laps led | Race Winner | Race Winner |
| Round | Circuit | Pole position | Fastest lap | Most laps led | Driver | Team |
| 1 | Homestead-Miami Speedway | Hélio Castroneves | Mark Hotchkis | Mark Hotchkis | David Empringham | Forsythe Racing |
| 2 | Long Beach Street Circuit | Hélio Castroneves | Cristiano da Matta | Hélio Castroneves | Hélio Castroneves | Tasman Motorsports |
| 3 | Nazareth Speedway | Chris Simmons | David DeSilva | Chris Simmons | Cristiano da Matta | Brian Stewart Racing |
| 4 | Grand Prize of America Road Course | Hélio Castroneves | Not announced | Hélio Castroneves | Hélio Castroneves | Tasman Motorsports |
| 5 | Gateway International Raceway | Chris Simmons | Cristiano da Matta | Lee Bentham | Lee Bentham | Forsythe Racing |
| 6 | Milwaukee Mile | Clint Mears | Clint Mears | Clint Mears | Clint Mears | Team Mears |
| 7 | The Raceway at Belle Isle Park | Tony Kanaan | Hélio Castroneves | Tony Kanaan | Tony Kanaan | Tasman Motorsports |
| 8 | Portland International Raceway | Hélio Castroneves | Oswaldo Negri Jr. | Hélio Castroneves | Hideki Noda | Indy Regency Racing |
| 9 | Exhibition Place | Tony Kanaan | Christophe Tinseau | Hélio Castroneves | Hélio Castroneves | Tasman Motorsports |
| 10 | Circuit Trois-Rivières | Mark Hotchkis | Mark Hotchkis | Tony Kanaan | Tony Kanaan | Tasman Motorsports |
| 11 | Streets of Vancouver | Cristiano da Matta | Hideki Noda | Cristiano da Matta | Cristiano da Matta | Brian Stewart Racing |
| 12 | Laguna Seca Raceway | Tony Kanaan | Cristiano da Matta | Cristiano da Matta | Cristiano da Matta | Brian Stewart Racing |
| 13 | California Speedway | Clint Mears | Cristiano da Matta | Hélio Castroneves | Clint Mears | Team Mears |

## Championship standings
### Drivers' championship
#### 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 | LBH | NAZ | SAV | GAT | MIL | DET | POR | TOR | TRO | VAN | LAG | FON | Points |
| 1 | Tony Kanaan | 6 | 5 | 5 | 23 | 10 | 3 | 1* | 3 | 2 | 1* | 2 | 2 | 9 | 156 |
| 2 | Hélio Castroneves | 14 | 1* | 4 | 1* | 3 | 12 | 2 | 2* | 1* | 20 | 19 | 3 | 5* | 152 |
| 3 | Cristiano da Matta | 21 | 2 | 1 | 21 | 2 | 4 | 26 | 5 | 18 | 4 | 1* | 1* | 4 | 141 |
| 4 | David Empringham | 1 | 10 | 9 | 14 | 4 | 2 | 4 | 7 | 3 | 5 | 5 | 26 | 13 | 107 |
| 5 | Lee Bentham | 5 | 14 | 22 | 3 | 1* | 9 | 22 | 8 | 27 | 8 | 8 | 5 | 3 | 88 |
| 6 | Chris Simmons | 3 | 4 | 2* | 16 | 5 | 17 | 8 | 13 | 21 | 15 | 4 | 28 | 2 | 88 |
| 7 | Mark Hotchkis | 4* | 3 | 23 | 17 | 22 | 7 | 6 | 16 | 17 | 2 | 11 | 4 | 11 | 74 |
| 8 | Clint Mears | 12 | 18 | 7 | 18 | 11 | 1* | 18 | DNS | 13 | 12 | 14 | DNS | 1 | 53 |
| 9 | Hideki Noda | 18 | 19 | 16 | 6 | 16 | 14 | 14 | 1 | 15 | 6 | 3 | 12 | | 51 |
| 10 | Airton Daré | 11 | 6 | 8 | 8 | 6 | 11 | 13 | 20 | 9 | 9 | 7 | 11 | 8 | 51 |
| 11 | Christophe Tinseau | 25 | 26 | 14 | 12 | 12 | 21 | 11 | 4 | 5 | 3 | 18 | 6 | 12 | 49 |
| 12 | Fredrik Larsson | 2 | 22 | 3 | 10 | 24 | 5 | 25 | 22 | 28 | | | | | 43 |
| 13 | Luiz Garcia Jr. | 16 | 15 | 24 | 4 | 17 | 19 | 9 | 6 | 25 | 23 | 6 | 10 | 10 | 38 |
| 14 | Didier André | 22 | 8 | 25 | 9 | 20 | 18 | 21 | 25 | 4 | 7 | 10 | 8 | | 35 |
| 15 | Robby Unser | 8 | 7 | 10 | 22 | 7 | 6 | 12 | 14 | 7 | 19 | 21 | 22 | 16 | 35 |
| 16 | Naoki Hattori | 13 | DNS | 15 | 5 | 14 | 13 | 7 | 24 | 6 | 24 | 15 | 20 | 6 | 32 |
| 17 | Geoff Boss | 10 | 24 | 17 | 20 | 21 | 20 | 3 | 10 | 14 | 11 | 9 | 9 | | 30 |
| 18 | Sérgio Paese | DNS | 20 | | 2 | 18 | 24 | 5 | 12 | 23 | 25 | 27 | 13 | | 27 |
| 19 | David DeSilva | 17 | 12 | 6 | DNQ | 8 | 25 | 10 | 26 | 24 | 26 | 17 | 17 | | 17 |
| 20 | Oswaldo Negri Jr. | | 27 | | 7 | | | | 9 | 8 | 21 | 20 | 27 | | 15 |
| 21 | Brian Cunningham | 7 | | | | | | | | | | 25 | 7 | 14 | 12 |
| 22 | Jaques Lazier | | 11 | 12 | 24 | 9 | 8 | 23 | | | | | | | 12 |
| 23 | Casey Mears | 9 | 17 | 13 | 13 | 13 | 10 | 25 | 11 | 20 | 17 | 16 | 19 | 15 | 9 |
| 24 | Jeff Ward | | | | | | | | | | | 22 | 15 | 7 | 6 |
| 25 | Shigeaki Hattori | | 9 | 20 | 15 | 23 | 16 | 24 | 23 | 26 | 14 | 12 | 14 | 18 | 5 |
| 26 | Frédéric Gosparini | | DNS | | | | | | | 12 | 10 | 24 | 23 | 19 | 4 |
| 27 | Bob Dorricott Jr. | 24 | 21 | 18 | 11 | 19 | 23 | 16 | 15 | 11 | 16 | 13 | 21 | 20 | 4 |
| 28 | Andrew Bordin | 23 | 23 | | | | 15 | 17 | 17 | 10 | 13 | 23 | 16 | | 3 |
| 29 | Chris Bingham | 15 | 13 | 11 | | | | | 21 | | | | | | 2 |
| 30 | Rodolfo Lavín | 20 | 16 | 21 | 25 | 15 | 22 | 19 | 19 | 22 | 22 | 26 | 25 | 17 | 0 |
| 31 | Eric Jensen | | | | | | | | | 16 | | | | | 0 |
| 32 | Claude Bourbonnais | | | | | | | | | 19 | 18 | 28 | 18 | | 0 |
| 33 | John Jones | 19 | 25 | 19 | 19 | | | 20 | 18 | | | | | | 0 |
| 34 | Jean-Philippe Belloc | | | | | | | | | | | | 24 | | 0 |
| 35 | Philipp Sager | DNS | | | | | | | | | | | | | 0 |
| Pos | Driver | HMS | LBH | NAZ | SAV | GAT | MIL | DET | POR | TOR | TRO | VAN | LAG | FON | 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) |
| Blank | 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.