# 1998 Honda Indy 300

The 1998 Honda Indy 300 was the eighteenth and penultimate round of the 1998 CART World Series Season, held on 18 October 1998 on the Surfers Paradise Street Circuit, Surfers Paradise, Queensland, Australia. Alex Zanardi won the race, his 15th and final CART victory, after taking the lead from polesitter Dario Franchitti at the first round of pitstops.

## Qualifying results

| Pos | Name | Team | Chassis | Time |
| 1 | Dario Franchitti | Team Green | Reynard 98i Honda | 1:32.288 |
| 2 | Alex Zanardi | Chip Ganassi Racing | Reynard 98i Honda | 1:32.310 |
| 3 | Christian Fittipaldi | Newman-Haas Racing | Swift 009.c Ford-Cosworth | 1:32.501 |
| 4 | Paul Tracy | Team Green | Reynard 98i Honda | 1:32.583 |
| 5 | Bryan Herta | Team Rahal | Reynard 98i Ford-Cosworth | 1:32.588 |
| 6 | Michael Andretti | Newman-Haas Racing | Swift 009.c Ford-Cosworth | 1:32.613 |
| 7 | Jimmy Vasser | Chip Ganassi Racing | Reynard 98i Honda | 1:32.676 |
| 8 | Gil de Ferran | Walker Racing | Reynard 98i Honda | 1:32.851 |
| 9 | Greg Moore | Forsythe Racing | Reynard 98i Mercedes-Benz | 1:32.919 |
| 10 | Adrián Fernández | Patrick Racing | Reynard 98i Ford-Cosworth | 1:33.019 |
| 11 | Bobby Rahal | Team Rahal | Reynard 98i Ford-Cosworth | 1:33.068 |
| 12 | Scott Pruett | Patrick Racing | Reynard 98i Ford-Cosworth | 1:33.236 |
| 13 | Max Papis | Arciero-Wells Racing | Reynard 98i Toyota | 1:33.375 |
| 14 | Tony Kanaan | Tasman Motorsports | Reynard 98i Honda | 1:33.543 |
| 15 | JJ Lehto | Hogan Racing | Reynard 98i Mercedes-Benz | 1:33.669 |
| 16 | Patrick Carpentier | Forsythe Racing | Reynard 98i Mercedes-Benz | 1:33.819 |
| 17 | Mark Blundell | PacWest Racing | Reynard 98i Mercedes-Benz | 1:33.820 |
| 18 | Hélio Castroneves | Bettenhausen Racing | Reynard 98i Mercedes-Benz | 1:34.012 |
| 19 | Al Unser Jr. | Team Penske | Penske PC27 Mercedes-Benz | 1:34.260 |
| 20 | Robby Gordon | Arciero-Wells Racing | Reynard 98i Toyota | 1:34.344 |
| 21 | Maurício Gugelmin | PacWest Racing | Reynard 98i Mercedes-Benz | 1:34.375 |
| 22 | André Ribeiro | Team Penske | Penske PC27 Mercedes-Benz | 1:34.474 |
| 23 | Richie Hearn | Della Penna Motorsports | Swift 009.c Ford-Cosworth | 1:34.511 |
| 24 | Arnd Meier | Davis Racing | Lola T98/00 Ford-Cosworth | 1:34.534 |
| 25 | Michel Jourdain Jr. | Payton/Coyne Racing | Reynard 98i Ford-Cosworth | 1:35.109 |
| 26 | Alex Barron | All American Racers | Eagle 987 Toyota | 1:35.285 |
| 27 | Vincenzo Sospiri | All American Racers | Eagle 987 Toyota | 1:36.561 |
| DNQ | Dennis Vitolo | Payton/Coyne Racing | Reynard 97i Ford-Cosworth | 1:38.726 |

## Classification
### Race

| Pos | No | Driver | Team | Laps | Time/retired | Grid | Points |
| 1 | 1 | Alex Zanardi | Chip Ganassi Racing | 62 | 2:01:51.170 | 2 | 20+1 |
| 2 | 27 | Dario Franchitti | Team Green | 62 | +0.322 | 1 | 16+1 |
| 3 | 11 | Christian Fittipaldi | Newman-Haas Racing | 62 | +1.029 | 3 | 14 |
| 4 | 20 | Scott Pruett | Patrick Racing | 62 | +6.388 | 12 | 12 |
| 5 | 9 | JJ Lehto | Hogan Racing | 62 | +10.792 | 15 | 10 |
| 6 | 40 | Adrián Fernández | Patrick Racing | 62 | +11.153 | 10 | 8 |
| 7 | 21 | Tony Kanaan | Tasman Motorsports Group | 62 | +11.680 | 14 | 6 |
| 8 | 99 | Greg Moore | Forsythe Racing | 62 | +13.792 | 9 | 5 |
| 9 | 33 | Patrick Carpentier | Forsythe Racing | 62 | +15.821 | 16 | 4 |
| 10 | 8 | Bryan Herta | Team Rahal | 62 | +16.020 | 5 | 3 |
| 11 | 18 | Mark Blundell | PacWest Racing Group | 62 | +19.870 | 17 | 2 |
| 12 | 17 | Maurício Gugelmin | PacWest Racing Group | 62 | +20.170 | 21 | 1 |
| 13 | 3 | André Ribeiro | Team Penske | 62 | +20.729 | 22 | |
| 14 | 5 | Gil de Ferran | Walker Racing | 62 | +22.072 | 8 | |
| 15 | 98 | Vincenzo Sospiri | All American Racing | 62 | +22.808 | 27 | |
| 16 | 24 | Robby Gordon | Arciero-Wells Racing | 62 | +23.747 | 20 | |
| 17 | 25 | Max Papis | Arciero-Wells Racing | 61 | Electrical | 13 | |
| 18 | 10 | Richie Hearn | Della Penna Motorsports | 60 | +2 Laps | 23 | |
| 19 | 36 | Alex Barron | All American Racing | 59 | Contact | 26 | |
| 20 | 6 | Michael Andretti | Newman-Haas Racing | 59 | Contact | 6 | |
| 21 | 16 | Hélio Castro-Neves | Bettenhausen Racing | 54 | Contact | 18 | |
| 22 | 2 | Al Unser Jr. | Team Penske | 53 | +9 Laps | 19 | |
| 23 | 26 | Paul Tracy | Team Green | 45 | Contact | 4 | |
| 24 | 12 | Jimmy Vasser | Chip Ganassi Racing | 38 | Contact | 7 | |
| 25 | 7 | Bobby Rahal | Team Rahal | 19 | Contact | 11 | |
| 26 | 19 | Michel Jourdain Jr. | Payton/Coyne Racing | 11 | Contact | 25 | |
| 27 | 77 | Arnd Meier | Davis Racing | 4 | Oil leak | 24 | |
| DNQ | 34 | Dennis Vitolo | Payton/Coyne Racing | | Did not Qualify | | |

## Caution flags

| Laps | Cause |
| 14–16 | Jourdain Jr. (19) contact |
| 21–24 | Rahal (7) contact |
| 36–37 | Tire wall problem |
| 40–41 | Castro-Neves (16), Vasser (12) contact |
| 43–44 | Hearn (10) spin |
| 56–58 | Castro-Neves (16) contact |
| 61–62 | Barron (36), Andretti (6), Hearn (10) contact |

## Lap Leaders

| Laps | Leader |
| 1–13 | Dario Franchitti |
| 14–62 | Alex Zanardi |
| Driver | Laps led |
| Alex Zanardi | 49 |
| Dario Franchitti | 13 |

## Point standings after race

| Pos | Driver | Points |
| 1 | Alex Zanardi | 271 |
| 2 | Dario Franchitti | 160 |
| 3 | Jimmy Vasser | 148 |
| 4 | Adrián Fernández | 142 |
| 5 | Greg Moore | 125 |