1998 Indy Lights season


1998 Indy Lights season
PPG/Dayton Indy Lights Championship
Season
Races14
Start dateMarch 15
End dateOctober 31
Awards
Drivers' champion Cristiano da Matta

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.

The scoring system was 20-16-14-12-10-8-6-5-4-3-2-1 points awarded to the first 12 (twelve) finishers, with 1 (one) extra point given to the driver who took pole-position, and another extra point given to the driver who led most laps in the race.

Team and driver chart

The following drivers and teams competed in the series:

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

Herdez Competition Team

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

Schedule

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

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

Race summaries

Homestead race

Top Five Finishers
Fin.
Pos		 St.
Pos		 Car
No.		 Driver Team Laps Time Laps
Led		 Points
1 2 16 Shigeaki Hattori Indy Regency Racing 67 52:35.077 64 21
2 4 2 Cristiano da Matta Tasman Motorsports 67 +0.468 0 16
3 7 6 Guy Smith Johansson Motorsports 67 +1.420 0 14
4 6 32 Oriol Servià Dorricott Racing 67 +5.534 0 12
5 9 78 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

Top Five Finishers
Fin.
Pos		 St.
Pos		 Car
No.		 Driver Team Laps Time Laps
Led		 Points
1 2 2 Cristiano da Matta Tasman Motorsports 47 49:20.748 47 21
2 4 14 Geoff Boss Lucas Place Motorsports 47 +0.459 0 16
3 6 27 Naoki Hattori Team KOOL Green 47 +1.083 0 14
4 5 31 Philipp Peter Dorricott Racing 47 +3.378 0 12
5 1 18 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

Top Five Finishers
Fin.
Pos		 St.
Pos		 Car
No.		 Driver Team Laps Time Laps
Led		 Points
1 1 2 Cristiano da Matta Tasman Motorsports 100 55:56.268 100 22
2 9 18 Didier André PacWest Lights 100 +14.174 0 16
3 8 9 Casey Mears Mears Racing Team 100 +14.745 0 14
4 5 15 Brian Cunningham Lucas Place Motorsports 100 +17.914 0 12
5 11 1 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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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