1998 Indy Lights season

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.

Calendar

Race No	Track	State	Date	Laps	Distance	Time	Speed	Winner	Pole Position	Most Leading Laps	Fastest Race Lap
1	Homestead	Florida	March 15, 1998	67	2.41395=161.73465 km	0'52:35.077	184.542 km/h	Shigeaki Hattori	Sérgio Paese	Shigeaki Hattori	Shigeaki Hattori
2	Long Beach	California	April 5, 1998	47	2.533=119.051 km	0'49:20.748	144.755 km/h	Cristiano da Matta	Didier André	Cristiano da Matta	Cristiano da Matta
3	Nazareth	Pennsylvania	April 27, 1998	100	1.5223978=152.23978 km	0'55:56.268	163.295 km/h	Cristiano da Matta	Cristiano da Matta	Cristiano da Matta	Cristiano da Matta
4	Madison	Illinois	May 23, 1998	79	2.011625=158.918375 km	0'55:21.083	172.265 km/h	Shigeaki Hattori	Jorge Goeters	Shigeaki Hattori	Shigeaki Hattori
5	Milwaukee	Wisconsin	May 31, 1998	97	1.6607976=161.0973672 km	0'51:59.624	185.904 km/h	Derek Higgins	Sérgio Paese	Derek Higgins	Derek Higgins
6	Detroit	Michigan	June 7, 1998	32	3.775=120.813 km	0'50:29.610	143.559 km/h	Airton Daré	Airton Daré	Airton Daré	Airton Daré
7	Portland	Oregon	June 21, 1998	38	3.169=120.411 km	0'56:53.931	126.974 km/h	Didier André	Guy Smith	Guy Smith	Didier André
8	Cleveland	Ohio	July 12, 1998	36	3.3891858=122.0106888 km	0'44:36.384	164,116 km/h	Luiz Garcia, Jr.	Luiz Garcia, Jr.	Luiz Garcia, Jr.	Sérgio Paese
9	Toronto	Canada	July 19, 1998	43	2.7696053=119.093028 km	0'47:59.761	148.879 km/h	Guy Smith	Guy Smith	Guy Smith	Luiz Garcia, Jr.
10	Brooklyn	Michigan	July 25, 1998	50	3.2186=160.93 km	0'45:34.943	211.832 km/h	Tony Renna	Tony Renna	Tony Renna	Sérgio Paese
11	Trois-Rivières	Canada	August 2, 1998	50	2.4477453=122.387265 km	0'58:16.612	126.006 km/h	Cristiano da Matta	Cristiano da Matta	Cristiano da Matta	Cristiano da Matta
12	Vancouver	Canada	September 6, 1998	42	2.8999586=121.798261 km	0'59:26.074	122.957 km/h	Cristiano da Matta	Cristiano da Matta	Cristiano da Matta	Cristiano da Matta
13	Monterey	California	September 13, 1998	34	3.6016134=122.454856 km	0'49:53.011	147.289 km/h	Didier André	Didier André	Didier André	Chris Simmons
14	Fontana	California	October 31, 1998	50	3.2186=141.6184 km	0'39:40.916	214.130 km/h	Mark Hotchkis	Tony Renna	Tony Renna	Airton Daré

Race summaries

Homestead race

• March 15, 1998
• Homestead-Miami Speedway, Miami, Florida
• Pole position: Sérgio Paese, 0:30.098, 179.653 mph (289.123 km/h)

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

• April 5, 1998
• Long Beach Grand Prix, Long Beach, California
• Pole position: Didier André, 0:57.108, 99.223 mph (159.684 km/h)

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

• April 27, 1998
• Nazareth Speedway, Nazareth, Pennsylvania
• Pole position: Cristiano da Matta, 0:22.408, 151.981 mph (244.590 km/h)

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

Final points standings

Driver

For every race the points were awarded: 20 points to the winner, 16 for runner-up, 14 for third place, 12 for fourth place, 10 for fifth place, 8 for sixth place, 6 seventh place, winding down to 1 points for 12th place. Additional points were awarded to the pole winner (1 point) and to the driver leading the most laps (1 point).

Place	Name	Country	Team	Total Points
1	Cristiano da Matta	Brazil	Tasman Motorsports	154	16	21	22	14	3	16	-	-	-	16	22	22	-	2
2	Didier André	France	PacWest Lights	123	-	11	16	1	-	10	5	14	10	6	10	8	22	10
3	Guy Smith	United Kingdom	Johansson Motorsports	110	14	5	-	2	-	5	22	12	22	8	12	5	-	3
4	Felipe Giaffone	Brazil	Conquest Racing	104	-	-	5	12	16	4	16	5	8	4	8	10	-	16
5	Derek Higgins	Ireland	Quaker State Team Go	94	6	-	-	8	21	1	3	16	-	-	3	16	14	6
6	Airton Daré	Brazil	Tasman Motorsports	78	-	4	10	4	5	22	12	-	5	-	-	14	2	-
7	Oriol Servià	Spain	Dorricott Racing	73	12	-	-	-	-	8	-	8	3	10	16	-	16	-
8	Tony Renna	United States	Mattco Raceworks	68	-	1	3	-	10	-	1	10	-	22	-	-	5	16
9	Geoff Boss	United States	Lucas Place Motorsports	67	4	16	1	-	12	14	2	-	-	-	-	6	12	-
10	Naoki Hattori	Japan	Team KOOL Green	66	-	14	6	5	1	-	-	-	16	-	14	-	10	-
11	Philipp Peter	Austria	Dorricott Racing	62	2	12	-	16	4	3	-	6	12	-	2	4	-	1
12	Luiz Garcia, Jr.	Brazil	Johansson Motorsports	60	-	3	-	-
			Brian Stewart Racing						2	-	14	22	2	-	1	-	8	8
13	Sérgio Paese	Brazil	Brian Stewart Racing	53	1	8	-	3	15	-	8	-	4	14	-	-	-	-
14	Shigeaki Hattori	Japan	Indy Regency Racing	52	21	2	-	21	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	4	4
15	Mark Hotchkis	United States	Mattco Raceworks	50	-	-	4	-	6	12	-	-	-	-	6	2	-	20
16	Jorge Goeters	Mexico	Quaker State Team Go	34	-	-	2	10	8	-	4	4	6	-	-	-	-	-
17	Brian Cunningham	United States	Lucas Place Motorsports	33	1	-	12	-	-	6	10	1	-	-	-	3	-	-
	Casey Mears	United States	Penske Racing	33	3	-	14	6	-	-	-	3	-	2	-	-	-	5
19	Chris Simmons	United States	Mattco Raceworks	32	10	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	14	3	5	-	-	-
20	Andy Boss	United States	Conquest Racing	22	-	-	8	-	-	-	-	2	-	12	-	-	-	-
21	Paul Morris	Australia	PacWest Lights	18	8	-	-	-	-	-	6	-	-	-	4	-	-	-
22	Mike Borkowski	United States	Team Rahal	15	-	-	-	-	-	2	-	-	1	-	-	12	-	-
23	Cory Witherill	United States	Genoa Racing	13	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	1	12
24	Clint Mears	United States	Penske Racing	8	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	5	-	-	3	-
25	Mattias Andersson	Sweden	Brian Stewart Racing	6	-	6	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
	Mario Domínguez	Mexico	Herdez Competition Team	6	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	6	-
27	Rodolfo Lavín, Jr.	Mexico	Indy Regency Racing	5	5	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
28	Bud Kaeding	United States	Dorricott Racing	1	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	1	-	-	-	-
	Wim Eyckmans	Belgium	Brian Stewart Racing	1	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	1	-	-

Note:

Race 4 no additional point for the qualifying were awarded due to rain.

Complete Overview

first column of every race

10

= grid position

second column of every race

10

= race result

R20=retired, but classified NS=did not start NT=no time set in qualifying (3)=place after practice, but grid position not held free

Place	Name	Country	Team
1	Cristiano da Matta	Brazil	Tasman Motorsports	3	2	2	1	1	1	10	3	22	10	2	2	2	R20	3	R22	6	15	15	2	1	1	1	1	8	R22	6	11
2	Didier André	France	PacWest Lights	11	R14	1	5	9	2	7	12	11	15	9	5	3	8	7	3	5	5	10	7	8	5	7	6	1	1	7	5
3	Guy Smith	United Kingdom	Johansson Motorsports	6	3	11	8	15	R21	13	11	9	R22	4	8	1	1	6	4	1	1	4	6	5	4	10	8	4	15	9	10
4	Felipe Giaffone	Brazil	Conquest Racing	10	R19	10	R24	13	8	6	4	5	2	12	9	7	2	13	8	12	6	20	9	7	6	8	5	18	R18	3	2
5	Derek Higgins	Ireland	Quaker State Team Go	15	7	12	R21	6	15	5	6	7	1	13	12	10	10	8	2	14	17	21	13	10	10	3	2	6	3	12	7
6	Airton Daré	Brazil	Tasman Motorsports	13	R17	8	9	11	5	15	9	15	8	1	1	11	4	20	13	16	8	7	R19	17	R21	5	3	19	11	17	15
7	Oriol Servià	Spain	Dorricott Racing	5	4	16	19	2	13	17	16	3	14	10	6	4	R21	2	6	8	10	13	5	2	2	11	R19	3	2	11	R25
8	Tony Renna	United States	Mattco Raceworks	(24)	NS	15	12	10	10	14	R22	2	5	3	15	20	12	10	5	11	R21	1	1	9	R20	-	-	11	8	1	3
9	Geoff Boss	United States	Lucas Place Motorsports	17	9	4	2	18	12	20	15	12	4	7	3	5	11	12	R20	9	19	8	14	4	R19	6	7	9	4	26	18
10	Naoki Hattori	Japan	Team KOOL Green	9	R18	6	3	12	7	11	8	18	12	5	R23	8	16	5	17	3	2	18	16	3	3	12	R17	13	5	23	17
11	Philipp Peter	Austria	Dorricott Racing	14	11	5	4	3	R19	2	2	8	9	8	10	12	R22	9	7	4	4	9	R23	6	11	2	9	2	16	5	12
12	Luiz Garcia, Jr.	Brazil	Johansson Motorsports	21	R22	20	10	-	-
			Brian Stewart Racing							23	20	21	11	18	R21	9	3	1	1	15	11	22	15	21	R12	15	16	10	6	16	6
13	Sérgio Paese	Brazil	Brian Stewart Racing	1	R21	3	6	17	R20	8	10	1	3	23	R22	6	6	4	18	7	9	19	3	20	R13	-	-	-	-	25	R26
14	Shigeaki Hattori	Japan	Indy Regency Racing	2	1	7	11	22	14	3	1	6	R21	16	R20	21	R18	19	R21	18	16	3	R20	11	R16	20	13	15	9	19	9
15	Mark Hotchkis	United States	Mattco Raceworks	-	-	-	-	19	9	4	21	17	7	6	4	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	13	7	17	11	-	-	2	1
16	Jorge Goeters	Mexico	Quaker State Team Go	16	R16	24	15	16	11	1	5	23	6	19	16	18	9	11	9	10	7	17	R21	14	R15	-	-	-	-	22	20
17	Brian Cunningham	United States	Lucas Place Motorsports	4	12	17	R22	5	4	12	R23	14	R20	11	7	15	5	18	12	19	14	12	R22	15	R18	13	10	7	R20	13	R24
	Casey Mears	United States	Penske Racing	12	10	21	13	8	3	16	7	24	16	20	R19	-	-	15	10	-	-	14	11	-	-	-	-	20	R21	18	8
19	Chris Simmons	United States	Mattco Raceworks	8	5	13	R23	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	14	14	14	15	2	3	6	10	12	8	9	R18	5	13	4	14
20	Andy Boss	United States	Conquest Racing	19	13	14	16	7	6	18	13	13	17	17	14	13	R19	17	11	20	13	5	4	19	R14	16	R22	17	14	8	13
21	Paul Morris	Australia	PacWest Lights	18	6	18	R20	14	R22	21	18	10	R24	14	13	17	7	16	R19	13	20	NT	-	16	9	14	R20	-	-	-	-
22	Mike Borkowski	United States	Team Rahal	7	R20	23	R25	20	16	24	19	20	18	15	11	16	15	21	14	17	12	2	R18	18	R17	4	4	22	17	24	R23
23	Cory Witherill	United States	Genoa Racing	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	22	13	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	22	15	23	12	14	4
24	Clint Mears	United States	Penske Racing	(3)	NS	-	-	4	R18	9	17	16	19	22	17	-	-	22	16	-	-	11	8	-	-	-	-	16	10	21	R22
25	Mattias Andersson	Sweden	Brian Stewart Racing	20	R15	9	7	21	R17	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
	Mario Domínguez	Mexico	Herdez Competition Team	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	19	14	14	7	-	-
27	Rodolfo Lavín, Jr.	Mexico	Indy Regency Racing	22	8	22	R18	23	NS	22	R24	19	13	21	18	19	R17	-	-	21	18	23	17	-	-	21	R21	21	R23	-	-
28	Bud Kaeding	United States	Dorricott Racing	-	-	-	-	-	-	19	14	4	R23	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	16	12	-	-	-	-	-	-	15	16
	Wim Eyckmans	Belgium	Brian Stewart Racing	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	18	12	12	R19	10	19
-	Tim Moser	United States	Irish Motorsports/Bordin Racing	-	-	19	14	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
-	Eric Jensen	Canada	Genoa Racing	-	-	25	17	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
-	Paul Jasper	United States	PacWest Lights	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	20	21