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.
This was the first season where all teams used the Lola T97/20-Buick spec car.
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: TeamDriversRound(s)Autosport Racing5 Eric Jensen957 Didier André1–1275 Jean-Philippe Belloc12Bordin Racing56 Andrew Bordin1–2, 6–12Brian Stewart Racing2 Airton DaréAll3 Cristiano da MattaAll34 Jaques Lazier2–7 Frédéric Gosparini9–1363 Brian Cunningham1Conquest Racing21 Christophe TinseauAllDorricott Racing31 Luiz Garcia Jr.All32 Bob Dorricott Jr.AllEclipse Racing20 John Jones1–4, 7–8 Claude Bourbonnais9–12FRE Racing4 Sérgio Paese1–2, 4–12Forsythe Racing33 David EmpringhamAll99 Lee BenthamAllGenoa Racing97 Oswaldo Negri Jr.2, 4, 8–12Indy Regency Racing28 Hideki Noda1–1277 Rodolfo LavínAllJohansson Motorsports36 Fredrik Larsson1–970 Jeff Ward11–13Leading Edge Motorsports5 Chris Bingham1–3, 8Lucas Place Motorsports5 Brian Cunningham11–1316 Shigeaki Hattori2–1324 David DeSilvaAllPacWest Lights18 Robby UnserAllProject Indy15 Philipp Sager1 Frédéric Gosparini2Tasman Motorsports7 Tony KanaanAll8 Hélio CastronevesAllTeam Green25 Naoki HattoriAll26 Chris SimmonsAll27 Mark HotchkisAllTeam Mears10 Casey MearsAll11 Clint MearsAllTeam Medlin12 Geoff Boss1–12
Schedule Rd.DateTrackLocation1March 2 Homestead-Miami SpeedwayHomestead, Florida2April 13 Long Beach Street CircuitLong Beach, California3April 27 Nazareth SpeedwayNazareth, Pennsylvania4May 18 Grand Prize of America Road CourseSavannah, Georgia5May 24 Gateway International RacewayMadison, Illinois6June 1 Milwaukee MileWest Allis, Wisconsin7June 8 The Raceway at Belle Isle ParkDetroit, Michigan8June 22 Portland International RacewayPortland, Oregon9July 20 Exhibition PlaceToronto, Ontario10August 3 Circuit Trois-RivièresTrois-Rivières, Quebec11August 31 Streets of VancouverVancouver, British Columbia12September 7 Laguna Seca RacewayMonterey, California13September 27 California SpeedwayFontana, California
Race results RoundCircuitPole positionFastest lapMost laps ledRace WinnerDriverTeam1 Homestead-Miami Speedway Hélio Castroneves Mark Hotchkis Mark Hotchkis David EmpringhamForsythe Racing2 Long Beach Street Circuit Hélio Castroneves Cristiano da Matta Hélio Castroneves Hélio CastronevesTasman Motorsports3 Nazareth Speedway Chris Simmons David DeSilva Chris Simmons Cristiano da MattaBrian Stewart Racing4 Grand Prize of America Road Course Hélio CastronevesNot announced Hélio Castroneves Hélio CastronevesTasman Motorsports5 Gateway International Raceway Chris Simmons Cristiano da Matta Lee Bentham Lee BenthamForsythe Racing6 Milwaukee Mile Clint Mears Clint Mears Clint Mears Clint MearsTeam Mears7 The Raceway at Belle Isle Park Tony Kanaan Hélio Castroneves Tony Kanaan Tony KanaanTasman Motorsports8 Portland International Raceway Hélio Castroneves Oswaldo Negri Jr. Hélio Castroneves Hideki NodaIndy Regency Racing9 Exhibition Place Tony Kanaan Christophe Tinseau Hélio Castroneves Hélio CastronevesTasman Motorsports10 Circuit Trois-Rivières Mark Hotchkis Mark Hotchkis Tony Kanaan Tony KanaanTasman Motorsports11 Streets of Vancouver Cristiano da Matta Hideki Noda Cristiano da Matta Cristiano da MattaBrian Stewart Racing12 Laguna Seca Raceway Tony Kanaan Cristiano da Matta Cristiano da Matta Cristiano da MattaBrian Stewart Racing13 California Speedway Clint Mears Cristiano da Matta Hélio Castroneves Clint MearsTeam Mears
Championship standings
Drivers' championship
Scoring system
Position 1st 2nd 3rd 4th 5th 6th 7th 8th 9th 10th 11th 12th Points20161412108654321
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.
PosDriverHMSLBHNAZSAVGATMILDETPORTORTROVANLAGFONPoints1 Tony Kanaan 6 5 5 23 10 3 1* 3 2 1* 2 2 91562 Hélio Castroneves 14 1* 4 1* 3 12 2 2* 1* 20 19 3 5*1523 Cristiano da Matta 21 2 1 21 2 4 26 5 18 4 1* 1* 41414 David Empringham 1 10 9 14 4 2 4 7 3 5 5 26 131075 Lee Bentham 5 14 22 3 1* 9 22 8 27 8 8 5 3886 Chris Simmons 3 4 2* 16 5 17 8 13 21 15 4 28 2887 Mark Hotchkis 4* 3 23 17 22 7 6 16 17 2 11 4 11748 Clint Mears 12 18 7 18 11 1* 18DNS 13 12 14DNS 1539 Hideki Noda 18 19 16 6 16 14 14 1 15 6 3 125110 Airton Daré 11 6 8 8 6 11 13 20 9 9 7 11 85111 Christophe Tinseau 25 26 14 12 12 21 11 4 5 3 18 6 124912 Fredrik Larsson 2 22 3 10 24 5 25 22 284313 Luiz Garcia Jr. 16 15 24 4 17 19 9 6 25 23 6 10 103814 Didier André 22 8 25 9 20 18 21 25 4 7 10 83515 Robby Unser 8 7 10 22 7 6 12 14 7 19 21 22 163516 Naoki Hattori 13DNS 15 5 14 13 7 24 6 24 15 20 63217 Geoff Boss 10 24 17 20 21 20 3 10 14 11 9 93018 Sérgio PaeseDNS 20 2 18 24 5 12 23 25 27 132719 David DeSilva 17 12 6 DNQ 8 25 10 26 24 26 17 171720 Oswaldo Negri Jr. 27 7 9 8 21 20 271521 Brian Cunningham 7 25 7 141222 Jaques Lazier 11 12 24 9 8 231223 Casey Mears 9 17 13 13 13 10 25 11 20 17 16 19 15924 Jeff Ward 22 15 7625 Shigeaki Hattori 9 20 15 23 16 24 23 26 14 12 14 18526 Frédéric GospariniDNS 12 10 24 23 19427 Bob Dorricott Jr. 24 21 18 11 19 23 16 15 11 16 13 21 20428 Andrew Bordin 23 23 15 17 17 10 13 23 16329 Chris Bingham 15 13 11 21230 Rodolfo Lavín 20 16 21 25 15 22 19 19 22 22 26 25 17031 Eric Jensen 16032 Claude Bourbonnais 19 18 28 18033 John Jones 19 25 19 19 20 18034 Jean-Philippe Belloc 24035 Philipp SagerDNS0PosDriverHMSLBHNAZSAVGATMILDETPORTORTROVANLAGFONPointsColorResultGoldWinnerSilver2nd placeBronze3rd placeGreen4th & 5th placeLight Blue6th–10th placeDark BlueFinished (Outside Top 10)PurpleDid not finishRedDid not qualify (DNQ)BrownWithdrawn (Wth)BlackDisqualified (DSQ)WhiteDid not start (DNS)BlankDid not participate (DNP)Not competingIn-line notationBoldPole position(1 point)ItalicsRan fastest race lap*Led most race laps (2 points)1Qualifying cancelled no bonus point awarded
Ties in points broken by number of wins, or best finishes.
References