The 1997 Sunbelt IndyCarnival was the second round of the 1997 CART World Series Season, held on 6 April 1997 on the Surfers Paradise Street Circuit, Surfers Paradise, Queensland, Australia. Scott Pruett won his 2nd and final victory of his career as a driver in CART.

Qualifying results

Pos Nat Name Team Chassis Time 1 Alex Zanardi Chip Ganassi Racing Reynard 97I Honda 1:35.940 2 Paul Tracy Team Penske Penske PC-26-97 Mercedes-Benz 1:36.140 3 Jimmy Vasser Chip Ganassi Racing Reynard 97I Honda 1:36.441 4 Greg Moore Forsythe Racing Reynard 96I Mercedes-Benz 1:36.754 5 Mark Blundell PacWest Reynard 97I Mercedes-Benz 1:36.754 6 Parker Johnstone Team Green Reynard 97I Honda 1:36.772 7 Scott Pruett Patrick Racing Reynard 97I Ford XD Cosworth 1:36.831 8 Maurício Gugelmin PacWest Reynard 97I Mercedes-Benz 1:36.896 9 Christian Fittipaldi Newman-Haas Racing Swift 007.i Ford XD Cosworth 1:36.945 10 Bobby Rahal Team Rahal Reynard 97I Ford XD Cosworth 1:37.078 11 Gil de Ferran Walker Racing Reynard 97I Honda 1:37.324 12 Michael Andretti Newman-Haas Racing Swift 007.i Ford XD Cosworth 1:37.371 13 Dario Franchitti Hogan Racing Reynard 97I Mercedes-Benz 1:37.592 14 André Ribeiro Tasman Motorsports Lola T97/00 Honda 1:37.646 15 Adrián Fernández Tasman Motorsports Lola T97/00 Honda 1:37.819 16 Bryan Herta Team Rahal Reynard 97I Ford XB Cosworth 1:37.895 17 Al Unser Jr. Team Penske Penske PC-26-97 Mercedes-Benz 1:38.218 18 Gualter Salles Davis Racing Reynard 97I Ford XD Cosworth 1:38.325 19 Raul Boesel Patrick Racing Reynard 97I Ford XD Cosworth 1:38.521 20 Richie Hearn Della Penna Motorsports Lola T97/00 Ford XD Cosworth 1:38.990 21 Patrick Carpentier Bettenhausen Racing Reynard 97I Mercedes-Benz 1:39.595 22 Max Papis Arciero-Wells Racing Reynard 97I Toyota 1:39.927 23 Juan Manuel Fangio II All American Racing Reynard 96I Toyota 1:39.981 24 Paul Jasper Payton/Coyne Racing Lola T97/00 Ford XD Cosworth 1:40.138 25 P. J. Jones All American Racing Reynard 96I Toyota 1:40.505 26 Michel Jourdain Jr. Payton/Coyne Racing Lola T97/00 Ford XD Cosworth 1:41.871 27 Arnd Meier Project Indy Lola T97/00 Ford XD Cosworth 1:42.316 28 Hiro Matsushita Arciero-Wells Racing Reynard 97I Toyota 1:42.795

Race

Pos No Driver Team Laps Time/retired Grid Points 1 20 Scott Pruett Patrick Racing 57 2:01:04.678 7 20 2 99 Greg Moore Forsythe Racing 57 +0.7 secs 4 16 3 6 Michael Andretti Newman-Haas Racing 57 +11.3 secs 12 14 4 4 Alex Zanardi Chip Ganassi Racing 57 +14.8 secs 1 13 5 5 Gil de Ferran Walker Racing 57 +15.6 secs 11 10 6 31 André Ribeiro Tasman Motorsports 57 +16.8 secs 14 8 7 40 Raul Boesel Patrick Racing 57 +17.6 secs 19 6 8 18 Mark Blundell PacWest Racing 57 +18.2 secs 5 5 9 9 Dario Franchitti Hogan Racing 57 +23.6 secs 13 4 10 7 Bobby Rahal Team Rahal 57 +25.9 secs 11 3 11 32 Adrián Fernández Tasman Motorsports 57 +29.7 secs 15 2 12 1 Jimmy Vasser Chip Ganassi Racing 57 +30.2 secs 3 1 13 10 Richie Hearn Della Penna Motorsports 57 +38.2 secs 20 14 25 Max Papis Arciero-Wells Racing 57 +39.5 secs 22 15 16 Patrick Carpentier Bettenhausen Racing 57 +41.8 secs 21 16 64 Arnd Meier Project Indy 57 +58.1 secs 27 17 17 Maurício Gugelmin PacWest 57 +1:14.1 secs 8 18 19 Michel Jourdain Jr. Payton/Coyne Racing 43 Transmission 26 19 3 Paul Tracy Team Penske 41 Contact 2 1 20 36 Juan Manuel Fangio II All American Racing 37 Fire 23 21 27 Parker Johnstone Team Green 35 Broken wheel 6 22 8 Bryan Herta Team Rahal 29 Contact 16 23 34 Paul Jasper Payton/Coyne Racing 24 Broken transmission 24 24 77 Gualter Salles Davis Racing 17 Contact 18 25 24 Hiro Matsushita Arciero-Wells Racing 16 Electrical 28 26 98 P. J. Jones All American Racing 15 Fire 25 27 2 Al Unser Jr. Team Penske 10 Lost wheel 17 DNS 11 Christian Fittipaldi Newman-Haas Racing 9 Christian Fittipaldi started the race but broke his leg in a massive crash on Lap 2. Because the race was restarted, the first start was considered void and thus Fittipaldi was not classified starting the race.

Racing Statistics

Average Speed 85.328 mph Race statistics

Lap Leaders Laps Leader 1–18 Alex Zanardi 19-39 Paul Tracy 40-41 Arnd Meier 42-57 Scott Pruett

Cautions: 7 for 30 laps Laps Reason Pace Laps Gil de Ferran, Christian Fittipaldi, Michel Jourdain Jr. crash turn 1 6-9 Gualter Salles spun 9-13 Michel Jourdain Jr., Richie Hearn accident 19-23 Gualter Salles accident 30-33 Bryan Herta, Mark Blundell, Parker Johnstone accident 38-41 Juan Manuel Fangio II engine 41-44 Paul Tracy, Alex Zanardi accident 49-52 Mauricio Gugelmin spun

External links Full Weekend Times & Results