1998 Molson Indy Toronto

Canada   1998 Toronto
Race details
Race 11 of 19 in the 1998 CART season

Exhibition Place track layout
Date July 19, 1998
Official name 1998 Molson Indy Toronto
Location Exhibition Place
Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Course Temporary street course
1.755 mi / 2.824 km
Distance 95 laps, 166.725 mi / 268.28 km
Weather Temperatures reaching up to 25 °C (77 °F); wind speeds up to 14 kilometres per hour (8.7 mph)[1]
Pole position
Driver United Kingdom Dario Franchitti Team KOOL Green
Time 58.694
Fastest lap
Driver Brazil Christian Fittipaldi Newman/Haas Racing
Time 59.924 (on lap 75 of 95)
Podium
First Italy Alex Zanardi Chip Ganassi Racing
Second United States Michael Andretti Newman/Haas Racing
Third United States Jimmy Vasser Chip Ganassi Racing

The 1998 Molson Indy Toronto was the eleventh round of the 1998 CART FedEx Champ Car World Series season, held on July 19, 1998 on the streets of Exhibition Place in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Alex Zanardi passed Michael Andretti with three laps to go to win the race, after Andretti had inherited the lead when pole-sitter Dario Franchitti retired due to a brake failure.

Starting Grid

  1. Dario Franchitti (second straight pole in Toronto)
  2. Alex Zanardi
  3. Michael Andretti
  4. Gil de Ferran
  5. Christian Fittipaldi
  6. Jimmy Vasser
  7. Tony Kanaan (R)
  8. Scott Pruett
  9. Bobby Rahal
  10. Paul Tracy
  11. André Ribeiro
  12. Greg Moore
  13. Richie Hearn
  14. Al Unser, Jr.
  15. Mark Blundell
  16. Adrian Fernandez
  17. Bryan Herta
  18. Patrick Carpentier
  19. Mauricio Gugelmin
  20. Max Papis
  21. Hélio Castroneves (R)
  22. Robby Gordon
  23. P. J. Jones
  24. Michel Jourdain, Jr.
  25. Arnd Meier
  26. JJ Lehto (R)
  27. Alex Barron (R)
  28. Gualter Salles

Race

Lap 17

Richie Hearn locked up the right front tire and spun on turn 1. Top 6 was composed by: Dario Franchitti, Alex Zanardi, Michael Andretti, Gil de Ferran, Jimmy Vasser and Paul Tracy.

Lap 26

First full course caution. Michel Jourdain, Jr. and Alex Barron collided at the hairpin. Arnd Meier stalled the car metres in front and started a jampack. Meanwhile, Gil de Ferran retired after an incident in the pits. Christian Fittipaldi had problems, also, but did not retired.

Lap 27

Top 6: Dario Franchitti, Michael Andretti, Jimmy Vasser, Paul Tracy, Alex Zanardi and Tony Kanaan.

Lap 30

Before going green, Patrick Carpentier collided with Mark Blundell on turn 9.

Lap 32

Second full course caution, as Blundell's car stalled on turn 9, following the collision with Carpentier. On lap 36, green flag came out.

Lap 38

JJ Lehto had a big crash. Third full course caution. Green flag came out some laps later.

Lap 52

Top 6: Dario Franchitti, Michael Andretti, Jimmy Vasser, Alex Zanardi, Tony Kanaan and Paul Tracy.

Lap 61

Tony Kanaan had a pit fire. Meanwhile, in the hairpin, Alex Zanardi had a collision with his teammate Jimmy Vasser.

Lap 68

Gualter Salles had a collision at the hairpin with Al Unser, Jr. and went airborne.

16 laps to go

Dario Franchitti spun and stalled. Paul Tracy slightly t-boned him. Heartbreak for Team KOOL Green! Fourth full course caution was out. Green flag came out with 11 laps to go.

8 laps to go

Top 6: Michael Andretti, Alex Zanardi, Jimmy Vasser, Bobby Rahal, Bryan Herta and Scott Pruett.

5 laps to go

Paul Tracy and Adrian Fernandez collided on turn 1 while they were battling for 9th place.

3 laps to go

Alex Zanardi overtakes Michael Andretti at the hairpin.

Classification

Race

Pos No Driver Team Laps Time/Retired Grid Points
1 1 Italy Alex Zanardi Chip Ganassi Racing 95 1:52:24.080 2 20
2 6 United States Michael Andretti Newman-Haas Racing 95 +1.921 3 16
3 12 United States Jimmy Vasser Chip Ganassi Racing 95 +6.702 6 14
4 7 United States Bobby Rahal Team Rahal 95 +8.078 9 12
5 8 United States Bryan Herta Team Rahal 95 +12.984 17 10
6 20 United States Scott Pruett Patrick Racing 95 +14.607 8 8
7 10 United States Richie Hearn Della Penna Motorsports 95 +15.305 13 6
8 25 Italy Max Papis Arciero-Wells Racing 95 +24.676 20 5
9 40 Mexico Adrián Fernández Patrick Racing 95 +31.923 16 4
10 16 Brazil Hélio Castro-Neves Bettenhausen Racing 95 +32.691 21 3
11 99 Canada Greg Moore Forsythe Racing 95 +34.926 12 2
12 17 Brazil Maurício Gugelmin PacWest Racing Group 95 +37.640 19 1
13 24 United States Robby Gordon Arciero-Wells Racing 94 +1 Lap 22
14 26 Canada Paul Tracy Team KOOL Green 94 +1 Lap 10
15 77 West Germany Arnd Meier Davis Racing 94 +1 Lap 25
16 11 Brazil Christian Fittipaldi Newman-Haas Racing 93 +2 Laps 5
17 2 United States Al Unser, Jr. Marlboro Team Penske 93 +2 Laps 14
18 19 Mexico Michel Jourdain Jr. Payton/Coyne Racing 93 +2 Laps 24
19 98 United States P. J. Jones All American Racing 84 Suspension 23
20 27 United Kingdom Dario Franchitti Team KOOL Green 79 Brakes 1 1+1
21 34 Brazil Gualter Salles Payton/Coyne Racing 65 Contact 28
22 21 Brazil Tony Kanaan Tasman Motorsports Group 61 Fire 7
23 3 Brazil André Ribeiro Marlboro Team Penske 54 Transmission 11
24 9 Finland JJ Lehto Hogan Racing 37 Contact 26
25 33 Canada Patrick Carpentier Forsythe Racing 33 Suspension 18
26 18 United Kingdom Mark Blundell PacWest Racing Group 30 Electrical 15
27 5 Brazil Gil de Ferran Walker Racing 26 Contact 4
28 36 United States Alex Barron All American Racing 25 Contact 27

Caution flags

Laps Cause
25-29 Multi-car contact at hairpin
33-34 Blundell (18) stopped on track
40-43 Lehto (9) contact
79-83 Franchitti (27) contact, Tracy (26) stall

Lap Leaders

Laps Leader
1-65 Dario Franchitti
66 Bobby Rahal
67 Bryan Herta
68 Christian Fittipaldi
69-79 Dario Franchitti
80-92 Michael Andretti
93-95 Alex Zanardi
 
Driver Laps led
Dario Franchitti 76
Michael Andretti 13
Alex Zanardi 3
Bobby Rahal 1
Bryan Herta 1
Christian Fittipaldi 1

Point standings after race

Pos Driver Points
1 Italy Alex Zanardi 175
2 United States Jimmy Vasser 106
3 Canada Greg Moore 99
4 Mexico Adrián Fernández 89
5 United States Michael Andretti 84

References

  1. "1998 Molson Indy Toronto weather information". Old Farmers' Almanac. Retrieved 2013-07-13.