1997 Dixie Crystals Grand Prix

The 1997 Dixie Crystals Grand Prix was the fourth race of the 1997 PPG/Firestone Indy Lights Championship Powered By Buick. The race took place on May 18 in Savannah, Georgia, on Grand Prize of America Road Course parkland circuit on Hutchinson Island; a river island in the Savannah River, north of downtown Savannah. The race was won by Hélio Castroneves for Tasman Motorsports. Sérgio Paese finished second ahead of Lee Bentham, Luiz Garcia Jr., and Naoki Hattori.[1]

1997 Hutchinson Island Savannah
Race details
4th round of the 1997 PPG/Firestone Indy Lights Championship Powered By Buick season
DateMay 18, 1997
Official nameDixie Crystals Grand Prix
LocationGrand Prize of America Road Course
CourseParkland circuit
1.965 mi / 3.162 km
Distance50 laps
98.25 mi / 158.10 km
Pole position
DriverHélio Castroneves (Tasman Motorsports)
Time1:04.824
Podium
FirstHélio Castroneves (Tasman Motorsports)
SecondSérgio Paese (FRE Racing)
ThirdLee Bentham (Forsythe Racing)

Report

Background

In the 1990s, a group of local businessmen formed the Colonial Motorsport company, deciding it was time to bring back international racing action to Savannah. Major international races had last been held on the streets of Savannah with the American Grand Prize in 1908, 1910, and 1911; and the Vanderbilt Cup Race in 1911. After four years of careful negotiations, an agreement was reached for a stand-alone Indy Lights race, with follow up events in '98 and '99 offering the possibility of a future CART round. Public monies helped build a 1.965-mile county road to serve as a 10-turn circuit; the first time a public road had been pre-designed with the intention of also using it for racing in the USA.[2]

Mark Blundell quoted, after a feasibility test for future CART races, "As a drivers track, it's good, It's quite demanding and really physical. It's a fun circuit to drive, and there are at least two and possibly three spots for overtaking. It doesn't have a street course feel, it's more of a road course feel. From a spectator viewpoint, there are plenty of great vantage points."[3]

The event looked like a modest success; drivers seemed happy with the course, fans turned out in reasonable numbers, and a contract was in place for future years. However, creditors and several companies involved in the construction didn't want to give the promoters a reasonable time frame to make the event profitable. The resulting lawsuit threw Colonial Motorsport company into Chapter 11, and all its contracts, including the one with CART, were dissolved. The track itself came into public ownership and fell into disrepair.[4][5]

Classification

Indy Lights
Pos Qual Driver Team Laps Laps Led Points
1 1 Hélio Castroneves Tasman Motorsports 50 50 22
2 4 Sérgio Paese FRE Racing 50 16
3 10 Lee Bentham Forsythe Racing 50 14
4 3 Luiz Garcia Jr. Dorricott Racing 50 12
5 15 Naoki Hattori Team Green 50 10
6 7 Hideki Noda Indy Regency Racing 50 8
7 17 Oswaldo Negri Jr. Genoa Racing 50 6
8 12 Airton Daré Brian Stewart Racing 49 5
9 5 Didier André Autosport Racing 49 4
10 13 Fredrik Larsson Johansson Motorsports 49 3
11 16 Bob Dorricott, Jr. Dorricott Racing 49 2
12 9 Christophe Tinseau Conquest Racing 49 1
13 24 Casey Mears Team Mears 49
14 6 David Empringham Forsythe Racing 48 Crash
15 8 Shigeaki Hattori Lucas Place Motorsports 48 Crash
16 14 Chris Simmons Team Green 48
17 11 Mark Hotchkis Team Green 48
18 25 Clint Mears Team Mears 47 Off Course
19 23 John Jones Eclipse Racing 45
20 20 Geoff Boss Team Medlin 42 Wheel
21 19 Cristiano da Matta Brian Stewart Racing 16 Crash
22 18 Robby Unser PacWest Lights 16 Crash
23 2 Tony Kanaan Tasman Motorsports 15 Throttle
24 21 Jaques Lazier Brian Stewart Racing 8 Crash
25 22 Rodolfo Lavín Indy Regency Racing 1 Crash
DNS DNQ Dave DeSilva Lucas Place Motorsports

Notes: All teams used a Normally-Aspirated Buick V6 engine producing 425 hp, and the Lola T97/20 chassis.

Support Races

North American Touring Car Championship
Season Date Pole position Winning driver Winning team
1997 May 17 Peter Cunningham Peter Cunningham Honda American Racing Team
May 18 Peter Cunningham Peter Cunningham Honda American Racing Team

Barber Dodge Pro Series
Season Date Pole position Fastest lap Winning driver
1997 May 18 Derek Hill Rocky Moran Jr. Derek Hill

USAC Formula Ford 2000
Season Date Winning driver Chassis
1997 May 18 Luciano Zangirolami [6] Van Diemen RF97
gollark: Maybe instead of X amount of time, X amount of messages per channel.
gollark: Fair point.
gollark: Well, currently, if you want to view past messages, you need a bouncer or something to store them locally. On IRC.
gollark: Ideally message history and stuff would encourage people to *not* sit around logged in but offline constantly.
gollark: Ah, well. I don't actually care about any of that except 3 and 5 myself.

References
  1. "1997 Dixie Crystals Grand Prix".
  2. "CHAMPIONSHIP AUTO RACING TEAMS, Form S-1, Filing Date Dec 23, 1997". secdatabase.com. Retrieved May 14, 2018.
  3. http://www.hhiconcours.com/events/savannah.html
  4. "Circuit History".
  5. "Why Champ Car needs to look at Savannah".
  6. "USAC Formuła Ford 2000 - sezon 1997".
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