©1997 SpeedCenter Internet Publishing, Inc.
CART Chief Steward Wally Dallenbach has levied a $25,000 fine against Alex Zanardi (Target Reynard Honda HRR) and placed him on probation for the remainder of the 1997 PPG CART World Series season for rough driving in Sunday's Molson Indy Vancouver.
The penalties were brought against Zanardi for his late-race incident with Bryan Herta that resulted in contact that sent Herta into the tire barrier while Zanardi continued on. Dallenbach reviewed the tape of the incident following the race and found Zanardi in violation of sections 6.1 and 8.13 of the 1997 CART Official Rule Book. Section 6.1 refers to general terms in regard to conduct at CART events and 8.13 refers to unjustifiable risk, which are not subject to protest.
"It was a great race and this kind of race can provoke some of this action, but as far as the Stewards were concerned it was unnecessarily rough action that will not be tolerated," Dallenbach said. "It was unfortunate that he took out the race leader, but we would have taken the same type action if this occurred with anybody in the field."
Zanardi will be on probation for next weekend's Toyota Grand Prix of Monterey and the season-ending Marlboro 500 Presented by Toyota on Sept. 28. The terms and conditions of the probation and the consequences imposed if the conditions of the probation are violated are at the discretion of the Stewards.
Source: CART News Service