Race No. 15
Molson Indy
Vancouver — Canada
August 29 — August 31, 1997
Big Mo Shakes off the Monkey
Gugelmin wins his long-awaited first race, while others slug it out between the walls of Vancouver
By Ray Sprouse
©1997 SpeedCenter Internet Publishing, Inc.
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68,454 fans were on-hand to witness one of the most exciting races ofthe '97 season, courtesy of pole sitter Alex Zanardi. Even thefirst-time win of "Big Mo" Gugelmin was nearly overshadowed by Zanardi'saggressive performance. Alex twice returned to the top five afterfalling back in the pack following two separate incidents when he wasforced to use the run-off area at the hairpin. His return to the frontafter the second mishap led to aggressive driving for which he waslevied a $25,000 fine and a two-race probation for bunting driver BryanHerta out of the race in the final laps of the race.
The entire weekend seemed to be a sure clinch of the championship forZanardi. He was fastest on all practice and qualifying sessions, butrace conditions proved to test the Italian's patience beyond control.
"I drove one of the most aggressive races of my life on a day that maybeI should have driven conservatively," Zanardi said.
Herta wasn't quite so amused..."He uses the rest of the field aspinballs," Herta said. "It's ridiculous. He thinks he owns this series."
Gil de Ferran was also "threatened" by the force of Zanardi. "I lookedback and thought he was far enough away that I didn't have to worryabout him [on turn No. 3]," de Ferran said. "Then I looked on turn No. 3and saw this red thing coming a million miles an hour."
Gugelmin expressed his race winning sentiments clearly:
"The hardest thing has been the amount of people who keep asking you,'When are you going to win your first race,' " Gugelmin said. "Withseven laps to go, I started thinking 'I can really win this thing.'Those seven laps felt like a month and a half. I feel like I shook a40-pound monkey off my back."
Even though the race-day attendance of the Molson Indy Vancouver was thesecond-lowest total in the eight years of the event, the three-day totalwas fairly impressive. 43,000 plus on Friday, 50,000 plus on Saturday,with a three day total of 161,627 including the 68,000 plus on Sunday.
Next year will mark the beginning of a new era for the event. New coursemaps were distributed, and the track length will extend by approximatelyone-mile. One long straight-away promises speeds in excess of 230mph.
De Ferran now remains the only driver with a mathematical chance tocatch Zanardi, with only two races remaining. Last year's Grand Prix ofMonterey at the Laguna Seca Raceway, celebrating it's 40th anniversarythis year, proved the first real look at Zanardi's aggressive nature. Itwas also his first encounter with Bryan Herta, when, on the last lap ofthe race, Zanardi found an infamous short cut through the off-track areaof the corkscrew. The move was deemed legal by CART officials, andZanardi went on to win the race.
This year, Alex will have to approach Laguna Seca a bit differently,with probation looming against the chance of overly aggressive driving.But, as we have seen in the past two instances where probation waslevied against drivers, Zanardi's chances for the championship wouldseem even more secure. Michael Andretti, penalized following Long Beachin '96, and Paul Tracy, penalized following Long Beach this year, bothanswered probation imposition by winning the following respective races,and Tracy went on to win the next three!
The PPG CART World Series continues next Sunday with the Toyota GrandPrix of Monterey featuring the Texaco/Havoline 300 from Laguna SecaRaceway in Monterey, Calif. The event will be televised live on ESPN at3:00 pm EDT on Sunday, September 7. May we be spared ESPN's flurry ofcommercials of late!