Race No. 13
Zanardi Repeats With Commanding Win
Late-Race Lead Worth a Splash.
By Ray Sprouse
©1997 SpeedCenter Internet Publishing, Inc.
Alex Zanardi and the Target Chip Ganassi Team, a well prepared Reynardchassis, and a superbly tuned Honda powerplant, dominated the Miller 200at the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course today on a total of three sets ofFirestone tires.
Zanardi started on the outside of the front row, beside pole sitterBryan Herta (Team Rahal Reynard Ford,) and rode out the first 18 lapsapplying constant pressure from second place. When Herta's left reartire completely delaminated on lap 18, he was forced to the shoulder andout of the race. During the resulting full-course yellow, Zanardireturned to the track in second place behind Mauricio Gugelmin (PacWestHollywood Reynard Mercedes,) who had opted not to pit during the yellow.
On lap 29, "Big Mo" finally pitted, and Zanardi assumed the lead. Fromthat point on, Alex would relinquish the front spot for only one pitstop sequence. On lap 51, Bobby Rahal (Team Rahal Miller Lite ReynardFord) led for one lap while Zanardi pitted, but when Rahal pitted on lap52, Zanardi would resume the lead for the remainder of the race.
By lap 65 Zanardi had stretched his lead over second-place Greg Moore(Players Forsythe Reynard Mercedes-Benz) to a commanding 18.654 seconds.When the yellow flag flew on lap 70 for the off-track excursion ofPayton-Coyne's Michel Jourdain Jr. in the Herdez sponsored Reynard Ford,Zanardi dove to the pits for a splash of gas. He was still able toreturn in the lead, ahead of Moore by a comfortable margin.
Zanardi cruised the remainder of the race, and Moore continuously closedthe gap to just 3.038 seconds as the white flag flew. As the checkeredflags were waved, though, the gap had re-opened to 4.871 seconds.
With the win, Zanardi stretches his '97 PPG Cup lead to 148, 27 pointsover second place holder Paul Tracy (Marlboro Penske Mercedes-Benz) with121. This with Tracy recording a DNF after contact with Parker Johnstone(Kool Team Green Reynard Honda) on lap one. The incident resulted inirreparable suspension on the rear of the Penske, and Johnstone's crewmade repairs and he finally finished in 12th position.
To recap, here are the point standings following Mid-Ohio;
| 1. Alex Zanardi - | 148 |
| 2. Paul Tracy - | 121 |
| 3. Gil de Ferran - | 116 |
| 4. Greg Moore - | 111 |
| 5. Michael Andretti - | 108 |
| 6. Scott Pruett - | 86 |
| 7. Jimmy Vasser - | 85 |
| 8. Mauricio Gugelmin - | 78 |
| 9. Raul Boesel - | 78 |
| 10. Mark Blundell - | 72 |
| 11. Bryan Herta - | 56 |
| 12. Bobby Rahal - | 52 |
| 13. Al Unser Jr. - | 49 |
| 14. Parker Johnstone - | 31 |
| 15. Andre Ribeiro - | 29 |
| 16. Patrick Carpentier - | 27 |
| 17. Christian Fittipaldi - | 22 |
| 18. Roberto Moreno - | 13 |
| 19. Adrian Fernandez - | 12 |
| 20. Dario Franchitti - | 10 |
| 21. Max Papis - | 7 |
| 22. Dennis Vitolo - | 6 |
| 23. Richie Hearn - | 6 |
| 24. Juan Fangio II - | 5 |
| 25. Hiro Matsushita - | 4 |
| 26. Gualter Salles - | 4 |
| 27. Michel Jourdain Jr. - | 1 |
| 28. Arnd Meier - | 1 |
| 29. Christian Danner - | 1 |
With only four races remaining in the 1997 PPG CART World SeriesChampionship, the mathematical chances start to tighten. With the nextrace being at another natural road course (Road America,) then toVancouver for the final '97 street course...on to another road course atLaguna Seca, and then the 500 mile season finale and CART debut at RogerPenske's new California Speedway, the season certainly seems to play-outin Zanardi's favor. Even Michael Andretti (KMart Texaco/Havoline SwiftFord,) fifth with 108 points after today's eighth-place finish, wouldhave to muster a spectacular stretch run to stand a chance for thechampionship.
On to Road America to the 4-mile, 11-turn road course at Elkhart Lake,WI for the Texaco/Havoline 200. The race is scheduled on August 17th at2:30PM EDT, and will air live on ESPN.