1998 Marlboro Grand Prix of Miami

1998 Marlboro Miami

Race details
Race 1 of 19 in the 1998 CART season
Date	March 15, 1998
Official name	Marlboro Grand Prix of Miami
Location	Homestead-Miami Speedway, Homestead, Florida, United States
Course	Permanent oval course 1.5 mi / 2.4 km
Distance	150 laps 225 mi / 360 km
Weather	Temperatures reaching up to 77 °F (25 °C); wind speeds up to 13 miles per hour (21 km/h)
Pole position
Driver	Greg Moore (Forsythe Racing)
Time	24.856
Fastest lap
Driver	Greg Moore (Forsythe Racing)
Time	26.405 (on lap of 150)
Podium
First	Michael Andretti (Newman/Haas Racing)
Second	Greg Moore (Forsythe Racing)
Third	Alex Zanardi (Chip Ganassi Racing)

The 1998 Marlboro Grand Prix of Miami was a CART race which happened at the Homestead Motorsports Complex. It happened on March 15, 1998. It was the 1st round of the 1998 CART season.

Starting grid

1. Greg Moore 217.541 mph / 24.856 seconds (1st CART career pole)
2. André Ribeiro 214.665 mph
3. Jimmy Vasser
4. Christian Fittipaldi
5. Adrian Fernandez
6. Alex Zanardi
7. Mark Blundell
8. Michael Andretti
9. Patrick Carpentier
10. Maurício Gugelmin
11. Gil de Ferran
12. Scott Pruett
13. Dario Franchitti
14. Al Unser, Jr.
15. Richie Hearn
16. Bryan Herta
17. Bobby Rahal
18. Tony Kanaan (R)
19. Michel Jourdain, Jr.
20. Max Papis
21. Paul Tracy
22. Hélio Castroneves (R)
23. Roberto Moreno
24. Hiro Matsushita
25. Dennis Vitolo (Suffered an awful crash during practice. Suffered a broken finger, but raced.)
26. P. J. Jones
27. Alex Barron (R)
28. Arnd Meier
29. JJ Lehto (No speed due to gearbox problems)

Race

Lap 27

Top 6: Greg Moore, Alex Zanardi, Michael Andretti, Christian Fittipaldi, Gil de Ferran and Adrian Fernandez.

Lap 34

First full course caution was out, as rookie Tony Kanaan had hit the wall in turn 4.

Lap 44

Green flag. de Ferran leads.

Lap 57

Top 6: Gil de Ferran, Michael Andretti, Alex Zanardi, Christian Fittipaldi, Patrick Carpentier and Scott Pruett.

Lap 67

New leader: Michael Andretti!

Lap 75

Second full course caution came out, as Paul Tracy "brushed" the wall in the backstretch.

Lap 82

Green flag. de Ferran leads, but, laps later, he lost the lead, due to a pitstop.

Lap 97

Top 6: Michael Andretti, Alex Zanardi, Gil de Ferran, Christian Fittipaldi, Dario Franchitti and Scott Pruett.

Lap 100

Third full course caution, as another 1998 rookie had "brushed" the wall in turn 1: Hélio Castroneves.

Lap 107

Green flag. Alex Zanardi leads.

Lap 116

Fourth full course caution came out as Mark Blundell was another victim of the wall. This time in turn 2.

Lap 117

Top 6: Andretti, Zanardi, Moore, Fittipaldi, Pruett and Fernandez.

Lap 122

Green flag. Andretti once again was leading the race.

Lap 130

Fifth full course caution: Hiro Matsushita had hit the wall in turn 2.

Lap 140

Green flag. Andretti leads.

Race results

Pos	No	Driver	Team	Laps	Time/Retired	Grid	Points
1	6	Michael Andretti	Newman-Haas Racing	150	1:33:39.268	8	20+1
2	99	Greg Moore	Forsythe Racing	150	+0.075	1	16+1
3	1	Alex Zanardi	Chip Ganassi Racing	150	+0.918	6	14
4	11	Christian Fittipaldi	Newman-Haas Racing	150	+3.359	4	12
5	20	Scott Pruett	Patrick Racing	150	+5.257	12	10
6	40	Adrián Fernández	Patrick Racing	150	+5.926	5	8
7	5	Gil de Ferran	Walker Racing	150	+6.810	11	6
8	8	Bryan Herta	Team Rahal	150	+9.866	16	5
9	27	Dario Franchitti	Team KOOL Green	150	+10.275	13	4
10	17	Maurício Gugelmin	PacWest Racing Group	150	+10.855	10	3
11	33	Patrick Carpentier	Forsythe Racing	150	+11.382	9	2
12	18	Mark Blundell	PacWest Racing Group	150	+29.029	7	1
13	10	Richie Hearn	Della Penna Motorsports	149	+1 Lap	15
14	9	JJ Lehto	Hogan Racing	149	+1 Lap	29
15	15	Roberto Moreno	Project Indy	149	+1 Lap	23
16	12	Jimmy Vasser	Chip Ganassi Racing	148	+2 Laps	3
17	3	André Ribeiro	Marlboro Team Penske	148	+2 Laps	2
18	36	Alex Barron	All American Racing	148	+2 Laps	27
19	7	Bobby Rahal	Team Rahal	147	+3 Laps	17
20	98	P. J. Jones	All American Racing	146	+4 Laps	26
21	77	Arnd Meier	Davis Racing	136	+14 Laps	28
22	2	Al Unser, Jr.	Marlboro Team Penske	122	Transmission	14
23	24	Hiro Matsushita	Arciero-Wells Racing	121	Contact	24
24	16	Hélio Castro-Neves	Bettenhausen Racing	97	Contact	22
25	34	Dennis Vitolo	Payton/Coyne Racing	90	Withdrew	25
26	25	Max Papis	Arciero-Wells Racing	83	Wheel Bearing	20
27	26	Paul Tracy	Team KOOL Green	79	Suspension	21
28	19	Michel Jourdain Jr.	Payton/Coyne Racing	78	Handling	19
29	21	Tony Kanaan	Tasman Motorsports Group	32	Contact	18

Final results

Top 12

1. Michael Andretti 150 Laps
2. Greg Moore
3. Alex Zanardi
4. Christian Fittipaldi
5. Scott Pruett
6. Adrian Fernandez
7. Gil de Ferran
8. Bryan Herta
9. Dario Franchitti
10. Maurício Gugelmin
11. Patrick Carpentier
12. Mark Blundell

Drivers who did not completed the race

1. Al Unser, Jr. +28 Transmission
2. Hiro Matsushita +29 Contact
3. Hélio Castroneves (R) +53 Contact
4. Dennis Vitolo +60 Withdrawn due to injury
5. Max Papis +67 Wheel bearing
6. Paul Tracy +71 Suspension
7. Michel Jourdain, Jr. +72 Handling
8. Tony Kanaan (R) +118 Contact

Point standings

Top 6

1. Andretti 21 points
2. Moore 17 points
3. Zanardi 14 points
4. Fittipaldi 12 points
5. Pruett 10 points
6. Fernandez 8 points

Notes

1. (R) denotes contender for Rookie of the Year award
2. For this race, the Homestead-Miami Speedway was reconfigured for the third time in three years. In the summer of 1997, an $8.2 million reconfiguration project changed the turns from a rectangle to a traditional, continuous turn oval.
3. First pole: Greg Moore