The 1998 Honda Indy 300 was the eighteenth and penultimate round of the 1998 CART World Series Season, held on 18 October 1998 on the Surfers Paradise Street Circuit, Surfers Paradise, Queensland, Australia. Alex Zanardi won the race, his 15th and final CART victory, after taking the lead from polesitter Dario Franchitti at the first round of pitstops.

Australia 1998 Honda Indy 300
Race details
Race 18 of 19 in the 1998 CART season
Map of the track
Date18 October, 1998
Official nameHonda Indy 300
LocationSurfers Paradise Street Circuit
Queensland, Australia
CourseTemporary Street Circuit
2.795 mi / 4.498 km
Distance62 laps
173.290 mi / 278.876 km
WeatherDry
Pole position
DriverDario Franchitti (Team KOOL Green)
Time1:32.288
Fastest lap
DriverAlex Zanardi (Chip Ganassi Racing)
Time1:33.780 (on lap 54 of 62)
Podium
FirstAlex Zanardi (Chip Ganassi Racing)
SecondDario Franchitti (Team KOOL Green)
ThirdChristian Fittipaldi (Newman-Haas Racing)

Qualifying results

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Pos Nat Name Team Chassis Time
1   Dario Franchitti Team Green Reynard 98i Honda 1:32.288
2   Alex Zanardi Chip Ganassi Racing Reynard 98i Honda 1:32.310
3   Christian Fittipaldi Newman-Haas Racing Swift 009.c Ford-Cosworth 1:32.501
4   Paul Tracy Team Green Reynard 98i Honda 1:32.583
5   Bryan Herta Team Rahal Reynard 98i Ford-Cosworth 1:32.588
6   Michael Andretti Newman-Haas Racing Swift 009.c Ford-Cosworth 1:32.613
7   Jimmy Vasser Chip Ganassi Racing Reynard 98i Honda 1:32.676
8   Gil de Ferran Walker Racing Reynard 98i Honda 1:32.851
9   Greg Moore Forsythe Racing Reynard 98i Mercedes-Benz 1:32.919
10   Adrián Fernández Patrick Racing Reynard 98i Ford-Cosworth 1:33.019
11   Bobby Rahal Team Rahal Reynard 98i Ford-Cosworth 1:33.068
12   Scott Pruett Patrick Racing Reynard 98i Ford-Cosworth 1:33.236
13   Max Papis Arciero-Wells Racing Reynard 98i Toyota 1:33.375
14   Tony Kanaan Tasman Motorsports Reynard 98i Honda 1:33.543
15   JJ Lehto Hogan Racing Reynard 98i Mercedes-Benz 1:33.669
16   Patrick Carpentier Forsythe Racing Reynard 98i Mercedes-Benz 1:33.819
17   Mark Blundell PacWest Racing Reynard 98i Mercedes-Benz 1:33.820
18   Hélio Castroneves Bettenhausen Racing Reynard 98i Mercedes-Benz 1:34.012
19   Al Unser Jr. Team Penske Penske PC27 Mercedes-Benz 1:34.260
20   Robby Gordon Arciero-Wells Racing Reynard 98i Toyota 1:34.344
21   Maurício Gugelmin PacWest Racing Reynard 98i Mercedes-Benz 1:34.375
22   André Ribeiro Team Penske Penske PC27 Mercedes-Benz 1:34.474
23   Richie Hearn Della Penna Motorsports Swift 009.c Ford-Cosworth 1:34.511
24   Arnd Meier Davis Racing Lola T98/00 Ford-Cosworth 1:34.534
25   Michel Jourdain Jr. Payton/Coyne Racing Reynard 98i Ford-Cosworth 1:35.109
26   Alex Barron All American Racers Eagle 987 Toyota 1:35.285
27   Vincenzo Sospiri All American Racers Eagle 987 Toyota 1:36.561
DNQ   Dennis Vitolo Payton/Coyne Racing Reynard 97i Ford-Cosworth 1:38.726

Classification

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Race

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Pos No Driver Team Laps Time/retired Grid Points
1 1   Alex Zanardi Chip Ganassi Racing 62 2:01:51.170 2 20+1
2 27   Dario Franchitti Team Green 62 +0.322 1 16+1
3 11   Christian Fittipaldi Newman-Haas Racing 62 +1.029 3 14
4 20   Scott Pruett Patrick Racing 62 +6.388 12 12
5 9   JJ Lehto Hogan Racing 62 +10.792 15 10
6 40   Adrián Fernández Patrick Racing 62 +11.153 10 8
7 21   Tony Kanaan Tasman Motorsports Group 62 +11.680 14 6
8 99   Greg Moore Forsythe Racing 62 +13.792 9 5
9 33   Patrick Carpentier Forsythe Racing 62 +15.821 16 4
10 8   Bryan Herta Team Rahal 62 +16.020 5 3
11 18   Mark Blundell PacWest Racing Group 62 +19.870 17 2
12 17   Maurício Gugelmin PacWest Racing Group 62 +20.170 21 1
13 3   André Ribeiro Team Penske 62 +20.729 22
14 5   Gil de Ferran Walker Racing 62 +22.072 8
15 98   Vincenzo Sospiri All American Racing 62 +22.808 27
16 24   Robby Gordon Arciero-Wells Racing 62 +23.747 20
17 25   Max Papis Arciero-Wells Racing 61 Electrical 13
18 10   Richie Hearn Della Penna Motorsports 60 +2 Laps 23
19 36   Alex Barron All American Racing 59 Contact 26
20 6   Michael Andretti Newman-Haas Racing 59 Contact 6
21 16   Hélio Castro-Neves Bettenhausen Racing 54 Contact 18
22 2   Al Unser Jr. Team Penske 53 +9 Laps 19
23 26   Paul Tracy Team Green 45 Contact 4
24 12   Jimmy Vasser Chip Ganassi Racing 38 Contact 7
25 7   Bobby Rahal Team Rahal 19 Contact 11
26 19   Michel Jourdain Jr. Payton/Coyne Racing 11 Contact 25
27 77   Arnd Meier Davis Racing 4 Oil leak 24
DNQ 34   Dennis Vitolo Payton/Coyne Racing Did not Qualify

Caution flags

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Laps Cause
14–16 Jourdain Jr. (19) contact
21–24 Rahal (7) contact
36–37 Tire wall problem
40–41 Castro-Neves (16), Vasser (12) contact
43–44 Hearn (10) spin
56–58 Castro-Neves (16) contact
61–62 Barron (36), Andretti (6), Hearn (10) contact

Lap Leaders

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Laps Leader
1–13 Dario Franchitti
14–62 Alex Zanardi
 
Driver Laps led
Alex Zanardi 49
Dario Franchitti 13

Point standings after race

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Pos Driver Points
1   Alex Zanardi 271
2   Dario Franchitti 160
3   Jimmy Vasser 148
4   Adrián Fernández 142
5   Greg Moore 125

References

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27°59′17.9″S 153°25′42.1″E / 27.988306°S 153.428361°E / -27.988306; 153.428361


Previous race:
1998 Texaco Grand Prix of Houston
CART Indycar World Series
1998 season
Next race:
1998 Marlboro 500 Presented by Toyota
Previous race:
1997 Sunbelt IndyCarnival
Honda Indy 300 Next race:
1999 Honda Indy 300