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INDYLIGHTS: Dorricott Racing at Vancouver (Preview)

5 September 1998

SONOMA, Calif. - Three races remain in the 1998 PPG-Dayton Indy Lights Championship which presents a "now-or-never" scenario for Dorricott Racing's Philipp Peter and Oriol Servia when the Molson Indy Vancouver hosts round 12 of the 14-race series Sunday, Sept. 6, in Vancouver, B.C., Canada.

This year's annual return to Canada's western flagship city will mark the eighth appearance of the PPG-Dayton Indy Lights Championship in Vancouver, but the terms and conditions of the race will be graphically different. Gone is the familiar downtown street circuit through Concord Pacific Place. City expansion, which nearly threatened the preservation of the race, is in full execution. A new, winding 14-turn temporary street circuit is being constructed not far from the previous race course lay-out. Actual track length will not be determined until immediately prior to race weekend through an exacting measurement process supplied by Omega, CART's official timekeeper. An anticipated field of over 22 cars are expected to take the green flag at 10:30 a.m. (PT) for race distance to-be-determined, setting the stage for the CART FedEx Championship Series Molson Indy Vancouver later that day.

Servia, of Pals, Catalonia, Spain, is coming off "hot" finishes in his last two Indy Lights races including one race ago when he finished second place at Trois-Rivieres. Servia started on the outside pole at Trois-Rivieres in his No. 32 Catalonia/Elf/RACC/Heritage Bank Lola and ran error free in finishing 1.31-seconds behind race winner Cristiano da Matta. Trois-Rivieres was his second consecutive top-five finish including fifth place in round 10 at Michigan Speedway. His previous best was fourth place in the season opener at Homestead Motorsports Complex (Fla.). Servia's late season top-fives have propelled him into a tie with teammate Peter for seventh place in the Indy Lights drivers standings with 57 points.

Peter, of Monte Carlo, Monaco, makes his Vancouver debut looking to mitigate recent misfortunes that have slowed his otherwise strong contentions for podium finishes. Trois-Rivieres was a race that tested Peter's patience more than his ability. After starting sixth at Trois-Rivieres, he ran into early race trouble when he and Guy Smith contacted each other on the fourth of 50 scheduled laps. Peter raced back through the field to as high as 12th in the No. 31 Sebring/Red Bull/ESTEBE Lola before he suffered nose-to-rear tire contact through a sharp turn with Andy Boss. He was later issued a controversial black flag from CART officials following a pit stop exit.

Servia and Peter are also tied for third place in the rookie standings. Smith leads in the Indy Lights Rookie-of-the-Year points battle with 102 followed by Derek Higgins with 58 points.

Same-day television coverage of round 12 of the PPG-Dayton Indy Lights Championship from Vancouver will be over ESPN2, Sunday, Sept. 6, from 7:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. ET (4:00-5:00 p.m. PT) .