1991 Indy Lights season

The 1991 Firestone Indy Lights Championship consisted of 12 races. Éric Bachelart won four races on his way to the championship. He was one of six different winners on the season.

Calendar

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Race No Track State Date Laps Distance Time Speed Winner Pole Position Most Leading Laps Fastest Race Lap
1 Long Beach California April 14, 1991 45 2.687531=120.938895 km 0'54:36.499 132.880 km/h Éric Bachelart Éric Bachelart Éric Bachelart ?
2 Phoenix Arizona April 21, 1991 75 1.6093=120.6975 km 0'38:59.979 185.690 km/h Robbie Groff Mark Smith Mark Smith ?
3 Milwaukee Wisconsin June 2, 1991 100 1.6607976=166.07976 km 0'54:47.080 181.890 km/h Robbie Groff John Marconi Robbie Groff ?
4 Detroit Michigan June 16, 1991 30 4.02325=120.6975 km 0'56:27.903 128.254 km/h Éric Bachelart Éric Bachelart Éric Bachelart ?
5 Portland Oregon June 23, 1991 40 3.0930746=123.722984 km 0'43:54.052 169.094 km/h Éric Bachelart P. J. Jones P. J. Jones ?
6 Cleveland Ohio July 7, 1991 32 3.8124317=121.9978144 km 0'38:06.5[1] 192.081 km/h Mark Smith Mark Smith Mark Smith ?
7 Meadowlands New Jersey July 14, 1991 63 1.9585181=123.38664 km 0'45:18.60 163.390 km/h Éric Bachelart Mark Smith P. J. Jones ?
8 Toronto   Canada July 21, 1991 42 2.8709912=120.58163 km 0'47:41.265 151.714 km/h P. J. Jones Éric Bachelart Robbie Buhl ?
9 Denver Colorado August 25, 1991 30 3.122042=93.66126 km 0'48:18.360 116.335 km/h P. J. Jones Robbie Groff P. J. Jones ?
10 Lexington Ohio September 15, 1991 34 3.6337994=122.004252 km 0'51:35.404 141.893 km/h Brian Till Robbie Buhl Éric Bachelart ?
11 Nazareth Pennsylvania October 6, 1991 75 1.5223978=114.179835 km 0'39:15.623 174.496 km/h Robbie Buhl Robbie Groff Robbie Groff ?
12 Monterey California October 20, 1991 34 3.5629902=121.1416668 km 0'49:32.944 146.693 km/h Mark Smith Robbie Buhl Mark Smith ?
  1. ^ time is calculated from posted speed

Race summaries

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Long Beach race

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Held April 14 at Long Beach, California Street Course. Éric Bachelart won the pole.

Top Five Results

  1. Éric Bachelart
  2. Robbie Buhl
  3. Robbie Groff
  4. Mark Smith
  5. Franck Fréon

Phoenix race

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Held April 21 at Phoenix International Raceway. Mark Smith won the pole.

Top Five Results

  1. Robbie Groff
  2. Mark Smith
  3. Éric Bachelart
  4. Tommy Byrne
  5. Johnny O'Connell

Milwaukee race

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Held June 2 at The Milwaukee Mile. John Marconi won the pole.

Top Five Results

  1. Robbie Groff
  2. Éric Bachelart
  3. Franck Fréon
  4. P. J. Jones
  5. John Marconi

Detroit race

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Held June 16 at the Detroit street circuit. Éric Bachelart won the pole.

Top Five Results

  1. Éric Bachelart
  2. Franck Fréon
  3. Brian Till
  4. Robbie Buhl
  5. Robbie Groff

Portland race

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Held June 23 at Portland International Raceway. P. J. Jones won the pole.

Top Five Results

  1. Éric Bachelart
  2. Franck Fréon
  3. Mark Smith
  4. Brian Till
  5. P. J. Jones

Cleveland race

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Held July 7 at Burke Lakefront Airport. Mark Smith won the pole.

Top Five Results

  1. Mark Smith
  2. Brian Till
  3. Robbie Groff
  4. Johnny O'Connell
  5. Robbie Buhl

Meadowlands race

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Held July 14 at the Meadowlands Sports Complex. Mark Smith won the pole.

Top Five Results

  1. Éric Bachelart
  2. P. J. Jones
  3. Robbie Buhl
  4. Robbie Groff
  5. Mark Smith

Toronto race

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Held July 21 at Exhibition Place. Éric Bachelart won the pole.

Top Five Results

  1. P. J. Jones
  2. Robbie Buhl
  3. John Marconi
  4. Franck Fréon
  5. Mark Smith

Denver race

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Held August 25 at the Denver, Colorado street circuit. Robbie Groff won the pole.

Top Five Results

  1. P. J. Jones
  2. Éric Bachelart
  3. Roberto Quintanilla
  4. Mark Smith
  5. Brian Till

Mid-Ohio race

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Held September 15 at The Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course. Robbie Buhl won the pole. After a full-course caution to clean up the crash of Robbie Groff on lap 27 (of 34), the race went back to green on lap 30. Eric Bachelart and Robbie Buhl were running 1st-2nd. Going into turn one, Buhl got a jump on the restart, and dove inside. But Bachelart closed the door, and the two cars tangled. Brian Till, running third, slipped by to take the lead. The caution came out and the race finished under yellow. Hometown driver Brian Till won his first career Indy Lights race, with Mark Smith second.[1]

Top Five Results

  1. Brian Till
  2. Mark Smith
  3. Franck Fréon
  4. P. J. Jones
  5. Roberto Quintanilla

Nazareth race

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Held October 6 at Nazareth Speedway. Robbie Groff won the pole.

Top Five Results

  1. Robbie Buhl
  2. P. J. Jones
  3. Éric Bachelart
  4. Brian Till
  5. Roberto Quintanilla

Laguna Seca race

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Held October 20 at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca. Robbie Buhl won the pole.

Top Five Results

  1. Mark Smith
  2. Brian Till
  3. Éric Bachelart
  4. Mike Snow
  5. P. J. Jones

Final points standings

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Driver

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For every race the points were awarded: 20 points to the winner, 16 for runner-up, 14 for third place, 12 for fourth place, 10 for fifth place, 8 for sixth place, 6 seventh place, winding down to 1 points for 12th place. Additional points were awarded to the pole winner (1 point) and to the driver leading the most laps (1 point).

Place Name Country Team Total Points                        
1 Éric Bachelart   Belgium Landford Racing 174 22 14 16 22 20 6 20 9 16 1 14 14
2 Mark Smith   United States Evergreen Racing 155 12 18 6 8 14 22 11 10 12 16 5 21
3 P. J. Jones   United States Landford Racing 123 - 3 12 - 12 - 17 20 21 12 16 10
4 Franck Fréon   France Fréon Racing Services 121 10 6 14 16 16 8 8 12 8 14 4 5
5 Brian Till   United States Cole Performance 120 6 - 8 14 12 16 - 6 10 20 12 16
6 Robbie Buhl   United States Leading Edge Motorsport 110 16 5 4 12 8 10 14 17 2 1 20 1
7 Robbie Groff   United States Groff Motorsports 107 14 20 21 10 4 14 12 3 1 - 8 -
8 John Marconi   United States Marconi Racing/U.S. Racing 54 1 4 4 5 14 5 6 - 3
P.I.G. Racing 11 - 1
9 Roberto Quintanilla   Mexico Roquin Motorsports 53 - - - 1 2 5 6 5 14 10 10 -
10 Jeff Davis   United States Leading Edge Motorsport 39 - - 3 2 3 3 4 4 6 4 8 2
11 Johnny O'Connell   United States Team Milkhouse 37 4 10 5 - 6 12 - - - - - -
12 Tommy Byrne   Ireland P.I.G. Racing 35 5 12 - 5 5 - - - - - - 8
13 Mike Snow   United States Bradley Motorsports 29 8 - - - - 1 - - 3 5 - 12
14 Dave Kudrave   United States Bradley Motorsports 16 - 1 - 6 - - - - -
Regency Racing 3 - 6
15 Rob Wilson   New Zealand McNeill Motorsports 15 3 2
Stuart Moore Racing 2 - - - - - - 8 - -
16 George Sutcliffe   United States P.I.G. Racing 9 - 8 1 - - - - - - - - -
17 Bob Reid   United States McNeill Motorsports 8 - - - 4 - 2 - - -
Leading Edge Motorsport 2 - -
18 Scott Backman   United States John Martin Racing 4 - - - - - - - - 4 - - -
Page Jones   United States Bradley Motorsports 4 - - - - - - - - - - - 4
20 Sandy Dells   United States Roquin Motorsports 3 - - - 3 - - - - - - - -
Wayne Cerbo   United States Stuart Moore Racing 3 - - - - - - 3 - - - - -
22 Marty Roth   Canada Roquin Motorsports 2 2 - - - - - - - - - - -
Bob Doricott, Jr.   United States Cameron-McGee Motorsports 2 - - - - - - - - - 1 - 1
24 Desiré Wilson   South Africa Leading Edge Motorsport 1 - - - - - - - - 1 - - -

Note:

Race 7, 8 and 11 not all points were awarded (not enough competitors).

Complete Overview

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first column of every race 10 = grid position
second column of every race 10 = race result

R13=retired, but classified NS=did not start NQ=did not qualify (6)=place after practice, but grid position not held free DIS(10)=disqualified after finishing in tenth place

Place Name Country Team                        
1 Éric Bachelart   Belgium Landford Racing 1 1 2 3 8 2 1 1 3 1 5 7 6 1 1 6 5 2 2 R13 9 3 9 3
2 Mark Smith   United States Evergreen Racing 10 4 1 2 7 7 7 6 2 3 1 1 1 5 5 5 6 4 8 2 3 R8 3 1
3 P. J. Jones   United States Landford Racing 3 R15 3 10 3 4 4 R14 1 5 7 R14 2 2 4 1 2 1 6 4 6 2 2 5
4 Franck Fréon   France Fréon Racing Services 7 5 10 7 4 3 3 2 4 2 9 6 5 6 8 4 8 6 3 3 4 R9 15 8
5 Brian Till   United States Cole Performance 9 7 4 R15 5 6 5 3 5 4 3 2 (6) NS 7 7 10 5 4 1 7 4 4 2
6 Robbie Buhl   United States Leading Edge Motorsport 8 2 11 8 6 9 9 4 9 6 2 5 3 3 2 2 3 R11 1 R14 2 1 1 R17
7 Robbie Groff   United States Groff Motorsports 6 3 5 1 2 1 11 5 12 9 4 3 4 4 3 R10 1 R13 5 R15 1 R7 5 15
8 John Marconi   United States Marconi Racing/U.S. Racing 14 12 13 9 8 9 8 8 6 3 7 8 13 7 - - 13 10
P.I.G. Racing 1 5 8 R16 6 R12
9 Roberto Quintanilla   Mexico Roquin Motorsports 4 R16 - - - - 12 R12 13 11 10 8 7 7 9 8 4 3 7 5 10 5 16 14
10 Jeff Davis   United States Leading Edge Motorsport - - - - 10 10 16 11 14 10 11 10 9 9 10 9 9 7 12 9 8 6 12 11
11 Johnny O'Connell   United States Team Milkhouse 2 9 8 5 12 8 2 R15 11 7 6 4 - - - - - - - - - - - -
12 Tommy Byrne   Ireland P.I.G. Racing 5 8 7 4 - - 6 R8 7 8 - - - - - - - - - - - - 11 6
13 Mike Snow   United States Bradley Motorsports 11 6 9 13 - - 13 13 10 R14 13 12 (10) NS - - 13 10 10 8 5 DIS(10) 7 4
14 Dave Kudrave   United States Bradley Motorsports 15 R18 6 R12 - - 10 7 8 R13 - - - - - - - -
Regency Racing 11 10 - - 4 7
15 Rob Wilson   New Zealand McNeill Motorsports 12 10 12 11
Stuart Moore Racing 11 11 - - - - - - - - - - - - 9 6 - - 14 16
16 George Sutcliffe   United States P.I.G. Racing 16 13 15 6 9 R12 - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
17 Bob Reid   United States McNeill Motorsports - - - - - - 14 9 - - 14 11 - - - - - -
Leading Edge Motorsport 14 11 - - - -
18 Scott Backman   United States John Martin Racing - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 12 9 - - - - - -
Page Jones   United States Bradley Motorsports - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 8 9
20 Sandy Dells   United States Roquin Motorsports - - - - - - 15 10 - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Wayne Cerbo   United States Stuart Moore Racing - - - - - - - - - - 12 13 10 R10 - - - - - - - - - -
22 Marty Roth   Canada Roquin Motorsports 13 11 - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Bob Doricott, Jr.   United States Cameron-McGee Motorsports - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 15 12 - - 17 12
24 Desiré Wilson   South Africa Leading Edge Motorsport - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 11 R12 - - - - - -
- Hugh O'Neill   United States Sandy Dells Racing - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 10 13
- Cheryl Glass   United States Glass Racing 18 R17 14 R14 - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
- Mark Ritchey   United States Leading Edge Motorsport 17 14 - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
- Ken Murillo   United States ? 19 NQ - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
  1. ^ McHale, T.E. (September 16, 1991). "Collision spices up Indy Lights race". Mansfield News-Journal. p. 15. Retrieved September 4, 2020 – via Newspapers.com.