2001 CART FedEx Championship Series

2001 CART season
FedEx Championship Series
Season
Races20 (22 planned)
Start dateMarch 11
End dateNovember 4
Awards
Drivers' champion Gil de Ferran
Constructors' Cup Reynard
Manufacturers' Cup Honda
Nations' Cup Brazil
Rookie of the Year Scott Dixon

The 2001 FedEx Championship Series season was the twenty-third in the Championship Auto Racing Teams (CART) era of American open-wheel car racing. It consisted of 20 of the 22 originally scheduled races, beginning in Monterrey, Mexico on March 11 and concluding in Fontana, California on November 4. What would have been the third race in the season, the Firestone Firehawk 600 in Fort Worth, Texas, was canceled after qualifying due to safety concerns. The FedEx Championship Series Drivers' Champion was Gil de Ferran, while the Rookie of the Year was Scott Dixon.

Off the track, the 2001 season was an unmitigated disaster for CART under the leadership of Joseph Heitzler. It included two race cancellations; a disastrous European tour that coincided with the September 11 attacks and witnessed a severe accident to former series champion Alex Zanardi in which he lost both of his legs; infighting amongst engine manufacturers that saw litigation and the announced future departure of Honda and Toyota; the loss of the series' television contract with ABC/ESPN; the departure of longtime tracks Michigan International Speedway and Nazareth Speedway; the loss of Firestone as the series' tire supplier and its replacement by parent company Bridgestone; and the defection of Team Penske to the rival Indy Racing League (IRL) at the conclusion of the season.

Team Penske and Team Motorola joined Chip Ganassi Racing in having concurrent IRL teams to run in the 2001 Indianapolis 500, with Penske's Helio Castroneves winning the race. In an unusual move, CART "sanctioned" the participation of teams in the race; this was an attempt to allow Penske's primary sponsor, Marlboro, to appear on cars in the 500, as they were prohibited from being in more than one racing series by the Tobacco Master Settlement Agreement. This legal maneuver was not successful, and Penske's cars ran without advertising.[1][2] DaimlerChrysler shut down their CART program as an engine manufacturer via Mercedes-Benz brand as the company decided to move to NASCAR Winston Cup Series via the Dodge brand in the same year.

Drivers and constructors

The following teams and drivers competed in the 2001 CART Championship Series season. All cars ran on Firestone Tires.[3][4]

Team Chassis Engine No Drivers Races Primary Sponsors
Team Penske Reynard 01i Honda HR-1 1 Gil de Ferran All Marlboro 19
Penske Racing 2
3 Hélio Castroneves All
Chip Ganassi Racing Lola B01/00 Toyota RV8E 4 Bruno Junqueira  R  All Target
12 Nicolas Minassian  R  1–7
Memo Gidley 8–21
Walker Motorsport Reynard 01i Toyota RV8E 5 Toranosuke Takagi  R  All Pioneer 20
Walker Racing 1
Newman-Haas Racing Lola B01/00 Toyota RV8E 6 Cristiano da Matta All Texaco-Havoline
11 Christian Fittipaldi All Kmart
Team Rahal Lola B01/00 Ford-Cosworth XF 7 Max Papis All Miller Lite 17
Miller Genuine Draft 4
8 Kenny Bräck All Shell
Bettenhausen Racing Lola B01/00 Ford-Cosworth XF 16 Michel Jourdain Jr. All Herdez
PacWest Racing Reynard 01i Toyota RV8E 17 Maurício Gugelmin All Nextel
18 Scott Dixon  R  All Powerware 19
Nextel 2
Patrick Racing Reynard 01i Toyota RV8E 19 Townsend Bell 16–17 Visteon
20 Roberto Moreno All
40 Jimmy Vasser All OXXO 1
Patrick Racing 4
Visteon 15
Dale Coyne Racing Lola B2K/00 Ford-Cosworth XF 19 Michael Krumm 1–2 The Dark Dog
21 Luiz Garcia Jr. 1–2 Embratel
Sigma Autosport Lola B01/00 Ford-Cosworth XF 22 Oriol Servià All Sigma Autosport
Arciero-Blair Racing Lola B2K/00 Ilmor 25 Max Wilson  R  1–4 winnerB2B.com 9
Driving 101 10
Ford-Cosworth XF 6–11, 13–19
Alex Barron 20–21
Team Green Reynard 01i Honda HR-1 26 Paul Tracy All KOOL 19
Team Green 2
27 Dario Franchitti All
Team Motorola 39 Michael Andretti All Motorola
Forsythe Racing Reynard 01i Ford-Cosworth XF 32 Patrick Carpentier All Player's 19
Racing Since 1961 2
33 Alex Tagliani All
77 Bryan Herta All Indeck
Fernández Racing Reynard 01i Honda HR-1 51 Adrián Fernández All Tecate
52 Shinji Nakano All Avex
Mo Nunn Racing Reynard 01i Honda HR-1 55 Tony Kanaan All Hollywood Cigarettes 19
No Limits 2
66 Alex Zanardi 1–16 Pioneer 19
Mo Nunn Racing 1
Casey Mears  R  18–21
R Eligible for Rookie of the Year

Season summary

Schedule

Rnd Date Race Name Circuit City/Location
1 March 11 Tecate/Telmex Grand Prix of Monterrey Presented by Herdez  R  Fundidora Park Monterrey, Mexico
– March 25 Rio 200 (Cancelled)  O  Autódromo de Jacarepaguá Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
2 April 8 Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach  R  Streets of Long Beach Long Beach, California
3 April 29 Firestone Firehawk 600 Presented by Pioneer (Cancelled)  O  Texas Motor Speedway Fort Worth, Texas
4 May 6 Lehigh Valley Grand Prix Presented by Toyota  O  Nazareth Speedway Nazareth, Pennsylvania
5 May 19 Firestone Firehawk 500  O  Twin Ring Motegi Motegi, Japan
6 June 3 Miller Lite 225  O  Milwaukee Mile West Allis, Wisconsin
7 June 17 Tenneco Automotive Grand Prix of Detroit  R  The Raceway on Belle Isle Park Detroit, Michigan
8 June 24 Freightliner/G. I. Joe's 200 Presented by Texaco  R  Portland International Raceway Portland, Oregon
9 July 1 Marconi Grand Prix of Cleveland Presented by Firstar  R  Cleveland Burke Lakefront Airport Cleveland, Ohio
10 July 15 Molson Indy Toronto  R  Exhibition Place Toronto, Ontario
11 July 22 Harrah's 500 Presented by Toyota  O  Michigan International Speedway Brooklyn, Michigan
12 July 29 Target Grand Prix of Chicago Presented by Energizer  O  Chicago Motor Speedway Cicero, Illinois
13 August 12 Miller Lite 200  R  Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course Lexington, Ohio
14 August 19 Motorola 220  R  Road America Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin
15 September 2 Molson Indy Vancouver  R  Concord Pacific Place Vancouver, British Columbia
16 September 15 The American Memorial  O  EuroSpeedway Lausitz Klettwitz, Germany
17 September 22 Rockingham 500  O  Rockingham Motor Speedway Corby, United Kingdom
18 October 7 Texaco/Havoline Grand Prix of Houston  R  George R. Brown Convention Center Houston, Texas
19 October 14 Honda Grand Prix of Monterey Featuring the Shell 300  R  Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca Monterey, California
20 October 28 Honda Indy 300  R  Surfers Paradise Street Circuit Surfers Paradise, Australia
21 November 4 Marlboro 500 Presented by Toyota  O  California Speedway Fontana, California

 O  Oval/Speedway
 R  Road/Street course

  • The original calendar called for 22 races on five continents, by far the most ambitious calendar CART had ever attempted. With the race at Texas being canceled and the Rio 200 being dropped, the 2001 season ultimately had the same number of races as the previous year.
  • For the first time, CART would race in the United Kingdom and Germany and also return to Mexico for the first time in almost twenty years.
  • The original calendar released on August 5, 2000, had the first round of the season at Jacarepaguá in Brazil, but disagreements with the track owners several months later led to the event being dropped.
  • The events at Homestead-Miami and Gateway were dropped after negotiations with the owners of the track; rival series Indy Racing League secured the contracts instead, and both tracks were featured in the 2001 Indy Racing League season.
  • The removal of Gateway from the calendar meant that Memorial Day weekend would be empty, allowing several teams and drivers the opportunity to compete at the Indianapolis 500.
  • The 2001 season was the final time Michigan Speedway appeared on the calendar.

Race results

Rnd Race Name Pole position Fastest lap Lead most laps Winning driver Winning team Report
1 Monterrey Kenny Bräck Dario Franchitti Cristiano da Matta Cristiano da Matta Newman-Haas Racing Report
2 Long Beach Hélio Castroneves Hélio Castroneves Hélio Castroneves Hélio Castroneves Team Penske Report
3 Texas Kenny Bräck Race cancelled Report
4 Nazareth Bruno Junqueira  R  Tony Kanaan Kenny Bräck Scott Dixon  R  PacWest Racing Report
5 Motegi Hélio Castroneves Alex Zanardi Hélio Castroneves Kenny Bräck Team Rahal Report
6 Milwaukee Kenny Bräck Dario Franchitti Kenny Bräck Kenny Bräck Team Rahal Report
7 Belle Isle Hélio Castroneves Michael Andretti Hélio Castroneves Hélio Castroneves Team Penske Report
8 Portland Max Papis Max Papis Max Papis Max Papis Team Rahal Report
9 Cleveland Maurício Gugelmin Roberto Moreno Memo Gidley Dario Franchitti Team Green Report
10 Toronto Gil de Ferran Hélio Castroneves Gil de Ferran Michael Andretti Team Motorola Report
11 Michigan Kenny Bräck Patrick Carpentier Max Papis Patrick Carpentier Forsythe Racing Report
12 Chicago Tony Kanaan Kenny Bräck Hélio Castroneves Kenny Bräck Team Rahal Report
13 Mid-Ohio Gil de Ferran Hélio Castroneves Hélio Castroneves Hélio Castroneves Team Penske Report
14 Road America Kenny Bräck Bruno Junqueira  R  Hélio Castroneves Bruno Junqueira  R  Chip Ganassi Racing Report
15 Vancouver Alex Tagliani Hélio Castroneves Alex Tagliani Roberto Moreno Patrick Racing Report
16 EuroSpeedway Gil de Ferran Tony Kanaan Kenny Bräck Kenny Bräck Team Rahal Report
17 Rockingham Kenny Bräck Patrick Carpentier Gil de Ferran Gil de Ferran Team Penske Report
18 Houston Gil de Ferran Jimmy Vasser Gil de Ferran Gil de Ferran Team Penske Report
19 Laguna Seca Gil de Ferran Hélio Castroneves Gil de Ferran Max Papis Team Rahal Report
20 Surfers Paradise Roberto Moreno Jimmy Vasser Roberto Moreno Cristiano da Matta Newman-Haas Racing Report
21 Fontana Alex Tagliani Max Papis Max Papis Cristiano da Matta Newman-Haas Racing Report

Final driver standings

Further information: List of American Championship car racing point scoring systems
Pos Driver FUN LBH TMS NAZ MOT MIL BEL POR CLE TOR MIS CMS MOH ROA VAN LAU ROC HOU LAG SUR CAL Pts
1 Gil de Ferran 2 3 C 23 13 7 6 13 4 14* 24 3 2 5 2 8 1* 1* 3* 4 6 199
2 Kenny Bräck1 5 25 C 2* 1 1* 9 11 6 20 17 1 20 14 8 1* 2 7 25 5 26 163
3 Michael Andretti 4 28 C 6 23 2 4 8 15 1 19 24 26 2 3 4 5 21 14 2 7 147
4 Hélio Castroneves 8 1* C 11 2* 26 1* 17 12 19 8 7* 1* 7* 18 12 4 5 6 20 22 141
5 Cristiano da Matta 1* 2 C 10 25 25 7 10 7 15 4 19 10 6 20 26 3 6 20 1 1 140
6 Max Papis 12 17 C 24 6 8 11 1* 18 8 16* 13 24 16 22 2 11 9 1 9 2* 107
7 Dario Franchitti 9 6 C 8 17 9 2 6 1 24 2 15 16 19 9 25 9 2 19 23 23 105
8 Scott Dixon  RY  13 19 C 1 9 3 22 7 20 5 10 4 12 4 13 9 22 18 4 15 17 98
9 Tony Kanaan 7 7 C 16 3 6 DNS 24 16 10 21 8 5 12 4 7 8 12 8 17 5 93
10 Patrick Carpentier 25 23 C 25 19 17 8 5 26 21 1 2 3 9 16 3 16 10 26 11 10 91
11 Alex Tagliani 21 18 C 22 22 12 21 12 9 2 6 6 7 8 23* 21 14 19 15 3 3 80
12 Jimmy Vasser 6 5 C 4 5 21 18 16 5 26 23 14 23 21 19 15 7 11 5 6 12 77
13 Roberto Moreno 27 11 C 12 10 15 3 2 8 11 12 20 6 11 1 23 13 22 22 22* 19 76
14 Paul Tracy 3 4 C 3 18 24 14 21 24 6 7 12 4 26 26 10 6 24 18 14 24 73
15 Christian Fittipaldi 20 24 C 5 4 18 5 3 11 12 18 25 8 18 11 19 24 8 9 8 13 70
16 Bruno Junqueira  R  22 9 C 7 24 4 19 23 23 13 9 17 13 1 12 11 25 23 7 21 4 68
17 Memo Gidley 25 2* 17 14 5 11 20 10 14 18 3 2 10 14 65
18 Adrián Fernández 19 16 C 19 16 5 12 19 21 3 25 10 22 3 21 24 23 14 10 19 18 45
19 Oriol Servià 14 14 C 9 14 14 16 9 17 23 11 18 9 10 5 5 10 26 17 25 11 42
20 Michel Jourdain Jr. 17 13 C 13 11 13 25 15 25 16 3 23 17 17 6 17 19 25 23 7 16 30
21 Toranosuke Takagi  R  10 20 C 14 20 DSQ 20 18 14 222 13 11 21 22 7 6 26 4 13 16 15 29
22 Bryan Herta 16 10 C 21 21 22 15 14 3 18 5 21 25 24 17 27 15 13 12 18 25 28
23 Alex Zanardi 24 26 C 20 7 11 24 26 13 4 20 9 19 13 24 203 24
24 Maurício Gugelmin 15 22 Wth 12 10 10 20 10 7 15 22 14 23 15 16 20 20 16 24 20 17
25 Max Wilson  R  28 21 C 17 23 23 4 19 25 Wth 15 25 25 18 21 16 24 12
26 Shinji Nakano 18 12 C 15 8 16 13 22 22 9 22 16 18 15 14 22 17 15 21 12 21 11
27 Nicolas Minassian  R  11 8 C 18 15 19 17 7
28 Casey Mears  R  17 11 26 8 7
29 Alex Barron 13 9 4
30 Townsend Bell  R  13 12 1
31 Michael Krumm  R  23 15 0
32 Luiz Garcia Jr. 26 27 0
Pos Driver FUN LBH TMS NAZ MOT MIL BEL POR CLE TOR MIS CMS MOH ROA VAN LAU ROC HOU LAG SUR CAL Pts
Color Result
Gold Winner
Silver 2nd place
Bronze 3rd place
Green 4th–6th place
Light Blue 7th–12th place
Dark Blue Finished
(Outside Top 12)
Purple Did not finish
Red Did not qualify
(DNQ)
Brown Withdrawn
(Wth)
Black Disqualified
(DSQ)
White Did not start
(DNS)
Blank Did not
participate
(DNP)
Not competing
In-line notation
Bold Pole position
Italics Ran fastest race lap
* Led most race laps
 RY  Rookie of the Year
 R  Rookie
  1. ^ Kenny Bräck also awarded 1 point for his pole position in Fort Worth. The race was canceled after qualifying due to excessively high speeds.
  2. ^ Toranosuke Takagi was penalized 2 points for rough driving in Toronto.
  3. ^ Alex Zanardi's car was impacted from the side by Alex Tagliani's car at EuroSpeedway Lausitz. He lost both of his lower legs in the impact. This signaled the end of his open-wheel racing career.

Nations' Cup

  • Top result per race counts towards Nations' Cup.
Pos Country FUN LBH NAZ MOT MIL BEL POR CLE TOR MIS CMS MOH ROA VAN LAU ROC HOU LAG SUR CAL Pts
1 Brazil 1 1 5 2 4 1 2 4 7 5 3 1 1 1 7 1 1 3 1 1 341
2 United States 4 5 4 5 2 4 8 2 1 4 5 11 2 3 4 5 3 2 2 7 240
3 Canada 3 4 3 18 12 8 5 9 2 1 2 3 8 16 3 6 10 15 3 3 187
4 Sweden 5 25 2 1 1 9 11 6 20 17 1 20 14 8 1 2 7 25 5 26 163
5 Italy 12 17 20 6 8 11 1 18 4 16 9 19 13 22 2 11 9 1 9 2 118
6 United Kingdom 9 6 8 17 9 2 6 1 24 2 15 16 19 9 25 9 2 19 23 23 105
7 New Zealand 13 19 1 9 3 22 7 20 5 10 4 12 4 13 9 22 18 4 15 17 98
8 Mexico 17 13 9 11 5 12 15 21 3 3 10 17 3 6 17 19 14 10 7 16 75
9 Japan 10 12 14 8 16 13 18 14 9 13 11 18 15 7 6 17 4 13 12 15 42
10 Spain 14 14 9 14 14 16 9 17 23 11 18 9 10 5 5 10 26 17 25 11 42
11 France 11 8 18 15 19 17 7
12 Germany 23 15 0
Pos Country FUN LBH NAZ MOT MIL BEL POR CLE TOR MIS CMS MOH ROA VAN LAU ROC HOU LAG SUR CAL Pts

Chassis Constructors' Cup

Pos Chassis Pts
1 Reynard 01i 378
2 Lola B1/00 & B2K/00 335
Pos Chassis Pts

Engine Manufacturers' Cup

Pos Engine Pts
1 Honda 342
2 Toyota 309
3 Ford-Cosworth 297
4 Ilmor 0
Pos Engine Pts

References

  1. ^ "Penske must drop Marlboro logos for Indy 500". Autosport. May 25, 2001. Retrieved November 29, 2024.
  2. ^ "Indy 500 wasn't in Marlboro country; team drops logo". Maryland Daily Record. May 25, 2001. Retrieved November 29, 2024.
  3. ^ "Honda Championship Auto Racing Highlights". April 2002.
  4. ^ "2002 Toyota RV8F CART engine".

See also

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