2001 CART season

2001 CART season
FedEx Championship Series
Season
Races 21 20
Start date March 11
End date November 4
Awards
Drivers' champion Brazil Gil de Ferran
Constructors' Cup United Kingdom Reynard
Manufacturers' Cup Japan Honda
Nations' Cup Brazil Brazil
Rookie of the Year New Zealand Scott Dixon
Chronology
Previous season Next season
2000 2002
Bryan Herta's #77 Forsythe Reynard at Rockingham Motor Speedway in 2001

The 2001 FedEx Championship Series season, the twenty-third in the CART era of U.S. open-wheel racing, consisted of 20 races, beginning in Monterrey, Mexico on March 11 and concluding in Fontana, California on November 4. A twenty-first race in Fort Worth, Texas was canceled after qualifying due to safety concerns. The FedEx Championship Series Drivers' Champion was Gil de Ferran. Rookie of the Year was Scott Dixon.

Drivers and constructors

The following teams and drivers competed in the 2001 CART Championship Series season.

Team Chassis Engine Tyre No Drivers Races
United States Team Penske Reynard 01i Honda F 1 Brazil Gil de Ferran All
3 Brazil Hélio Castroneves All
United States Chip Ganassi Racing Lola B1/00 Toyota F 4 Brazil Bruno Junqueira All
12 France Nicolas Minassian 1-7
United States Memo Gidley 8-21
United States Walker Motorsport Reynard 01i Toyota F 5 Japan Toranosuke Takagi All
United States Newman-Haas Racing Lola B1/00 Toyota F 6 Brazil Cristiano da Matta All
11 Brazil Christian Fittipaldi All
United States Team Rahal Lola B1/00 Ford Cosworth F 7 Italy Max Papis All
8 Sweden Kenny Bräck All
United States Bettenhausen Racing Lola B1/00 Ford Cosworth F 16 Mexico Michel Jourdain, Jr. All
United States PacWest Racing Reynard 01i Toyota F 17 Brazil Maurício Gugelmin All
18 New Zealand Scott Dixon All
United States Dale Coyne Racing Lola B2K/00 Ford Cosworth F 19 Germany Michael Krumm 1-2
21 Brazil Luiz Garcia, Jr. 1-2
United States Patrick Racing Reynard 01i Toyota F 19 United States Townsend Bell 16-17
20 Brazil Roberto Moreno All
40 United States Jimmy Vasser All
United States Sigma Autosport Lola B1/00 Ford Cosworth F 22 Spain Oriol Servià All
United States Arciero-Blair Racing Lola B2K/00 Phoenix/Ford Cosworth F 25 Brazil Max Wilson 1-19
United States Alex Barron 20-21
United States Team Green Reynard 01i Honda F 26 Canada Paul Tracy All
27 United Kingdom Dario Franchitti All
United States Forsythe Racing Reynard 01i Ford Cosworth F 32 Canada Patrick Carpentier All
33 Canada Alex Tagliani All
77 United States Bryan Herta All
United States Team Motorola Reynard 01i Honda F 39 United States Michael Andretti All
Mexico Fernández Racing Reynard 01i Honda F 51 Mexico Adrián Fernández All
52 Japan Shinji Nakano All
United States Mo Nunn Racing Reynard 01i Honda F 55 Brazil Tony Kanaan All
66 Italy Alex Zanardi 1-16
United States Casey Mears 18-21

Races

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

Full Series Results

Race Results

Rnd Race Name Pole position Fastest lap Winning driver Winning team Report
1 Mexico Tecate/Telmex Monterrey Grand Prix Sweden Kenny Bräck United Kingdom Dario Franchitti Brazil Cristiano da Matta Newman-Haas Racing Report
2 United States Toyota Long Beach Grand Prix Brazil Hélio Castroneves Brazil Hélio Castroneves Brazil Hélio Castroneves Team Penske Report
3 United States Firestone Firehawk 600 Sweden Kenny Bräck Report
4 United States Lehigh Valley Grand Prix Presented by Toyota Brazil Bruno Junqueira Brazil Tony Kanaan New Zealand Scott Dixon PacWest Racing Report
5 Japan Firestone Firehawk 500 Brazil Hélio Castroneves Italy Alex Zanardi Sweden Kenny Bräck Team Rahal Report
6 United States Miller Lite 225 Sweden Kenny Bräck United Kingdom Dario Franchitti Sweden Kenny Bräck Team Rahal Report
7 United States Tenneco Automotive Grand Prix of Detroit Brazil Hélio Castroneves United States Michael Andretti Brazil Hélio Castroneves Team Penske Report
8 United States Freightliner/G.I. Joes 200 Presented by Texaco Italy Max Papis Italy Max Papis Italy Max Papis Team Rahal Report
9 United States Marconi Grand Prix of Cleveland Presented by Firstar Brazil Maurício Gugelmin Brazil Roberto Moreno United Kingdom Dario Franchitti Team Green Report
10 Canada Molson Indy Toronto Brazil Gil de Ferran Brazil Hélio Castroneves United States Michael Andretti Team Motorola Report
11 United States Harrah's 500 Presented by Toyota Sweden Kenny Bräck Canada Patrick Carpentier Canada Patrick Carpentier Forsythe Racing Report
12 United States Target Grand Prix Presented by Energizer Brazil Tony Kanaan Sweden Kenny Bräck Sweden Kenny Bräck Team Rahal Report
13 United States Miller Lite 220 Brazil Gil de Ferran Brazil Hélio Castroneves Brazil Hélio Castroneves Team Penske Report
14 United States Motorola 220 Sweden Kenny Bräck Brazil Bruno Junqueira Brazil Bruno Junqueira Chip Ganassi Racing Report
15 Canada Molson Indy Vancouver Canada Alex Tagliani Brazil Hélio Castroneves Brazil Roberto Moreno Patrick Racing Report
16 Germany The American Memorial Brazil Gil de Ferran Brazil Tony Kanaan Sweden Kenny Bräck Team Rahal Report
17 United Kingdom Rockingham 500 Sweden Kenny Bräck Canada Patrick Carpentier Brazil Gil de Ferran Team Penske Report
18 United States Texaco/Havoline Grand Prix of Houston Brazil Gil de Ferran United States Jimmy Vasser Brazil Gil de Ferran Team Penske Report
19 United States Honda Grand Prix of Monterey Brazil Gil de Ferran Brazil Hélio Castroneves Italy Max Papis Team Rahal Report
20 Australia Honda Indy 300 Brazil Roberto Moreno United States Jimmy Vasser Brazil Cristiano da Matta Newman-Haas Racing Report
21 United States Marlboro 500 presented by Toyota Canada Alex Tagliani Italy Max Papis Brazil Cristiano da Matta Newman-Haas Racing Report
  Oval/Speedway
  Road Course/Street Circuit

Final driver standings

Pos Driver MTY Mexico LBH United States NAZ United States MOT Japan MIL United States DET United States POR United States CLE United States TOR Canada MIC United States CHI United States MDO United States ROA United States VAN Canada LAU Germany ROC United Kingdom HOU United States LAG United States SUR Australia FON United States Pts
1 Brazil Gil de Ferran 2 3 23 13 7 6 13 4 14* 24 3 2 5 2 8 1* 1* 3* 4 6 199
2 Sweden Kenny Bräck 1 5 25 2* 1 1* 9 11 6 20 17 1 20 14 8 1* 2 7 25 5 26 163
3 United States Michael Andretti 4 28 6 23 2 4 8 15 1 19 24 26 2 3 4 5 21 14 2 7 147
4 Brazil Hélio Castroneves 8 1* 11 2* 26 1* 17 12 19 8 7* 1* 7* 18 12 4 5 6 20 22 141
5 Brazil Cristiano da Matta 1* 2 10 25 25 7 10 7 15 4 19 10 6 20 26 3 6 20 1 1 140
6 Italy Max Papis 12 17 24 6 8 11 1* 18 8 16* 13 24 16 22 2 11 9 1 9 2* 107
7 United Kingdom Dario Franchitti 9 6 8 17 9 2 6 1 24 2 15 16 19 9 25 9 2 19 23 23 105
8 New Zealand Scott Dixon 13 19 1 9 3 22 7 20 5 10 4 12 4 13 9 22 18 4 15 17 98
9 Brazil Tony Kanaan 7 7 16 3 6 Wth 24 16 10 21 8 5 12 4 7 8 12 8 17 5 93
10 Canada Patrick Carpentier 25 23 25 19 17 8 5 26 21 1 2 3 9 16 3 16 10 26 11 10 91
11 Canada Alex Tagliani 21 18 22 22 12 21 12 9 2 6 6 7 8 23* 21 14 19 15 3 3 80
12 United States Jimmy Vasser 6 5 4 5 21 18 16 5 26 23 14 23 21 19 15 7 11 5 6 12 77
13 Brazil Roberto Moreno 27 11 12 10 15 3 2 8 11 12 20 6 11 1 23 13 22 22 22* 19 76
14 Canada Paul Tracy 3 4 3 18 24 14 21 24 6 7 12 4 26 26 10 6 24 18 14 24 73
15 Brazil Christian Fittipaldi 20 24 5 4 18 5 3 11 12 18 25 8 18 11 19 24 8 9 8 13 70
16 Brazil Bruno Junqueira 22 9 7 24 4 19 23 23 13 9 17 13 1 12 11 25 23 7 21 4 68
17 United States Memo Gidley 25 2* 17 14 5 11 20 10 14 18 3 2 10 14 65
18 Mexico Adrián Fernández 19 16 19 16 5 12 19 21 3 25 10 22 3 21 24 23 14 10 19 18 45
19 Spain Oriol Servià 14 14 9 14 14 16 9 17 23 11 18 9 10 5 5 10 26 17 25 11 42
20 Mexico Michel Jourdain, Jr. 17 13 13 11 13 25 15 25 16 3 23 17 17 6 17 19 25 23 7 16 30
21 Japan Toranosuke Takagi 10 20 14 20 20 20 18 14 222 13 11 21 22 7 6 26 4 13 16 15 29
22 United States Bryan Herta 16 10 21 21 22 15 14 3 18 5 21 25 24 17 27 15 13 12 18 25 28
23 Italy Alex Zanardi 24 26 20 7 11 24 26 13 4 20 9 19 13 24 203 24
24 Brazil Maurício Gugelmin 15 22 12 10 10 20 10 7 15 22 14 23 15 16 20 20 16 24 20 17
25 Brazil Max Wilson 28 21 17 23 23 4 19 25 15 25 25 18 21 16 24 12
26 Japan Shinji Nakano 18 12 15 8 16 13 22 22 9 22 16 18 15 14 22 17 15 21 12 21 11
27 France Nicolas Minassian 11 8 18 15 19 17 7
28 United States Casey Mears 17 11 26 8 7
29 United States Alex Barron 13 9 4
30 United States Townsend Bell 13 12 1
31 Germany Michael Krumm 23 15 0
32 Brazil Luiz Garcia, Jr. 26 27 0
Pos Driver MTY Mexico LBH United States NAZ United States MOT Japan MIL United States DET United States POR United States CLE United States TOR Canada MIC United States CHI United States MDO United States ROA United States VAN Canada LAU Germany ROC United Kingdom HOU United States LAG United States SUR Australia FON United States Pts
Color Result
Gold Winner
Silver 2nd place
Bronze 3rd place
Green 4th & 5th place
Light Blue 6th-10th place
Dark Blue Finished
(Outside Top 10)
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
Rookie of the Year
Rookie

Point Scoring System:

Position 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12
Points 20 16 14 12 10 8 6 5 4 3 2 1

Bonus Points:

Notes

1 Kenny Bräck also awarded 1 point for his pole position in Fort Worth. The race was cancelled 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. Due to the injuries sustained in the collision the medical team had to amputate both of Zanardi's legs. This was the end of his open-wheel racing career.

Nation's Cup

Pos Country MTY Mexico LBH United States NAZ United States MOT Japan MIL United States DET United States POR United States CLE United States TOR Canada MIC United States CHI United States MDO United States ROA United States VAN Canada LAU Germany ROC United Kingdom HOU United States LAG United States SUR Australia FON United States Pts
1 Brazil 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 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 Canada 3 4 3 18 12 8 5 9 2 1 2 3 8 16 3 6 10 15 3 3 187
4 Sweden Sweden 5 25 2 1 1 9 11 6 20 17 1 20 14 8 1 2 7 25 5 26 163
5 Italy 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 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 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 Mexico 17 13 9 11 5 12 15 21 3 3 10 17 3 6 17 19 14 10 7 16 75
9 Japan Japan 10 12 14 8 16 13 18 14 9 13 11 18 15 7 6 17 4 13 12 15 42
10 Spain Spain 14 14 9 14 14 16 9 17 23 11 18 9 10 5 5 10 26 17 25 11 42
11 France France 11 8 18 15 19 17 7
12 Germany Germany 23 15 0
Pos Country MTY Mexico LBH United States NAZ United States MOT Japan MIL United States DET United States POR United States CLE United States TOR Canada MIC United States CHI United States MDO United States ROA United States VAN Canada LAU Germany ROC United Kingdom HOU United States LAG United States SUR Australia FON United States Pts

Chassis Constructor's Cup

Pos Chassis Pts
1 United Kingdom Reynard 378
2 United Kingdom Lola 335
Pos Chassis Pts

Engine Manufacturer's Cup

Pos Engine Pts
1 Japan Honda 342
2 Japan Toyota 309
3 United States
United Kingdom Ford-Cosworth
297
4 United States Phoenix 0
Pos Engine Pts

References

See also